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December 29, 2015 at 9:24 pm #36282
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Purdy: 49ers’ Jim Tomsula sounds like a man ready to be firedhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/49ers/ci_29318900/purdy-49ers-jim-tomsula-sounds-like-man-ready
Unless I am mistaken, Jim Tomsula kinda sorta fired himself Monday.
Tomsula did not mean to do it, of course. But at his Monday media session, the 49ers head coach faced a question about how he and his staff are doing. He replied by basically admitting that the scoreboard (Detroit 32-17 in the latest delightful installment) does not work in their favor.
“We’re in a performance-based business,” Tomsula said. “We’ve got four wins, man. It’s volatile. I understand that, everybody understands that. When you’re a coach, the minute you sign the contract, boom, clock starts.”
Right. And it would seem that the clock is ticking down to Tomsula’s final moments at the podium.
It’s not as if the earnest Jimmy T even did much to argue with that premise Monday. Four times during his presser, Tomsula said there was “no excuse” for the seven neutral zone penalties by the 49ers defensive unit in Sunday’s game. He called the performance “no good.” Tomsula said that he could not “sit up here and defend it any way,” even though he was standing and not sitting.
What else? Tomsula also admitted that the 49ers’ sloppy tackling issues are not “nailed down” and that his staff “obviously doesn’t have the right answers yet” for that problem.
And there was this: I asked why Tomsula’s team, which began December with an uplifting overtime victory in Chicago, could not build on that result and what he might have done as a coach to make things go better over the past three weeks.
In response, Tomsula referenced the loss in Cleveland, which he acknowledged was “no good” and a “big step down.” Then, after he talked about how he still saw some good signs of the coaches and younger players starting to “gel,” he answered my question.
“What could I have done?” Tomsula said. “Probably, in Cleveland I put a lot of emphasis on starting fast in terms of throwing the ball, getting it down the field and things like that. And that’s just not how we’re built right now. So, that’s a Jimbo.”
He did not go on to precisely define what a “Jimbo” is. But my presumption is that it was a personal mess-up. Future historians may use the word to describe the entire 2015 season.
So to review: Tomsula said there was no excuse for the 49ers’ defensive “Jimbos” on Sunday. He said his staff can find no answers for the missed tackles. Also, he likely messed up the game plan in Cleveland himself by proposing that the 49ers offense try to do something it did not have the personnel to do.
To paraphrase a certain 49ers general manager, somewhere in there I think Tomsula said that he couldn’t give us much evidence that he should return in 2016.
Although just for the record, Tomsula said he had not discussed his job situation with the front office and stated: “I’m going to coach until somebody tells me I’m not.”
Count me among those who believe the 49ers will tell him he’s not. They almost have no choice.
I know, I know. Common wisdom says that owner Jed York and G.M. Trent Baalke will retain Tomsula because A) they don’t want to admit they were wrong in hiring him and B) they believe he had an impossible task because of last season’s key retirements and this season’s key injuries.
I am of the exact opposite view. The 49ers are in a discombobulated and dreadful state. York does not need airplane banners to tell him this. He must make many tough and radical decisions to get the franchise back on any sort of playoff contending path. He may or may not make those tough moves. But the easiest decision and simplest move is always to change head coaches. So that’s the first thing the 49ers will do.
Tomsula has indeed endured some unfortunate breaks. And he was inheriting an 8-8 team, not a division champion. Another .500 season would have been understandable and maybe even acceptable. But the recent losses to Cleveland and Detroit, two beatable teams that have had their own issues, were … well, no good and not excusable. They were Jimbos. After Tomsula is dismissed, who knows? Everything should be on the table. That includes Baalke’s position and the entire front office structure. York may only be willing to go so far. But he once fired Mike Singletary near the end of a six-win season — two more than Tomsula has earned so far — and then made a bold move by hiring Jim Harbaugh. Don’t automatically assume something like that can’t happen again.
