My Steven Jackson Blog

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The St. Louis Rams celebrated a lot of firsts in their victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Rookie quarterback Sam Bradford picked up the first victory of his career, Steve Spagnuolo earned his first home win since becoming the Rams' head coach a season ago and St. Louis celebrated its first victory at the Edward Jones Dome in nearly two years.
The triumph didn't come without a cost, though, and it has the Rams trying to avoid another first this weekend at home against the Seattle Seahawks: their first game this year without Steven Jackson in the backfield.
The running back suffered a groin injury during the second quarter of Sunday's 30-16 victory, over 22 minutes after his 42-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive gave St. Louis an early lead.
It was just one of the injuries the Rams had to overcome. Already without safety Craig Dahl due to a concussion, St. Louis lost its other starter on the defensive backline when Oshiomogho Atogwe left the game due to a lingering quad injury that had bothered him during the week.
Despite having lost its first two games of the season by a combined six points and having blown a 14-0 lead over the Redskins, the Rams didn't buckle and picked up their first home win since Oct. 10, 2008. St. Louis also snapped a 10-game overall losing streak and won for just the second time in its last 29 games.
"Need to say, it was a very gratifying win," said Spagnuolo. "What I told the team was any win in the NFL feels good, but when you can rise above some adverse situations, that's even better. I thought the reason we did that is we hung together, nobody bailed out, nobody panicked."
The Rams hope they don't have to panic about Jackson's injury.
The running back had an MRI on Monday and said on his Twitter account that the injury is a strain and not a more serious tear. Though he will likely be limited in practice this week, he may be able to play this weekend.
"We lose some of our best players not out there and some other guys stepped in and did a nice job," said Spagnuolo after Sunday's win. "We've got a lot of issues injury-wise, we're really banged up and it's early in the season, so we've got to overcome that."
St. Louis might have some confidence this weekend even if Jackson can't go. Kenneth Darby ran for 49 yards on 14 carries, including a 12-yard scoring run in the third quarter that put the Rams back ahead. Keith Toston, meanwhile, added 22 carries on 11 carries.
"I think Darby did a great job," said Jackson. "I think our backs came in and showed that if something was to happen to me, they could come in and fill in and do their jobs. They knew their assignments. You could tell they ran with confidence."
49ERS: Head coach Mike Singletary hinted after Sunday's 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that changes would be coming to the San Francisco 49ers, and it took less than 24 hours for the hammer to fall.
The 49ers on Monday morning fired offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, whose offense managed to score just 38 points through the first three games, the second-lowest total in the league behind only the Carolina Panthers. That total would be seven points less if not for San Francisco's meaningless touchdown on the final play of Sunday's loss.
So much for consistency, as Raye had been San Francisco's first offensive coordinator to open consecutive seasons with the job since Greg Knapp's three- year tenure from 2001-03.
Singletary stated on Monday that the decision to let Raye go was his and that it had nothing to do with player frustrations.
"No, I would not make a decision based on the players," the head coach said. "I think that can get real tricky if the players don't like coaches. I think [Sunday] we all had a hand in that loss. In fact, we all had a hand in all three losses. It's the coaches and the players, it's never just one or the other."
Quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson will replace Raye and his first task should be getting quarterback Alex Smith and wide receiver Michael Crabtree on the same page. Crabtree, the 10th overall pick of the 2009 draft, has just six catches for 81 yards so far on the season.
Smith has five interceptions to just two touchdown passes for a passer rating of 66.2. He was sacked five times by the Chiefs, and his interception on Sunday came on a pass attempt to Crabtree.
The 26-year-old Smith, though, wasn't pointing the fingers at any one phase following Sunday's loss.
"When you get beat like this, I don't think you can point to one thing," said Smith. "We all have a hand in this and I don't think you can point to one area or another. We were all pretty ineffective."
Running back Frank Gore was limited to just 43 yards on 15 attempts versus Kansas City, but did lead the club with nine catches for 102 yards. He knows it will take more than a coaching change to get the Niners on track.
