Miklasz: Rams' standards are too low

So Bernie had a deadline and couldn’t think of anything fresh to write about.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000457765/article/elway-disagreed-with-fox-on-how-to-get-to-next-level

John Elway gave a simple answer when asked why John Fox was no longer the coach of the Denver Broncos.

“I think the main thing between John and I was we disagreed how to get to the next level,” Elway said during a Tuesday news conference at Broncos headquarters. “Because we accomplished so much, four AFC West championships. I think the biggest miss between us was how are we going to take that next step and what it was going to take to get to that next step. That’s where that disagreement came from.”

Hiring Fox was Elway’s first order of business after re-joining the Broncos four years ago. He repeatedly stated that Fox was the perfect person for the job “at that time.” Elway made it clear he was disappointed, not just by the losses to the Seahawks and Colts that ended the last two seasons, but by how they lost those games.

“If there’s one thing that you’d like to have and you want to feel is at least in the last game you want to feel like you go out kickin’ and screaming,” he said. “And that you’re right there. And I think two years in a row it didn’t feel like we went out kickin’ and screaming because of the way we played in the last game. So hopefully we get that turned around, that’s going to be our goal.”

i suppose that’s football reasons. it’s somewhat vague. is he saying that fox didn’t have the desire to win or is he saying that they both had a desire to win but couldn’t agree on how to get there?

sometimes change is good. change for the sake of change isn’t necessarily a good thing.

and i think the rams are at a very different stage than the broncos are. i think bernie’s argument is weak at best.

http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_27321112/kiszla-gary-kubiak-is-wrong-choice-denver-broncos

Kiszla: Gary Kubiak is wrong choice if John Elway wants strong coach
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post

Before he can drive the Broncos back to the Super Bowl, there’s one tough call franchise executive John Elway must make:

When looking for a new coach, does Denver want a strong, independent leader or a sidekick who respectfully walks two steps behind Elway, in the legend’s shadow?

Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison — two old Broncos who will forever bleed orange as loyal friends to the legendary No. 7 — are the obvious choices to be the next coach, if Elway wants a wing man to play Cougar to his Maverick.

Yes, we all know Elway is the top gun in Broncos Country. But wouldn’t hiring either Kubiak or Dennison from Baltimore as Elway’s new deputy be replicating everything good and bad about the past four years with John Fox, the avuncular coach who often seemed to be taking orders rather than giving orders?

When considering the essential quality Denver seeks in a new coach, however, here’s hoping Elway sincerely meant it when he said: “There is a huge jump from being at the Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl … Can I put my finger on it? No. But I was around it and I saw it, so whether I know it consciously or subconsciously, I know what it feels like, and I know what it takes.”

There are coaches out there with championship pedigrees, Go ahead, dream big about a candidate as sexy and fanciful as TV analyst Jon Gruden. Or think outside the box, to somebody as solid and unassuming as Green Bay offensive coordinator Tom Clements, who won a national championship as Notre Dame’s quarterback and a Super Bowl ring as a Packers assistant.

But I wonder how much autonomy Elway is willing to give his coach. Or does Elway want to dress down Denver players when they give a subpar preseason effort against Seattle and advise Peyton Manning to relax when the veteran quarterback is in a funk?

During the past three NFL seasons, which saw the Broncos win an impressive 38 regular-season games but no championship ring, the unofficial pecking order at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters was evident:

1) Elway, the Duke of Denver

2) Manning, Hall of Fame quarterback

3) Fox, coach who took the blame

If the Broncos want to win the Super Bowl, the organizational chart needs to be tweaked. If offensive coordinator Adam Gase were to be elevated to head coach, it’s unlikely anything would change.

Elway has done a remarkable job of sweeping aside the mess left by Josh McDaniels and restoring Denver to its place as one of the few sports franchises in America that’s a daily part of the national conversation.

But, now, Elway can’t let his ego get in the way of winning the league championship.

During the crazy, bewildering and ultimately disappointing final hours of their NFL season, when the Broncos went from Super Bowl contender to a team left scrambling to find a new coach while praying a 38-year-old QB has one more good season left in his beat-up body, there were two telling moments.

The first indication all was not hunky-dory at Dove Valley was the revelation that Fox, the ultimate get-along guy faulted for being too conservative and unassertive, was exploring the possibility of leaving Denver before the loss against Indianapolis. Before Elway shoved Fox out the door, the 59-year-old coach was preparing to jump.

