Steven Jackson Will Be a Road Warrior in 2007

Being christened as the new savior of Ram-Nation doesn't come without a huge price tag, and Steven Jackson will be paying from day one. With the order of execution still yet to be determined, one thing we know for sure is that the road in 2007 will be anything but peace and tranquility.

The Rams, other than visiting the obligatory divisional stadiums (and that in itself will be a whole new and wild animal in '07) will be heading off to some of the most unfriendly confines with some of the most up-and-coming teams the league.

New Orleans Saints - These guys were the upstarts of '06, but were hardly a flash in the pan. They will be returning the future MVP of someday, Reggie Bush, along with Drew Brees and Coach of the Year Sean Payton. It will mark the first visit back to the Superdome for Jim Haslett. One more year after Katrina, but the Saints are and still will be the lifeblood of the people. There will be no friends to be made on this Sunday.

Cincinnati Bengals - They fell short last year, but Carson Palmer is still the most fundamentally sound Quarterback in the league. Chad Johnson, the NFL's second favorite diva will be healthy and Rudi will be running. We better hope the Rams have a defensive unit put together and in full motion on this day.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Not quite the unit they wanted to be. But you can rest assured that Jon Gruden will not be coach of and underachieving team for very long. And with the history of any Rams team in South Florida, this has all the makings of a trap game at any point in the season.

Baltimore Ravens - What else is there to say here but "Oh crap!" Easily the Rams toughest game of the year. Legendary defense that never seems to give anything but the same hard time to the entire league every year since the turn of the century. And now they actually have a quarterback in Steve McNair. So what if he looks like Hootie from the Blowfish; it doesn't take much when you have a stingy attack like that. Yikes on this day.

So you can see that 2007 won't be any friendlier to the Rams than '06. The only equalizer will be how the Rams prepare for the league in their free agent and draft performances.

Either way, the whole deal will ride on the back-and the legs- of Steven Jackson this year. Let's hope he can bring it like he did last year.