The notion that no meaningful candidates will be interested in the position is also a false one. For instance, I have good information that Mike Holmgren, who coached both the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl, is interested in talking about the job. Holmgren has been out of the game since 2012. But as a San Francisco native and former 49ers offensive coordinator, he has an affection for the franchise.
None of that may lead to anything. Holmgren is likely to make demands about personnel matters that the 49ers are reluctant to meet. But why not at least kick the tires on Holmgren’s comeback vehicle? He is 67 years old. But here are four other current NFL head coaches in their 60’s: Tom Coughlin, Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick and Bruce Arians. Three of the four have won Super Bowls. The fourth may win the next one. Plus, if Holmgren is interested in the gig, others surely would be under the right conditions.
Meanwhile, Tomsula does have one more game to coach this season, Sunday against St. Louis at Levi’s Stadium. It would be nice to see him go out without a Jimbo. But I can’t see it making a difference in whether there’s a new 49ers coach in 2016. Tomsula himself keeps making the best case for it.
December 29, 2015 at 9:27 pm #36283znModeratorWilliams says 49ers ‘making strides’
SANTA CLARA — In an otherwise lost season for the 49ers, nose tackle Ian Williams has emerged as one of the NFL’s top interior linemen.
More important to the 49ers: He wants to stick around.
“I would love to,” Williams said Monday. “This is where I’ve been. This is where I know. Guys on the team, I’m comfortable with. I would love to be back.”
Williams, 26, is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. That’s good timing for the 6-foot-1, 305-pound lineman, who finally showed what he can do when healthy,
Williams had another big day Sunday in the 49ers’ 32-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. Pro Football Focus grades him as the third-best nose tackle/defensive tackle in the NFL over the past five weeks, including first against the run.
Overall this season, Williams ranks fifth in run-stop percentage, according to PFF.
Signed by the 49ers as an undrafted free agent of Notre Dame in 2011, Williams managed only 10 career starts before this season and spent much of the last two years on injured reserve.
“It feels good just to be able to say I made it to Week 16,” he said Monday.
Williams said he has told his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to leave him out of any contract discussions until the season is over because he doesn’t want the distraction. But the 49ers’ disappointing season under coach Jim Tomsula has not soured him on a future with the franchise.
“We’re building,” Williams said Monday. “It may not be a 12-4 season or a 10-6 season, but we’re getting there. We’re making strides, and we have guys here that are willing to get better and want to get better this offseason. …
“(Tomsula) is building something. We see it. The record may not show it, but the culture here in the locker room and what we’re trying to do is going to be seen. … I want to see the success.”
Tomsula remained at a loss Monday in trying to explain the 49ers’ penalty meltdown against the Lions. They were flagged for being offside or in the neutral zone seven times, the most by an NFL team this year, according to STATS.
“Absolutely inexcusable,” Tomsula said. “I’m not going to sit up here and defend it in any way. I’m not going to give you 19 excuses. Can’t happen.”
Six of those presnap penalties came in the first half, the first time that has happened since the Houston Oilers did it against the New Orleans Saints in 1993, according to STATS.
Poor tackling remains a bugaboo for the 49ers defense, which is how the Lions offense dominated the time of possession, 36:30 to 23:30. Proper technique has been an emphasis in practice, with the 49ers going so far as to change their drills.
Tomsula said players were better about angles and initial contact Sunday but failed to wrap up the ball carrier.
“Tackling has been something we’ve been on defensively quite a bit, and we’re attacking that,” the coach said. “We obviously don’t have all the right answers yet. We don’t have that nailed down.”
Both safeties, Jaquiski Tartt and Eric Reid, were dinged for three missed tackles apiece, according to Pro Football Focus.
Phil Dawson passed former Lions kicker Eddie Murray for 17th place on the NFL’s all-time points. Dawson has 1,598 career points. Lou Groza is 16th with 1,608, and Sebastian Janikowski of the Raiders ranks 15th with 1,670.
Tomsula indicated that none of the 49ers injuries suffered Sunday were serious. His report included defensive tackle Quinton Dial (back strain), defensive lineman Arik Armstead (leg contusion) and outside linebacker Eli Harold (dislocated finger).
