In the end, it's all about the talent.

Fans, the media, coaches and players, they lament the bad breaks, the insurmountable injuries, the tough schedule, the bad bounce here and there. Coaches coach and players play, and after 16 games, all the teams end up just about where they should have - based on their talent.

The 2009 Rams were the least talented team in the NFL. Consequently, they finished with the worst record in the NFL. Along the way, they had their share of bad breaks and poor bounces. They were "in" a few more games than they won, then lacked the talent - experience being a component of talent - to pull out the close ones in the fourth quarter.

So what we got was a 1-15 season. When a team is last in scoring offense and 29th of 32 teams in total defense, you can't expect much more. The Rams were set up to fail, and that's OK, as long as it's part of a process toward getting better. When a good player went down with injury, the Rams didn't go out and get an experienced substitute that would give them a chance to win right away. Every single time they found an inexpensive replacement, a young player who might develop into a good one. No reason to throw good money at a bad team.

That's why the final 53-man roster includes so many names you've never heard of. Jordan Kent. James Wyche. Ryan McKee. Clinton Hart. Danny Gorrer. Mike Reilly. Yes, these were your Rams. To understand how devoid the Rams were of talent, consider that of the final 53-man roster, 21 players entered the league as undrafted free agents. An additional 10 were seventh-round draft picks, compared to only five first-rounders and three each from the second and third rounds. That's a talent shortage.

In wrapping up the 2009 Rams, or any other team, it's fair to let the numbers do the talking, for they never lie. Here are a few:

Negative 261 - Franchise record scoring differential between the Rams and their opponents. In 2007, the Rams were outscored by a franchise-record 175 points. Last year, they broke the record with a negative-233, only to beat it again this year. It's difficult to imagine that just 10 years ago, the Rams set the franchise record by outscoring opponents by 284 points.

0 - Locker room blowups, off-field controversies or other distractions. Aside from knucklehead Richie Incognito, who the team finally gave up on, no player or coach said or did anything that reflected poorly on the team. Asked Monday what he considers the highlight to the season, that's what coach Steve Spagnuolo pointed to: "Through all of the adversity we went through, unless I am missing something," Spags said, "there wasn't anybody jumping ship, pointing fingers, going off the deep end, and that is a credit to (the players)."

1 - Team wins and consequential selection positioning for the 2010 NFL draft. There has been a lot of speculation about what the Rams should do with the pick. Draft Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamakong Suh? Draft a quarterback? Trade down? In order the Rams' most glaring needs are wide receiver, quarterback, defensive line. The problem is that you don't draft a WR No. 1, and there isn't a QB worthy of the top pick. Assuming no QB rises to "franchise" status in pre-draft workouts, the Rams should either take the best player available, Suh, or trade down to address quarterback and receiver.

3 - Times Donnie Jones' name tops the franchise records list for gross punting average. Jones, who has been with the Rams for three seasons, has averaged 47.2, 50.0, and 46.8 yards, the three best numbers in Rams history. All positions being equal, he's the best player on the roster.

5 - Players who started all 16 games: LT Alex Barron, C Jason Brown, TE Randy McMichael, and MLB James Laurinaitis.

10.9 - Average points scored per game by the Rams. It's the lowest number of any team that's played pro football in St. Louis. Seventeen teams this season averaged at least double (21.8 ppg) what the Rams scored.

13 - Rams on season-ending injured reserved list. Only three teams (Buffalo, Tampa Bay, New Orleans) had more. Of the seven team with 13 or more players on IR, five had six or fewer wins, including one-win St. Louis, two-win Detroit and three-win Tampa Bay. New Orleans (13-3) bucked the trend as a team with 14 players on IR, but the Saints did lose their last three games.

14 - Number of games started by "reserve" offensive lineman Adam Goldberg. Next to Steven Jackson, versatile Goldberg would get my vote for team MVP. Beginning with Week 3, he started five games at right tackle, three at right guard, then six more at right tackle. He mentored rookie tackle Jason Smith, served as the team's player representative, and was a consistent leader in the locker room.

