Jeff Fisher pleased with Rams' penalty progress

An area of emphasis for #Rams (finally?): Cutting down on penalties. Fisher pleased so far… http://t.co/lR7Ojsovic

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) August 7, 2015

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/20100/jeff-fisher-pleased-with-rams-penalty-progress

Friday, August 7, 2015
Jeff Fisher pleased with Rams’ penalty progress
By Nick Wagoner

EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams have yet to welcome a visiting officiating crew to their 2015 training camp but among the many things Jeff Fisher has seen from his team in the first week of camp, there’s one that stands out above the rest.

“What’s interesting is that on the field of practice, full-speed penalties are way down compared to where we were last year,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “And that’s a point of emphasis for us. So, we’re not having the false start things, the frequency of them that we’ve had over the years. Just the discipline things down the field with the contact and the holding and the hands to face, all of those things that we emphasize. So that’s encouraging for me. That’ll carry over because we have to get that number down.”

The Rams had 122 accepted penalties in 2014, third-most in the NFL. Their 59 offensive penalties were also third most and their 1,139 penalty yards were the most in the NFL. That might not have been such a bad thing if it were a one-time issue.

But the Fisher-led Rams have made a habit of having problems with penalties. In three seasons under Fisher, the Rams have accumulated 375 penalties for 3,126 penalty yards, both of which are the most in the league over that period.

So it’s not only that the Rams are racking up a lot of flags but flags that cost them big chunks of yards and not just simple 5-yard infractions.

Making matters worse, Rams’ opponents have had 297 accepted penalties for 2,618 yards in those three years. The penalty margin of plus-78 is the second-worst in the league and the penalty yardage differential of 508 yards is third worst in that span.

During those seasons, Fisher has often pointed to the team’s relative youth as reasons for the problems. And while there’s truth to that, the Rams should be well beyond the youth excuse in this, the fourth year under Fisher.

In each of the previous three seasons, those penalty problems have plagued the Rams in the preseason. Each year, it’s carried over into the regular season. So now it’s incumbent on the Rams to fix the issue before the season starts and stop giving away so much yardage.

“Well, I mean, we haven’t played anybody else yet and I’m not going to put a lot of stake in the first preseason game,” Fisher said. “But I’m pleased with where we are.”