Rams will have first blackout since move

~ Sunday's home game against the Redskins did not sell out in time.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams' string of 95 consecutive regular-season sellouts is about to end. Even if fans snap up the remaining 3,000 seats for the home finale against the Washington Redskins the game will be blacked out on local television.

That's a first for the franchise since moving to the Midwest in 1995. The end of the run in the home finale is a consequence of another disappointing season paired with an unattractive opponent and a Christmas Eve date.

The Rams (6-8) are extreme longshots to make the playoffs and the Redskins (5-9) are out of the running.

"We think the St. Louis fans are great fans, and they've been very supportive of us up until now," team vice president Bob Wallace said. "We're hoping we can start a new streak next year."

The deadline to sell all the tickets was 11 a.m. The Rams have collaborated with TV affiliates to keep the run going a handful of times in the past, but this time decided not to keep it going just for the sake of appearances.

Running back Steven Jackson was highly critical two weeks ago of season-ticket holders who sold their seats to visiting fans. The Rams had to go to a silent count on offense against the Bears and Chiefs after fans of their closest rivals scooped up prime locations and made themselves heard.

On Friday, his criticism was more muted.

"It's kind of disappointing to hear that," Jackson said. "You want your fans to be in tune, and if they can't make the game to watch it on television.

"With that being said and it being blacked, hopefully our fans can make their way down on Sunday to watch us live."

Coach Scott Linehan understands that interference from visiting fans is a byproduct of the team's record. So his response was muted.

"Maybe people could still rally and show up for the game and cheer us on, but that's out of our control at this point," Linehan said. "We're just focused on the players and coaches and fans that are there."

Season ticket holders with PSLs, or personal seat licenses, occupy all but about 5,000 of the 60,000 seats at the Edward Jones Dome -- most of them in the upper regions. Wallace said the season-ticket base renewal has been "spectacular," at over 95 percent.

The Rams were 6-10 last year and Wallace said the team knew before the year began -- even with the hiring of a new coach and other changes -- that some games would be tough to sell. The Redskins game is perhaps at the top of the list.

"There wasn't a lot of movement on this game," Wallace said. "We could have told you at the beginning of the season that the Bears game was going to be sold out and that the Chiefs game was going to be sold out, like we could have told you that this one at the beginning of the year was going to be a struggle."