okay so 4 games in…

I think we can say this about the defense:

1 They miss the very-solid-play of a healthy Chris Long

2 The younger players on the defense are making critical mistakes.
I think its not unreasonable to think they might improve as they
get more experience. But right now, they can be counted on
to make a few awful mistakes each game.

3 Greg Williams — I think its fair to question whether
GW has handled these players in the best way possible.
Maybe he has put too much on them, maybe they have
too much to think about. Maybe the young players will
start to ‘get it’ later in the year.
Or maybe the league has
just figured out how to counter GW’s approach.
Time will tell.

4 One very interesting stat is the one that showed the Rams
leading the NFL in stopping runs behind the Line. The rams
had five more of those in the Philly game compared to only
one by the Eagles D. So, something about GW’s D
is going right, too.

5 I think Aaron Donald is doing great for a rookie DT.
Weve all read it takes DT’s three years to really
blossom — we’ll he’s doing very weil for a green-rookie.
Looks a lot better than Brockers did in his rookie year.

Offense

1 Its all about the OLine.
Everything else, including QB,
looks ready to roll, to me.
Maybe Greg Robinson will help someday.
Maybe they draft another Olineman
high next year.

If the OLine plays well, this is a team
that can definitely lose Close,
high-scoring games.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by wv.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by wv.

I think Brian Quick has arrived. That’s all I can say. I’m too upset about the negatives to comment on them.

The Rams could easily be 3 – 1 and they could even more easily be 0 – 4.

I think that says a lot about this team. So close yet so far.

For years the Rams were an ugly larva twisting and roiling in the muck. Now they finally are ready to emerge from their chrysalis as a beautiful moth but their wing is caught so they just impotently flail against the sides of their cocoon prison.

Or something like that.

nittany ram wrote:

For years the Rams were an ugly larva twisting and roiling in the muck. Now they finally are ready to emerge from their chrysalis as a beautiful moth but their wing is caught so they just impotently flail against the sides of their cocoon prison.

That pretty well sums it up.

rfl wrote:

Fisher has clearly failed this year. I think he failed last year, too.

I’d love to see a new coach next year, though of course a replacement could make things worse. There are worse coaches, and I can imagine why some might want to give him 1 more chance, though ’15 would be the last one.

But he has failed this season. Pretty badly.

I dont agree, RFL
For me, its too early to judge Fisher’s season.
12 more games to play.
I’m expecting them to improve.

w
v

I have coach fatigue.

The thought of bringing in another guy, another system, other players–uhhh.

I’m giving Fisher one more year before I call for his head. But I’m disappointed with the results so far–for sure.

rfl wrote:

wv wrote:
I dont agree, RFL
For me, its too early to judge Fisher’s season.
w
v

Really? Honestly? He hasn’t had enough time to get the season going?

I just find that a remarkable thing to say.

How much time are you willing to give him?

After all, as you said all through the offseason, it’s Year Three!

I dont know how long I’m willing to give him,
but I’m willing to give him more than one-forth of year three 🙂

It would be different if i thought they were an overmatched mess.
But i think this team has real potential and talent and is CLOSE
to coming together. The ‘way’ they are losing is actually
infuriating, frustrating AND encouraging to ‘me’.

I mean you just said in another thread, it feels like 98.
Well doesnt that mean Fisher has them ‘close’. I think they are.

I could be wrong 🙂

But somewhere near mid-season give or take a game
or two, i am expecting to see a good team.
If it dont happen, I’ll reevaluate and
think about it some more.

What if they whip the 49ers?
Lets see how it goes next Sunday.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by wv.

wv wrote:

I dont know how long I’m willing to give him,
but I’m willing to give him more than one-forth of year three
…
I mean you just said in another thread, it feels like 98.
Well doesnt that mean Fisher has them ‘close’. I think they are.
Lets see how it goes next Sunday. …

w
v

But, see, despite what happened in ’99, ’98 WAS A FAILURE! I was ready to lynch Vermeil. That team had too much talent to play that abjectly. As they PROVED that the next year.

And consider the conditions that made ’99 possible. Vermeil CHANGED THINGS. Dramatically. He changed training camp, practice routines. He brought in Martz and changed the way he personally coached. Those changes are testimony to Vermeil’s recognition that the whole approach in ’98 had failed. Out of the failure came change and success. But ONLY through recognition that the practices of ’98 bred failure.

Now you ask what if we beat SF Monday? I actually think that might happen. Maybe a 30% chance? I think we actually match up well against SF.

But your question seems to imply that, if it happens, that would disprove my judgment. That’s a misreading of what I am saying. Remember–as I keep stressing, I am describing the season TO DATE, up to the present. I am NOT predicting the future, more than to say we are now in a deep hole, we are a long way from competitive discipline, and the odds of getting back into the race are very, very long. But I am not rejecting the idea that it could happen.

What I am saying is that Fisher is currently FAILING. Present tense. To use the metaphor I mention in another post, a student who fails the tests of the 1st quarter of the semester is FAILING. S/he may or may not recover, but the current performance is FAILING and if it continues, passing the course will be very hard if not impossible.

And I would argue that, as was true of Vermeil, breaking out of the failing cycle will require that things change. What they are doing is not working. Long and Wells aren’t working. Joseph isn’t. Yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill.

And the fact that they show flashes is not enough. If a student does really well on 50% of the test but fails the rest, that’s still failing. The fact that the defense looked great for 25:00 against DAL doesn’t alter the fact that it laid down and died the rest of the way. Only losing teams looking to build competence can earn credit for simply competing on some plays.

What these guys ARE DOING RIGHT NOW is nowhere near good enough. It just isn’t. You cannot WIN GAMES playing this way, despite the positive flashes. I don’t know how anyone can dispute that fact, though I see fans and pundits try.

We’re in Year 3, man. And consider the defense. We have some young guys, but they’re not the reason for the unit’s failure. The front 7 is spinning its wheels, under performing. But the rookie isn’t the reason. It’s veterans who have been in the system (Williams didn’t really change much) and in the league. It’s guys whom Fisher has had for years and has allowed to regress. They are capable of a helluva lot better–right? And they are FAILING to play winning football.

The failure is everywhere right now. And it isn’t because we have no talent. The reverse–we are failing what we clearly CAN DO. We are losing to mediocre teams and embarrassing ourselves with ill-considered game plans and lousy execution. And we are not any longer a bad team under new management for which improvement is a victory. The test is simple–win or lose. And we are currently failing.

Look. The league makes it simple. You kick off 16 times. You win or you lose. To have a good year, you really need to prepare to play games that count in Week 1. Good teams do that. We have not done that yet … in 3 years. Fisher has had a full camp, 4 PS games, 4 regular season games, and a bye week. And he STILL fields teams unprepared to play games.

OK. I know I’m obsessing. And I’ll stop.

You know how much I care about you and the others on the board. But the excuses made for Fisher are driving me bonkers.

You know, Martz (with Vermeil) started 3 consecutive seasons 6 & 0. And he was frequently criticized for not preparing his team for the start of the season. He delivered 2 SB appearances and 1 win. And people hammered him relentlessly over performances a helluva lot better than what we are now doing. Fisher appears to have a Teflon reputation. The ordinary coach would be excoriated by fans and in the press by now. But he apparently can’t be judged yet because he needs more time.

I don’t get it.