Blaine Gabbert’s 106.2 passer rating marked his first full game at 100-plus as a starter since Oct. 21, 2012, against the Raiders (123.6).
December 29, 2015 at 9:52 pm #36285znModerator49ers’ Tomsula still searching for answers amid mess of a season
http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-Tomsula-still-searching-for-answers-amid-6724081.php
By now, 16 weeks into the season, Jim Tomsula’s Monday news conferences carry a Groundhog Day flavor to them. Same thing, week after desultory week. Not much to ask, not much to say.
This time, Tomsula bemoaned Sunday’s loss to Detroit – much as he bemoaned the loss to Cincinnati one week earlier and the loss to Cleveland the week before that. At one point Monday, a reporter interrupted the monotony by bluntly asking Tomsula if he expected to be head coach of the 49ers next season.“I’m going to coach until somebody tells me I’m not,” Tomsula said.
So he’s not entirely sure, either.
If the 49ers lose Sunday’s season finale against St. Louis, they will finish 4-12 for the first time since 2005, the opening season of Mike Nolan’s tenure as head coach. The 49ers last posted a record worse than 4-12 in ’04, when they were 2-14 in Dennis Erickson’s second and final season in San Francisco.
Tomsula insisted his young team has improved since the season started, but he also understands the cold reality of its record (4-11).
“I think there’s been a lot of growth,” he said. “But this is a performance-based business. We have four wins, man. You sign a contract as the coach and you’re on the clock. I get it.”
The way the 49ers are losing doesn’t reflect especially well on Tomsula and his coaching staff. Sunday’s defeat included seven offsides or neutral-zone infraction penalties (six in the first half).Plus, defensive players frequently missed tackles – a familiar and maddening sight this season.
As for the parade of penalties, Tomsula said, “No excuses. We have to be disciplined. They did a nice job of working their snap counts, changing the rhythm, but I worked in that area (coaching the defensive line) for a long time. There’s no excuse. Absolutely inexcusable.”
December 29, 2015 at 9:54 pm #36286znModeratorEarly preview: Rams at 49ers
COMING THIS WEEK
With a shot at their first non-losing campaign since 2006, the Rams (7-8) look to close out the season with four consecutive wins when they take on the San Francisco 49ers (4-11) Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Game time is 3:25 p.m. The Rams, coming off an impressive 23-17 win in Seattle, are training in Napa Valley this week.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Quarterback Blaine Gabbert. The former Parkway West High and University of Missouri standout is just 2-5 as a starter this season, but 49ers coach Jim Tomsula likes the way his 26-year-old QB has competed. In Sunday’s 32-17 loss in Detroit, Gabbert completed 22 of 33 passes for 225 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His 106.2 passer rating was the third-best of his career.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Gabbert left Mizzou after his junior season and was drafted 10th overall by Jacksonville in 2011. As a rookie, he became the youngest QB in NFL history to start at least 13 games.
Taking over after Colin Kaepernick was sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury, Gabbert has made seven starts for the Niners, completing 63 percent of his passes for 1,677 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. He also has a rushing TD.
HE SAID IT
“It was a tale of two halves,” Gabbert said after Sunday’s loss. “We started fast, put some points on the board and had a good first half. We just have to find a way to come out and execute better in the second half. It’s plain and simple. We’d been starting slow and finishing strong, and it was just the opposite today.”
San Francisco, which has lost three in a row and five of six, scored on two of its first three possessions Sunday to lead 14-10 in the second quarter. In the second half, the Lions controlled the ball and the clock while taking advantage of several 49er mistakes to post the win.
INJURIES
On Monday, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said the team’s players in the concussion protocol after Sunday’s game — LB/S Mark Barron, DT Nick Fairley and DE Ethan Westbrooks — were “all doing better.’’