Then there was this slip of the tongue that brought a chuckle to what could have been a somber state-of-the-Broncos address Tuesday by Elway. “I’d like to start out this press conference,” Elway said, “with a thank-you to John Elway …” Oops. He meant to thank Fox.

It was an accident. But it accidentally revealed a lot: In Broncos Country, the sun rises and sets with Elway.

There are too many knuckleheads in the Denver locker room, even if some of them (Von Miller and Aqib Talib) make the Pro Bowl. At times, Fox struggled to place full trust in draft picks such as Cody Latimer, Montee Ball and Orlando Franklin, as the veteran coach quietly yearned for more say in personnel decisions.

What does it say if Gase, who has worked closer with Denver quarterbacks than anyone, chased so hard after a job with Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco, when he has an aging Manning and unproven Brock Osweiler in Denver? Or what are we to think when defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio departed the Broncos for Oakland, certainly among the most dysfunctional organizations in pro sports?

The message is clear: The Broncos have both talent and Super Bowl-or-bust expectations. But an NFL coach in Denver also works in the shadow of a legend and can get dumped after four straight playoff appearances. That’s not an easy gig. The next coach must command the respect of Elway.

What’s one of the hardest things for a legendary quarterback to do?

Hand off the ball and let somebody else run with it.

Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or twitter.com/markkiszla

lyser wrote:

Bernie is going to bash a lot now that the LA cat is out of the bag. Comparing the Denver situation? Really? Apples and Oranges. Cards? How well did they do after we knocked their QBs out? Bernie is a douche.

Bernie missed the Rams back up QB beating the Broncos all everything QB? Fisher’s Rams beats both teams in last years Super Bowl with two different back up QBs in one season. Has that ever been done before?

I don’t see that as being fair. What would the Rams 2013 record be if Bradford played the entire season? What would the 2014 record be if Bradford played at all? How can anyone assign a level of equivalence between the two seasons? Somehow that is Fisher’s fault? My opinion is the Rams would have won 9 games this season with Bradford at QB. I can’t prove that but other pieces of the offense improved. Schotty leaving will certainly have an effect upon the offense too. Is that Fisher’s fault also? This team has had bad luck. Nothing more.

rfl wrote:

See, for me, the focus here isn’t on Bernie. I am not really interested in the question of whether this is Good or Bad Bernie.

The excerpts above express my observations and conclusions about the team pretty well. I think Bernie is telling the truth about a generally inept organization that has yet to turn things around.

How the coaching staff can claim progress after the past season just astonishes me.

And, at the risk of offending people I consider my friends, I’ll just say that I am bewildered by the fact that Bernie’s comments generate more grousing about Bernie than agreement that the Rams have not yet achieved anything in more than a decade.

Making claims to some nebulous level of improvement in talent level does not constitute growth in a league in which achievement is based on the results of a small number of games. You have to show that you can win, Baby. You have only 16 shots at doing it. Each game is precious, with immense pressure on the Win or Loss result. And the Rams have egregiously failed at that competitive challenge for 11 years.

It’s time that they were called on it. Bernie has done so. If you read closely, JT is doing it, too. The Rams standards are so low that a 6-10 season following a 7-9 season can be publicly described by the team leadership as improvement. That ought to be universally seen as appalling.

In my opinion, of course.

Who is claiming Bernie is wrong?

Speaking for myself, my complaint was that there was nothing new in there. No fresh insights. He’s said the same thing before. The difference is that this time he’s let his pissiness about the LA stadium seep into his perceptive analysis that the Rams’ record is still a losing record.

Meanwhile…since you brought it up…most of us find the Bradford injuries to be significant contributors to the Rams’ record, making it worse than it would have been. In other words, the team IS getting more talented even if the record isn’t improving. And it’s not like anybody is HAPPY with 6-10. We just don’t think that’s the whole story. You and Bernie can bottom line it if you want. Some of us think we have reason to optimistic that the team is close to playoff caliber if only it had a competent QB.

And…Bernie says this:

If Arizona coach Bruce Arians can lead the Cardinals to an 11-5 record with a roster torn by injuries, and with considerable turmoil at the quarterback position, then the Rams’ 6-10 record should be deemed unacceptable.

That 11-5 record – (11-6 if one counts the playoffs) – was sitting at 8-1 when they first started their backup QB. So from that point on, the Cards went 3-4… (3-5 if you count the loss to the 7-9 Panthers in the playoffs).

So…sorry if I’m not buying the crap Bernie is peddling with that particular argument. Turns out the genius Arians wasn’t all that good without Carson Palmer. And that was with a veteran team that had already gelled together.

All righty then.

I won’t beat this to death, though people may feel I am doing so already.