"We just got to go back and watch the film and correct what we're not doing and move forward and try to get a win against Atlanta [this Sunday]," Gore said.
Expected to contend for the NFC West title, the 49ers instead have opened the season 0-3 for the first time since beginning the 2004 season with four straight setbacks. They'll try to avoid matching that start this weekend at the Falcons.
SEAHAWKS: Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said running back Leon Washington first caught his eye last year while with the New York Jets when the former USC sideline boss was watching his former college quarterback, Mark Sanchez.
Washington, who had started 13 games with the Jets from 2006-08, took three kick returns to the end zone in 2007 and was averaging 24.1 yards per kick return last year before suffering a serious leg fracture on Oct. 25. That injury, combined with some offseason moves, prompted the Jets to trade Washington to the Seahawks in a draft-day deal for a fifth-round choice.
The 28-year-old showed he still has his quickness during Sunday's 27-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers, taking a pair of kickoffs to the house that included a go-ahead 99-yard return with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter. Washington had taken a kick a club-record 101 yards to the end zone earlier in the game.
"I never thought we'd ever have a chance to get him," Carroll said of Washington after the game. "What a fantastic trade that was."
Washington became just the 10th player in NFL history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in a single game, and it had to feel good for the Florida State product after his injury a year ago.
Though Washington hasn't gotten the chance to run the ball a whole lot so far with the Seahawks, posting just 29 yards on 11 carries, he said afterwards that he loves the impact he can have returning kicks.
"In the return game, you get a chance to instantly change momentum because it's the first play of the game, right after halftime or after the opposing team scores," said Washington. "I always take heed of that and I always try relish the opportunity to change the momentum instantly."
Washington did that, taking the opening kickoff of the second half back all the way to give his club a 17-0 lead. The Chargers eventually fought back to tie the game at 20-20, but the former fourth-round pick countered San Diego's game-tying score with his 99-yard return.
"It's important for us to show that we can play against a team like this," Carroll said. "Leon was just magical [Sunday]."
Seattle has now sandwiched a pair of home wins around Week 2's loss in Denver. This mistake-free victory wasn't nearly as pretty as the Seahawks' season- opening 31-6 blowout of the 49ers.
Tied with the Cardinals for first place in the division, Seattle will try to earn its first road victory under Carroll this Sunday in St. Louis.
CARDINALS: Despite a consistent string of mistakes and penalties, the Arizona Cardinals are finding ways to win.
Arizona has not looked sharp over its first three games. After eeking out a 17-13 season-opening win at St. Louis, the club was promptly rolled over at Atlanta by a 41-7 margin on Sept. 19.
Fast-forward to this past Sunday, a 24-23 victory over Oakland that featured seven Cardinals penalties totaling 104 yards. The biggest was a 39-yard pass interference call on cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie that set up a potential game-winning field goal for the Raiders.
However, Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski missed a 32-yard try wide left as time expired, giving Arizona a win in its home opener and a very lucky 2-1 record on the season.
"I'm not going to tell you we're a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination, I think we all know that," said head coach Ken Whisenhunt. "We're still a work in progress, but you can't take this win away. That's important."
Through three games this year, the Cardinals have been penalized 27 times for 285 yards. One of those calls wiped out a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown last week by LaRod Stephens-Howling, but no flags came out on his 102-yard return for a score on Sunday's opening kickoff.
Arizona's defense also played well, limiting Oakland to just one touchdown on five red-zone trips.
Quarterback Derek Anderson continues to struggle, however. He completed just 12-of-26 pass attempts versus Oakland, though he did manage a pair of touchdown passes, and has connected on just 52 percent of his throws so far this year.
"We obviously still have work to do to fit the puzzle that our team is (putting) together," Whisenhunt said.
One piece that returned on Sunday was running back Beanie Wells, who missed the first two games due to what was originally called a bruised knee. However, it was reveled last week that Wells had minor arthroscopic surgery after injuring himself in the final preseason game.
Wells had 75 yards on 14 carries, while backfield mate Tim Hightower added 40 yards on 11 attempts.
Arizona will go right back on the road in Week 4, as it visits San Diego this Sunday.
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