Other than a back strain suffered by DE Quinton Dial, San Francisco came out of the loss in Detroit relatively healthy. RB Shaun Draughn (knee) and C Marcus Martin (concussion) did not play Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY
With an impressive 27-6 win Nov. 1 at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams trimmed San Francisco’s overall lead to just one game at 65-64-3. Since the Rams’ move to St. Louis, the 49ers have gone 24-16-1 against their longtime rivals. The Rams limited San Francisco to 11 first downs and 189 offensive yards in the November game. The Rams’ Todd Gurley scored on a 71-yard run and rushed for 133 yards in his fourth NFL start.
December 30, 2015 at 8:15 am #36296znModeratorRams Finale Will Offer Fuel for Fisher Critics and Backers
Brandt Dolce
http://www.101sports.com/2015/12/29/fisher-critics-backers-tight-spot-heading-season-finale/
Jeff Fisher seems to have a way to get under the skin of fans for his own team.
The Rams coach’s middling record produces whimsical memes on a weekly basis. After leading his team to an improbable week one comeback over Seattle in St. Louis, it seemed the fourth year under the head coach could possibly bear fruit for the teams’ long-suffering fans, and the hope for a playoff appearance crept into conversations.
Perhaps Fisher had his squad over the hump at last.
Week two at Washington was a resounding thud, as Rams loyalists quickly remembered what being a Rams fan has become.
After a pair of home wins over inferior competition, the Rams sat at (4-3) and headed to Minnesota for perhaps a season-defining victory on the road. Instead, the Rams lost in overtime, despite outplaying the favored Vikings for much of contest.
That loss started a five-game losing streak that cost offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti his job, and the Rams any real chance at a playoff appearance. Rob Boras stepped in as Cignetti’s replacement and paid dividends, as the Rams beat Detroit and Tampa.
It was predictable that the Rams would show a spark after winding up all but eliminated from playoff contention.
This was just enough effort and accomplishment to get the team nearer to the .500 mark, and further from the top of the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The week 16 matchup at Seattle to face the intimidating Seahawks would be just what the doctor ordered to keep the anti-Fisher movement frothing at the mouth. Las Vegas agreed, as the Rams came in as nearly two touchdown underdogs.
In classic Fisher style, he summoned a victory when most thought his team was incapable of doing so.
Given virtually no chance to emerge victorious, Fisher’s Rams rumbled into CenturyLink Field and man-handled the streaking Seahawks. It was the first time since January 8th, 2005, that a Rams squad went to Seattle and returned with a win.
Fisher told 101ESPN after Sunday’s upset that his team was ready for the challenge.
“No one gave us a chance, and we just fought right through the week. We had to overcome some injuries, we lost three or four guys (during the game). Guys just stepped in and played. Just really proud of them.” Fisher said.
Fisher relishes the underdog role, and knows which buttons to push on his guys to get them to produce in unlikely scenarios.
St. Louis is now 4-1 in the NFC West, and (7-8) overall.
This improbable victory highlights the infuriating nature of the Rams under fisher; Win games you’re not supposed to win, and lose games that are sure victories.
The Rams have a realistic shot at completing a non-losing season for the first time since 2006. Week 17 is a game against the lowly San Francisco 49ers (4-11), with the Rams favored to win.
It would be just like the Rams and Fisher to show up at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, and duplicate the performance that cost the team victories throughout the season. The early line has the Rams as 3.5 point favorites in SanFran.
The 2015 season finale will give both sides fodder for their arguments for or against Fisher.
The Rams win, and the pro-Fisher sentiment touts the four-game winning streak to end the season as proof that Fisher’s system still works in today’s NFL. Even if the Rams don’t come out on top, the pro-Fisher regime can point to a 3-1 finish.
The anti-Fisher crowd has more to gain in the season’s final contest. A win and an (8-8) finish can be scarred by pointing to Fisher’s inability to win games where his team played better than the opposition (@Baltimore, @Minnesota and Pittsburgh at home).
A loss, and it’s easy to point to Fisher’s best record being his first season with the team, and the one where he most likely has the least amount of talent.
Fisher is in a win-win situation, or is it lose-lose? Either way, the last game of the season will be worth watching.
