Rams, Lions Progressing Despite Losses

If you only look at the standings, you'll see the Detroit Lions sitting at 2-12 and the St. Louis Rams a worse 1-13. You'll notice that both lost games Sunday as well -- the Rams fell 16-13 and the Lions lost 31-24 -- but the wins and losses don't tell the whole story for two teams that are undergoing massive rebuilding projects.

The Rams battled the swine flu all week. They entered the game with Keith Null -- a rookie who entered the season as a third-stringer -- under center. Steven Jackson, their only legitimate star at this point, was battling back issues in addition to the swine flu. They recently cut an offensive lineman in part due to his attitude problems. And they took the Houston Texans down the wire. Sure, the Texans are 7-7, but they play in the toughest division in the NFL and could easily be 10-4 with a few minor breaks.

Not to be outdone by their brother in futility, the Lions made the defending NFC Champions sweat. And this was with myriad issues as well. Backup quarterback Daunte Culpepper had to be replaced with third-string passer Drew Stanton. Last week the Lions lost running back Kevin Smith for the season. Star receiver Calvin Johnson is battled injury woes. Yet the Arizona Cardinals needed a touchdown with less than two minutes left to beat them.

The Lions got a huge day from Maurice Morris, as he took over in the backfield. He gained 126 yards on just 17 carries, also adding 35 receiving yards. He appeared much more shifty and agile than the bruising Smith, a style that might be more conducive for the Lions' offense as a whole. He definitely was able to take advantage of all the attention the Cards were giving Johnson -- who was double-teamed all game.

The Rams also got some heavy lifting from their running back, but it was far less surprising. Steven Jackson came through with 123 all-purpose yards. He even mixed it up with Bernard Pollard of the Texans -- a scrap that resulted in a bloody lip for Jackson and likely a message that the Rams are tired of being pushed around. The real story for the Rams, however, was their red zone defense. Matt Schaub threw for 367 yards, but the Texans only managed 16 points. They were forced to kick three field goals of less than 30 yards, as the Rams buckled down under pressure repeatedly.

It's going to be easy for the masses to deride the wins by the Cardinals and Texans on the road today with cliched phrases like "it shouldn't have been that difficult," but let's give some credit to the Rams and Lions. They will likely end up with the top two picks in next year's draft and have really strong first-year coaches. Efforts from each team like we saw Sunday are things that can be built upon -- even if it doesn't show up in the standings just yet.