JT Chat Highlights 9/09

selected/formatted by RamBill

Jim Thomas Rams Chat Highlights: Sept. 9

http://live.stltoday.com/Event/Rams_chat_with_Jim_Thomas_54?Page=0

—Fisher said yesterday at his 5 p.m. media session that there were still awaiting some test results on Chris Long’s ankle. Which makes you wonder if they did the testing in Anchorage. Shouldn’t take that long. Anyway, it makes me think Long may be sidelined for a while.

—I don’t think it all falls on the coaching. Certainly not. But they share part of the blame. The continuing penalties. The job Norv Turner did carving up the Rams’ defense was superb, neutralizing the Rams’ pass rush and continuing to attack the Rams on the perimeter with quick screens, sweeps, and jet sweeps. It just didn’t seem the Rams were that well prepared.

—It usually takes weeks to learn an offense. So it would be hard to see Case Keenum starting in the near future unless it was with a very much reduced game plan.

—Schotty? I think he’s a bright mind. Sure there are things I’d like to see done differently from game to game. But all the negativity towards him surprises me for the most part.

—The Rams had five completions of more than 20 yards on Sunday, which is twice their average (of 2.5 pass plays of 20-yards plus per game) last season. It’s more than any single game last season. In addition, there were incomplete deep shots to Brian Quick (should’ve been a pass interference) and one to Kenny Britt (underthrown, Britt was open). There were a thousand things that were at fault Sunday, failure to throw the ball deep was not one of them.

—I still think Boudreau is very good. But there were some odd plays. I can remember the two plays you are describing. The fact that many of these linemen barely played in the preseason showed on Sunday.

—I’m not disputing the fact that the o-line didn’t play very well. But Davis had a lot to do with the pressure. Granted he was thrust into a tough spot. But he needs to make decisions quicker, throw the ball away instead of taking the sack, and learn to step up in the pocket.

—Who Played Well? Brian Quick had a very good game. The facemask penalty was kind of a fluke. His finger got caught in the facemask. I thought T.J. McDonald played well at safety. McLeod wasn’t bad. E.J. Gaines held his own. Benny Cunningham.

—Bad Free Agent Pick Ups from Tennessee? Well, Cortland Finnegan sure was. But William Hayes was a great pickup at DE and jury’s still out on Jared Cook.

—As I’ve said before, it will take a total collapse _ 4 or 5 wins _ for Fisher’s seat to get warm. That’s just my opinion. (I’m certainly not talking to ownership on this!) As bad as Sunday was, it was just one game.

—Did you see what happened when Greg Robinson came into the game late. The Vikings ran a stunt and Robinson looked lost trying to block it. That’s why he’s not playing. Now, you can blame Fisher and the Snead for drafting him in the first place over say Jake Matthews, but that’s why he’s not playing.

—Robinson ended up with nine snaps at left guard after Saffold was hurt. I thought he struggled on some plays. Nine plays into his NFL career, I don’t think he’s another Jason Smith.

—Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner did everything he could to neutralize the Rams pass rush. Very rarely did Matt Cassel take seven-step drops. (When he did he was usually pressured.) There were a lot of quick throws, he attacked the perimeter. and Cassel got the ball out quick.

—I think Stacy is running hard. But Benny Cunningham looks like he’s running better so far.

— What Needs to Be Done to beat the Bucs? 1.) Cut the penalties in half from last week. 2.) Cut the missed tackles by two-thirds from last week. 3.) Do a much better job defending the perimeter. . . . .And three things aren’t enough to right this ship. . .4.) Establish the run early.

—I think the Hill’s injury should’ve been announced before Austin took a snap in the second half. That started the whole thing. And I think Hill should’ve just talked about the injury in the locker room afterwards. This team’s recurring paranoia about giving out injury information is almost funny.

—If you’re playing a close-to-the-vest, conservative offensive style, you simply have to minimize mistakes. Plain and simple. It was amazing to me that Bates would get a penalty like that. And he should’ve been penalized earlier but the refs just missed it: i.e., when he was celebrating _ WITH HIS HELMET OFF on the field after the flag was picked up for running into the return man. Simply amazing.

—The Rams had very little that resembled a sustained drive Sunday. But if this defense is supposed to be good enough to dominate, that was certainly a game where it needed to do so, and didn’t.

—Britt was targeted three times. On one, Hill was under pressure and three the ball away. On another, there was a miscommunication, with Britt cutting the pattern short and Hill throwing deep. Then late in the game, he had a step or two on the defender, Davis underthrew the pass, and the receiver was able to break it up. Yeah, we all expected more.

—Yeah, 17 games into their careers it does look like Patterson is the better pick than Austin. But it’s just 17 games in. The Rams did look long and hard at Patterson. I believe he paid a pre-draft visit here.

—If you can get a lead, defend the perimeter, and contain the run, a pass rush can be very, very effective. But we didn’t see any of those first three factors Sunday, did we?

—Yes most of the calls were deserved. But the inconsistency of officiating in the NFL continues to astound me. How can they pick up the flag on the illegal contact foul on Brian Quick is amazing. On the offense pass interference call against Jared Cook, the linebacker was engaged with Cook. That’s illegal contact before Cook even tries to shove himself free. And what Givens was flagged for on his offensive P.I., I saw much worse go uncalled in the Monday night Arizona game.