January 1, 2016 at 2:16 pm #36429znModeratorOn 49ers: Miscalculations helped sink offense
http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article52479580.html
BY MATT BARROWS
mbarrows@sacbee.com
SANTA CLARA
The Battle for the Bottom begins Sunday.In one corner we have the 31st-ranked 49ers offense, which averages 293.5 yards a game. San Francisco has scored fewer points – by far – than any team in the league (14.6 per game) and has allowed the most sacks (52). The 49ers are four sacks from setting a franchise record in that category.
14.6 49ers’ points per game, by far the fewest in the NFL
In the other corner is the 32nd-ranked Rams offense, which averages 293.1 yards. St. Louis has the NFL’s worst passing offense and also is 32nd in first downs (220) and third-down-conversion percentage (26.1 percent). The 49ers are 31st in those two categories.
How did we get here?
At their end-of-year news conference, the 49ers might say that their ship was wracked by unforeseen squalls and punctured by hidden reefs, and in some cases that’s true.
It’s also important to remember that the 49ers haven’t had a high-revving, high-scoring offense since Steve Mariucci was the coach. Last year, for example, the team was 25th in points per game.
But the 49ers’ brass largely is being paid for its foresight. The job is to analyze, anticipate problems and provide options B and C if option A is unavailable. And in these ways, those who run the 49ers have failed:
1. Running back woes
At one point, Carlos Hyde – remember him? – was the NFL’s leading rusher. He came out of the chute in Week 1 with the aggression of a Brahma bull. But he could not sustain that style. He suffered a head injury in Week 2 that kept him out of the second half. He broke his foot in Week 5, eventually knocking him out for the season.
Asked if Hyde needs to alter his approach, coach Jim Tomsula said the 49ers drafted him for his hard-charging style and won’t ask him to change. Still, it’s hard to see Hyde lasting a full season as a workhorse runner.
He missed two games in 2014 because of an ankle injury when he was Frank Gore’s backup. He missed at least two games each season he was at Ohio State for reasons ranging from suspension to an MCL sprain.
Reggie Bush, who sat out five games because of injuries while playing for Detroit in 2014, played only 48 offensive snaps for the 49ers this year, and Mike Davis (hand) and Shaun Draughn (knee) also missed extended periods.
2. Offensive line issues
Tackle Anthony Davis didn’t do the team any favors when he announced in June that he wouldn’t play in 2015. Had he decided that in March or April, the 49ers could have made a move earlier in the draft instead of waiting until the sixth round to select an offensive lineman.
Still, the 49ers allowed one of the top guards in the league, Mike Iupati, to depart as a free agent with the thought that one of several young linemen drafted by general manager Trent Baalke would rise in his place.
That didn’t happen. Marcus Martin was forced to play center, where he was the lowest-rated player in the NFL. Brandon Thomas and Ian Silberman didn’t take a snap. The 49ers instead relied on two players, Jordan Devey and Andrew Tiller, who were not drafted by Baalke.
3. Tight end trouble
The 49ers entered the season thinking tight end was a strength. That struck the ear as odd when it was iterated in the summer. It now seems laughable.
One of those tight ends, Vernon Davis, seemed indifferent during the 2014 season while another, Vance McDonald, seemed unreliable. Neither did anything to change those notions this year. The 49ers’ best – or at least most consistent – tight end was Garrett Celek, and he ended the season on injured reserve for the second straight year.
The 49ers affirmed their miscalculation at midseason by trading Davis, one of three tight ends they dealt in 2015. Their tight end corps to end the year: McDonald, Blake Bell, Brian Leonhardt and Je’Ron Hamm.
January 2, 2016 at 2:30 pm #36475znModeratorPractice Report 12/31: Finishing Strong Defensively
By Myles Simmons
NAPA, Calif. — A few weeks ago, the Rams fell to 4-8, which was a record far from the expectations the club had set for itself coming into 2015. Despite the disappointment, the team continued to stay focused, and defensively, coordinator Gregg Williams set a high bar for the last four games.
“Gregg always talked about going 4-0 the last quarter of the season,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “That was a big goal of ours. We’re at 3-0, we can accomplish that. Do something we haven’t done here, win four in a row and kind of move on from that.”
“I believe it’s important for a confidence standpoint to be doing right at the end of the year,” Williams said. “I was pretty hard, pretty stern about this last quarter of the season, about being 4-0. And we wouldn’t be in position right now to go do that, to be 4-0 in this last quarter, had we not taken care of business in the first three games.”
Now at Week 17, having the opportunity to finish a season at .500 is still significant, given it’s a mark St. Louis has not reached since the 2006 season.
“It’s not where we want to be, and quite frankly, this team, we’re going to look back and be like, ‘Goodness, how aren’t we 10-6 or 11-5?’” Laurinaitis said. “But it feels better to be at 8-8 saying that than at 6-10.”
Even though the playoffs are not an option, multiple players have said the team has treated these last couple weeks as if they were the postseason.
“We always talked about, hey, if we do make the playoffs, we’re going to have to go up somewhere like Seattle and play in a playoff-type atmosphere,” Laurinaitis said. “So we treated that like a playoff game, and we got over that hump of not winning there in a decade. Hopefully, it spurs our franchise around like it did the Cardinals, when they went up there when nobody was winning at Seattle.”
“We’re treating this game like a playoff game,” cornerback Trumaine Johnson said. “We treated the Seattle game like a playoff game. That’s our mindset coming in. So I feel like if we do what we’ve got to do, we’ll come out with a victory.”
Last week, the defense played one of its best games against a Seattle offense that had been rolling. The multiple injuries to the unit, especially across the defensive line, made holding the Seahawks to just 17 points and 313 yards of offense that much more significant.
“The way our D-line played was remarkable. Really, the whole defense,” Laurinaitis said. “We were super physical with them, especially in that first half. I’m not sure a team has played them as physical as we did on Sunday. Anytime you can score on defense that early in the game, it really just lets you relax and play fast.”
Sunday’s victory also saw Johnson continue his run of strong play. He’s now intercepted a pass in each of his last four games, bringing his total to seven on the season.
“Finishing strong is the focal point,” Johnson said. “Our goal was to finish 4-0, and I’m doing everything possible to finish 4-0. So if anything, just finishing 4-0 and strong.”
“Tackling very well. Playing very smart. Jumping routes. Understanding route concepts, formations, splits, alignments and things like that. He’s doing a great job with that,” Fisher said of Johnson. “The hand-eye coordination is extraordinary. He can make plays on the ball.”
But this week presents another divisional challenge with the 49ers. While San Francisco has gone through its share of disappointments this year, it’s still a team with a noticeable identity on film.
“That’s their bread-and-butter right now, is keep the ball away from opposing offenses,” Fisher said. “They do a nice job of the conventional run game with the I-formation and stuff and the extra tight ends.”
“They do a great job of that,” Williams said of the Niners’ run game. “You take at those guys when their offensive linemen get off the bus, you say, well there’s some football players there. And they’re big, strong men. And we’ve got to play well in the run game.”
Plus, quarterback Blaine Gabbert has played well since taking over for Colin Kaepernick. The St. Louis native and Mizzou product has completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,677 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. And while he may not be known as much for running as Kaepernick, Gabbert has rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown on 25 attempts in 2015.
“For the most part, they’re still the same 49ers — the same structure, the same play concepts,” Williams said. “There’s a few other tendencies that Blaine does better and is able to do some things.”
“Colin, he had the zone-read style runs that were built in for him, they don’t do that as much with Blaine,” Laurinaitis said. “But it seems like on third-and-whatever, if Blaine’s first two options aren’t there, he’s running it.”
Shutting the offense down will be a challenge, considering the two teams are division rivals and thus know one another quite well.
“We’re going to have to be ready to go,” Williams said. “This division is a strong division. They know us, we know them. So it’ll come down to who’s prepared the best.”