I don’t get the “nothing new” criticism. True, there is nothing new. After 11 years and 3 years of Fisher’s leadership. Losing is not new. Why is this not worthy of comment?

The harping on Sam is weird. I have always liked Sam and feel he would make us better. But, a couple of problems with the blaming of all our problems on Sam:

* Our record with him isn’t much better than with his backups.
* Snead and Fisher made the decision to trust his surgically repaired knee last year. They lost that bet–which I would have taken and been equally wrong.
* I don’t see how anyone can watch those games and simply blame the QB. I thought we didn’t do that around here.

Do you guys think we played like winners on a consistent basis this year … apart from the QB? Really? Not sure what games I was watching. ‘Cause I saw a bunch of guys fluctuating wildly between making a few plays and dissolving into chaos. I saw a team that shot itself in both feet, both hands, and any other appendage you’d care to mention, wasting games that were there for the taking, even with the QBing we had.

As for Arians, his superiority in coaching a team to compete in comparison to Fisher’s strikes me as blindingly obvious. I thought that was clear for the world to see in that home contest in which he beat us with nothing but discipline. He consistently has that team at its ceiling. Sometimes that’s a loss, but damn if they don’t compete. Do you really see that in the Rams? Honestly?

I dunno. Clearly, I am out of tune with this board. Obviously, what I see is pretty different from what you guys see. Maybe it is “bottom lining.” I dunno. That’s not how I understand what I am seeing or trying to say. But what the hell do I know?

rfl wrote:

All righty then.

I won’t beat this to death, though people may feel I am doing so already.

I don’t get the “nothing new” criticism. True, there is nothing new. After 11 years and 3 years of Fisher’s leadership. Losing is not new. Why is this not worthy of comment?

The harping on Sam is weird. I have always liked Sam and feel he would make us better. But, a couple of problems with the blaming of all our problems on Sam:

* Our record with him isn’t much better than with his backups.
* Snead and Fisher made the decision to trust his surgically repaired knee last year. They lost that bet–which I would have taken and been equally wrong.
* I don’t see how anyone can watch those games and simply blame the QB. I thought we didn’t do that around here.

Do you guys think we played like winners on a consistent basis this year … apart from the QB? Really? Not sure what games I was watching. ‘Cause I saw a bunch of guys fluctuating wildly between making a few plays and dissolving into chaos. I saw a team that shot itself in both feet, both hands, and any other appendage you’d care to mention, wasting games that were there for the taking, even with the QBing we had.

As for Arians, his superiority in coaching a team to compete in comparison to Fisher’s strikes me as blindingly obvious. I thought that was clear for the world to see in that home contest in which he beat us with nothing but discipline. He consistently has that team at its ceiling. Sometimes that’s a loss, but damn if they don’t compete. Do you really see that in the Rams? Honestly?

I dunno. Clearly, I am out of tune with this board. Obviously, what I see is pretty different from what you guys see. Maybe it is “bottom lining.” I dunno. That’s not how I understand what I am seeing or trying to say. But what the hell do I know?

I’ve felt for awhile that Bradford is really a “game manager” sort of QB who needs a lot of things right around him to succeed.

I don’t believe he can LIFT a team that is either injured or inferior in some ways. And I’m talking about a healthy Bradford.

There was plenty of criticism of him when he was healthy(I always thought his pocket awareness wasn’t great and he made slow decisions). But the guy has a good arm. And he was showing signs of getting better at pocket awareness. Now with two years of injuries I’m not sure what to expect.

But it is certainly hard for any team without a solid QB. The “experiment” with Davis this year was a bit of a tease. Things looked promising before he self-destructed and single handedly cost a couple of games. Hill was a bit more steady but he too had his key moments of awfulness.

I do believe that they really screwed the pooch on the offensive line. I mean–they tried but failed to fix some things there and no where is that easier to see than at center. Wells was a bad signing. Jones was a bad draft choice. I don’t know what happened with Barnes.

Even the defense looked sloppy at times–undisciplined.

It’s a combination of things for sure.

But Fisher has coached for 20 years in the NFL. At Tennessee he had a .542 winning percentage.

In St, louis it’s .427.

Total: .524

Andy Reid: .588(16 years)

Tom Coughlin: .539 (19 years)

Marvin Lewis: .526(12 years)

Pete Carroll: .576(9 years)

Belichick: .659(20 years)

for me it is about bernie. i think his argument and logic is flawed at best.

now have the rams underperformed? yes.

i don’t know that it necessarily means that they gotta start firing coaches.