down on Fisher…the critics thread

I’ll start by saying that I’ll spend much more time and space tomorrow, but it essentially comes down to what we know about the offense, that we know its limitations, that we know Groh isn’t fundamentally changing the offense, that they are repeating the same “lack of competition” mistake they made with Foles and nothing done so far changes the underlying dynamics of why the offense so drastically performed so poorly.

The problems were systemic and still are.

Fisher wants to say they were a few plays from being 10-6. Okay, but they were also a few plays from being 4-12. Several of those wins came on close plays where the OTHER team could say the very same thing. He wants to play the “what if” game as if he could change a few plays and nothing else changes except the final result. Well Heisenberg’s Observer Principle and 3 Back to the Future movies ought to be proof enough that that’s not how it works!

I’ll be more specific later, but that’s a primer…

nittany ram wrote:

I don’t consider myself a Fisher defender. On the other hand I’m not anti-Fisher either. After 4 years you’d think I’d have a firm opinion on him one way or the other. But I don’t. After 4 years I’m still in ‘wait and see’ mode and I think the majority of Rams fans are as well.

You said what I think. Except that I didn’t know that’s what I was thinking until I thought about it. So yeah, that’s how I feel about Fisher too.

I totally get where Mack is coming from about the offense. Having said that, I am encouraged by how some of the young guys developed on the offensive line last year. Maybe it leads to some improvements to the overall offense. Maybe Mack is right, and the offensive problems are much more deeply rooted than who is lining up on that side of the ball. Beats me, ‘wait and see.’

Fisher – I’ve always kept him at arms length. But I gotta say, I’m pretty impressed with the player acquisition strategies and particularly these last two offseasons. Snisher keeps punching back in my mind. He tries, fails, and comes back and tries harder having just been slapped in the face by his own hand.

And, the NFC West has been no cakewalk the past 4 seasons. I find myself rooting for him to succeed – maybe year 5? The schedule looks daunting. It’s their annual challenge really. If the OL can develop into an above average unit, they have a great shot at being above 500 even with a rookie QB and a shaky kicker.

Ah, stuff’s come up, so I’m left leaving another tidbit and teasing you all…

Fisher’s sticking with his quasi-WCO… which has never worked in this division. Why? Athletic LBs. It worked in the 80s because the purpose of the WCO is to horizontally stretch the field. What defeats the horizontal stretch? Athletic LBs who can run. What does this division have in abundance? Athletic LBs who can run.

Think about it. Even New Orleans with Drew Brees, who NO ONE is saying is a lesser QB than Goff, has struggled against the defenses of the NFC West in a very mature Gulf Coast WCO (Sean Payton’s variant). So, what chance is the rookie Goff going to have against the NFC West with an immature and incomplete WCO variant?

What’s worse, they’ve drafted PERFECTLY if they were going to implement the Pittsburgh variant of the Earhardt Perkins offense (another reason why Wentz was the perfect fit, btw). From the offensive linemen to the TEs, to the big WRs to Tavon Austin to Gurley who’s not only a fast power back who can be an exceptional receiver… everything was drafted as if from the Pitt FO.

So, even before I type the whole thing out, here’s the tl;dr, Goff should be fine in a WCO, but he’s going to a quasi-WCO that doesn’t work and doesn’t put the QB or eligible receivers in positions to succeed. Couple that with a bevy of rookie WRs/TEs and this offense not only isn’t set to be productive in the near term, unless there are exceptional people at all of the skill positions, not just QB, it’s not set up to be productive in the long term.

Mackeyser wrote:

Ah, stuff’s come up, so I’m left leaving another tidbit and teasing you all…

Fisher’s sticking with his quasi-WCO… which has never worked in this division. Why? Athletic LBs. It worked in the 80s because the purpose of the WCO is to horizontally stretch the field. What defeats the horizontal stretch? Athletic LBs who can run. What does this division have in abundance? Athletic LBs who can run.

Think about it. Even New Orleans with Drew Brees, who NO ONE is saying is a lesser QB than Goff, has struggled against the defenses of the NFC West in a very mature Gulf Coast WCO (Sean Payton’s variant). So, what chance is the rookie Goff going to have against the NFC West with an immature and incomplete WCO variant?

What’s worse, they’ve drafted PERFECTLY if they were going to implement the Pittsburgh variant of the Earhardt Perkins offense (another reason why Wentz was the perfect fit, btw). From the offensive linemen to the TEs, to the big WRs to Tavon Austin to Gurley who’s not only a fast power back who can be an exceptional receiver… everything was drafted as if from the Pitt FO.

So, even before I type the whole thing out, here’s the tl;dr, Goff should be fine in a WCO, but he’s going to a quasi-WCO that doesn’t work and doesn’t put the QB or eligible receivers in positions to succeed. Couple that with a bevy of rookie WRs/TEs and this offense not only isn’t set to be productive in the near term, unless there are exceptional people at all of the skill positions, not just QB, it’s not set up to be productive in the long term.

Nothing quasi-WCO about it. Rams are in LA now. That is as West Coast as it gets.

I prefer to look at the positives such as a dominating defense should Quinn return to form and a premier RB in Gurley to take considerable pressure off the rookie QB who should be able to throw down field.

I think it’s a mistake to assume this is a stout D when we have lost 4 starters and very little depth at LB or even DE for that matter. They will need a shit ton of points to be competitive this year.

Mackeyser wrote:

It’s fine to look at the positives.

However, it’s also a fact that no QB has come into a situation like THIS with THIS difficult a schedule and been successful.

I’ll root just as hard as everyone else.

I’m just not setting my expectations on an unrealistic deep playoff run when there’s just nothing to justify that.

I said 9-7 or better. With a decent QB the Rams could have been undefeated in their division last season. The deep playoff run is all yours not mine.