Wagoner: Blame for Rams' abysmal offense starts with Fisher

Blame for Rams’ abysmal offense starts with coach Jeff Fisher

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/23962/the-blame-for-rams-abysmal-offense-starts-with-coach-jeff-fisher

BALTIMORE — Whether it’s Nick Foles, Case Keenum, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill, Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens or any other quarterback the St. Louis Rams have trotted out since coach Jeff Fisher took over in 2012, the offense hasn’t gotten better.

And it’s not just the quarterbacks. It’s an offensive line that only got the appropriate attention in the draft this year and a group of pass-catchers that hasn’t showed much improvement and infrequently combines the ability to get open with actually catching the ball.

After Sunday’s ugly 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Rams again found themselves wondering when, if ever, the offense will raise its level from the dregs of the NFL to something closer to middling.

“This can’t be happening every week,” cornerback Janoris Jenkins said. “Defense, we are playing great ball, man. All we are asking for is a little bit of help. We can’t just keep losing like this.”

On the contrary, with Fisher at the helm, it sure looks like the Rams can keep losing games like they did on Sunday. After all, it’s Fisher who built this roster on the hope that a dominant defense would trump all, even if the offense was lagging far behind.

It’s a recipe that elevated the Rams from NFL bottom-feeders to approaching the mediocre mark that has permeated Fisher’s two-decade career as a head coach in the league. It’s also a formula that doesn’t look anywhere close to getting the Rams to the next level.

The latest abysmal offensive performance came against a Ravens defense that entered the game 20th in yards allowed per game. Matched up against the Rams’ offense, you would have thought the Ravens were lining up with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed in their prime.

In his first start as a Ram, Keenum was 12-of-26 for 136 yards with a touchdown and a fumble, hardly the spark the Rams hoped he would provide when switching from Foles earlier in the week.

The Rams finished with 213 total yards and four turnovers, both tied for their worst outputs of the season. That such an outing could happen in Weeks 2 and 5 isn’t OK but a bit more understandable than one that would combine the two in Week 11.

Remember, this was an offense that was supposed to coalesce as the season went on as it integrated a new quarterback, offensive coordinator, running back and offensive linemen.

Through 10 games, the Rams are 31st in yards per game, yards per passing attempt and first downs. They’re last in passing yards per game and third-down conversion percentage.

“I think we are kind of stagnant,” tight end Jared Cook said. “But that’s nobody’s fault but ours. It’s nobody’s fault but ours. The guys that are in this room right now, it’s our fault.”

While there’s truth in that, there’s also plenty of blame to land at the feet of those making the decisions, namely Fisher and general manager Les Snead.

Despite outside pressure to add veteran help on the offensive line, the Rams decided to use five draft picks on the position. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the one veteran the Rams did add, Garrett Reynolds, is probably playing the best of the starting five.

That Rams offensive line has been besieged by injuries, playing Sunday’s game without starters Rodger Saffold, Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein and then losing fourth-round pick Andrew Donnal to a knee injury during the game.

“I think we are just kind of at a standstill right now,” tight end Lance Kendricks said. “It’s tough when you’ve got the O-line kind of shifting players around. You need steadiness on the O-line to really get the offense going. We are kind of shifting guys around, and they’re young guys too. It’s hard to kind of point the finger at them.”

The Rams spent their first seven picks of the 2015 draft on offense, a dedication to that side of the ball previously absent in the Fisher regime. While a youth movement on the offense was needed, it also probably came about three years too late to make Fisher’s preferred ground-and-pound philosophy work, if it was ever going to.

The same can be said of addressing the situation at quarterback, where the Rams are still without a long-term option, and the short-term ones are far from appealing despite having a plethora of extra draft picks from the Robert Griffin III trade with Washington. Or making a play for a No. 1 receiver who can consistently get open and make plays on contested balls.

Asked if he felt like he waited too long to give due attention to building the offense, Fisher demurred.

“No, I thought I made a good decision this offseason,” Fisher said. “We’ve got good coaches, good players; we’re just not scoring the points and converting third downs right now. Until we do that, we’re not going to win a whole lot of games. That has to change.”

More than three-and-a-half seasons into Fisher’s tenure, that change doesn’t seem to be close to happening. And any question of how it will change is mostly met with more wishing and hoping than actual solutions.

Even with rookie running back Todd Gurley as the foundation, the Rams don’t have enough firepower to maximize his ability. They now sit at 4-6 and are staring another lost season square in the face.

That falls on Fisher and his coaching staff. Most likely, Fisher’s job isn’t in danger, as he has another year left on his contract and owner Stan Kroenke is more focused on changing the team’s address than changing its coach.

“Our frustration is very high, because there’s days that we come out there and we look like one of the best offenses in the league, and there’s times that we don’t,” receiver Kenny Britt said.

There’s a name for the times that they don’t: Sundays. And until sweeping changes are made, the Rams will continue to get the same results.