20 - Consecutive losses to teams that finished the regular season with 10 or more wins. The Rams haven't beaten a 10-win team since Oct. 30, 2005, a 24-21 home victory over a Jacksonville team that finished 12-4.

25 - Field goals of 50 or more yards by Josh Brown since he entered the NFL in 2003. No player has more in that span. There's a reason Brown is the highest-paid kicker in the league.

26.5 - The Rams' average ranking in the six major statistical categories among the 32 teams: total offense (29), rushing (20), passing (28), total defense (29), rushing defense (27), passing defense (25). If you're trying to rebuild this team, where do you start?

30 - Points by Rams scoring leader Donnie Avery (five TDs). Among non-kickers, 67 players in the league scored more points.

42 - Losses by the Rams over the past three seasons. No team in NFL history has had a poorer three-year run. The Rams' 6-42 mark is even worse than the 1976-78 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their first 26 games as a franchise but rebounded to post a 7-37 three-year record.

46 - Players who started at least one game, not including special teams, 23 each on offense and defense. That the Rams had an unmanageable number of injuries was bad luck; that they had mostly poor replacements was bad management.

66 - Franchise-record kick returns by Danny Amendola. Despite not being on the roster for the first two games, he led the league in number of returns, and only 10 players in league history have had more. Since kick returns follow opponent scores all but once each game, high numbers are not a good thing.

131 - Number of wins by Rams opponents this season, if the Rams had beaten San Francisco in the final week. Why is that significant? There was a lot of debate last week in the community about whether the Rams should purposely lose their final game, thus ensuring the No. 1 draft pick. Turns out, had the Rams won, they still would have had the pick. In the tiebreaker with Detroit, using reverse strength of schedule as the first qualifier, Rams opponents would have had 131 wins, Lions opponents 134. (If you're adding it up, remember to reverse the final Rams result, giving them a win over the 49ers; and count division opponents twice.) It's ludicrous to suggest that an NFL team would try to lose, and Spagnuolo said as much, but in the end it didn't matter.

163 - Games of 100 or more receiving yards by a player in the NFL this season. The Rams were the only team without one. Avery and Laurent Robinson tied for the Rams' single-game best at 87 yards. The five teams that had 10 or more 100-yard receiving games (New England 12, San Diego 11, Dallas 10, Philadelphia 10, Pittsburgh 10) averaged 11 victories. This number illustrates the Rams' most glaring weakness, the lack of a game-breaking receiving threat.

491 - Pass attempts by opponents. Rams cornerbacks intercepted zero of them.

589 - Team-best receiving yards, by Avery. The last time the franchise had a receiving leader with fewer yards was 1986, when Henry Ellard had 447.

1,416 - Yards rushing by Jackson. It's the second-highest total of his career and was good for the NFC rushing title.

1,469 - Passing yards by Marc Bulger. The last time the franchise had a passing leader with fewer yards was 1986, when Jim Everett threw for 1,018. Ironically, Everett (23,758) and Bulger (22,814) are 1-2 in franchise career yards.

2014 - The final season before the Edward Jones Dome lease expires. The team can leave St. Louis if the dome isn't deemed to be in the top 25 percent in quality as other NFL sites. It won't be. For the next four years, this will be the biggest lingering story on the St. Louis sports landscape, whether the team finds an owner committed to staying here or becomes an afterthought on its way elsewhere.

12/21/09 - Day that Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo turned 50. On the same day, my second son, Hudson Gray Hollway, was born. My apologies for the self-indulgence, but I liked the symmetry, and it feels like a good way to close my one season as an NFL beat writer.

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to see my sons and the Rams grow up together.

Cameron Hollway is a veteran sports journalist who has worked in St. Louis for 10 years. Currently, he covers the Rams for CBSSports.com. In a weekly column in the Beacon, he will bring his insight into the Rams and the team’s relationship with the region. Look for Hollway’s "On the Rams" each Friday. To reach him, contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando.