It's not just Jackson that tires out in the 2nd half.
Psycho - I only watched one Rams game and of course it was this one. So I'm basing my experiences on one game. This is what I noticed.
Your OL was holding up pretty well in the 1st half. I was expecting Bulger to be running for his life, but he was somewhat ok back there. Come 2nd half, your OL looked exhausted. Jackson no longer had ANY holes, and that's why he was so worn down. He had to fight off a tackler or 2 every time he hit the line of scrimmage.
Bulger had it worse. As soon as the 2nd half started, your OL just collapsed. Kampman got through. Our blitzes got through. Barnett sacked Bulger twice. Atari Bigby was a threat, and even though he didn't get Bulger, he gave him a good scare at least once.
I noticed Bulger was sick of taking the hits and hurrying his throws. He missed some easy throws he was making in the 1st half, and I think it was because of the pressure.
It's a shame for your team. I really like you guys. The Rams are a team I've never disliked. Bruce and Holt still have it, and Bulger put in some nice throws when he had time. But the reason you guys have such a bad record is your OL plain out sucks.
My hope for you is in the offseason, you can upgrade your OL. If you do, I expect you to have at least an 8-8 record, maybe even be playoff contenders.
Your D was the same in the 1st and 2nd half. The reason we got those 33 points is your special teams allowed us to have good field position all day long, and your O turned the ball over several times. We were able to exploit those mistakes.
Atogwe is a smart man. He has good football smarts, and was reading Favre like a book. Favre is one of the best QBs in the NFL at finding the guy who has single coverage on him, and your Safety tricked Favre not once, but twice. He earned those picks. That's really saying something, because Favre isn't easy to fool.
Best of luck to you in the offseason. Draft well, and do something to fix your OL and you'll be a contender next year. Jackson is a beast, but he can't carry defenders on his back all day. He needs some offensive line support or else he's going to be on the bench sucking oxygen instead of on the field eating the clock.
For the record, the Packers are really good against the run. Jackson getting 143 yards is really impressive. If you guys had a good OL, I'd fully expect Jackson to bust the 200 yard barrier in a game next year.