“We expect everything from them,” Laurinaitis said. “It’s the NFC West. There’s no motivation [needed] for either team other than division game, cap it off. We’ve got all offseason to heal up.”
January 3, 2016 at 10:10 am #36527znModeratorRams are seeking 8-8 finish
Jim Thomas
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. • Even with a victory Sunday, the Rams may spend the offseason wondering about that blown 10-point lead in the fourth quarter in Baltimore. That dropped touchdown pass by Lance Kendricks against Pittsburgh. Or Jeff Fisher’s decision to go for 2 after that first touchdown in Minnesota.
Because when the dust settles on the 2015 season Sunday evening, the Rams could very well fall just one victory short of their first playoff berth since 2004.
No matter what happens in the season finale against San Francisco (4-11), the Rams’ late-season revival will be a case of too little too late in terms of postseason play. And in that sense 2015 can only be looked at as another disappointing season.
But however trivial it may seem to some fans and observers, the Rams still have some goals in mind. Such as a 5-1 finish in the NFC West, their first season sweep of the 49ers since 2004, a four-game winning streak to end the season. And an 8-8 finish.
The Rams haven’t gone 5-1 in division plays since ‘04. They haven’t had a four-game winning streak since 2003, their last division championship team. That 12-4 squad actually won seven in a row at one point, only to be upset by Carolina in the NFC playoff semifinals in double-overtime.
An 8-8 finish would be more meaningful, because it would represent the Rams’ best finish since 2006. That Scott Linehan-coached team overcame a 1-7 stretch in the middle of the season by winning its last three games — against Oakland, Washington, and Minnesota — to finish 8-8.
Eight straight losing seasons have followed, including the infamous 15-65 stretch from 2007 through 2011 — the worst five-year record by any team in NFL history. The eight consecutive losing seasons is the longest current streak in football. All 31 other teams have had at least one .500 finish, if not a winning record, since 2006.
So yes, there is a difference between 7-9 and 8-8 for the Rams. An 8-8 finish would have some meaning to the organization.
“Yeah, it does,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “You always want to finish up on a winning note. Once you get past this weekend, there’s only one team that ends on a winning note.”
And that’s the Super Bowl champion.
“And so this weekend’s important for those that don’t have a chance to get into the postseason, to win a football game and jump into the offseason and the (offseason) program with some momentum,” Fisher said. “Unfortunately, I’ve been there a couple times before and it paid dividends the next year.”
The Rams haven’t won a season finale since that 2006 season under Linehan, a 41-21 victory over Minnesota. The energy was high in the locker room after that game; the players and coaches brimming with confidence about what lay ahead.
Alas, the Rams finished 3-13 in 2007, and after an 0-4 start in ‘08 Linehan was gone. So there are no guarantees.
Even so, the 2015 Rams are buying in. In part, because the prospect of 8-8 sure looks a lot better than what might have been. A month ago, a 5-11 or 4-12 finish seemed almost inevitable.
“We’re not going to the playoffs,” said defensive end Chris Long, the longest-tenured Ram. “But not everybody in this league plays it out to the end, and not everybody in this league cares when everybody says there’s nothing on the line. This locker room is totally different than that. So it’s a blessing to be in this room.”
To the point where some players wish they had a little more regular season left — to wedge their way into the postseason. Where’s that 18-game schedule when you need it?
“Oh man. Anything to get us in the playoffs,” wide receiver Kenny Britt said. “A couple more games to help us out, we sure would want to take those games. But now, we’re just gonna get ready for the next one.”
The last one for this season, and quite possibly the last one for the Rams as a St. Louis-based franchise. Tucked away in the semi-remote Napa Valley this week, far away from the flooding in St. Louis, the relocation topic didn’t come up this week.
But as the players have said all season, that’s out of their control. The only thing they can control is what’s in front of them. This week that happens to be how they perform at 3:25 p.m. (St. Louis time) at Levi’s Stadium against the 49ers.
“I believe it’s important from a confidence standpoint to be doing it right at the end of the year,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. “I was pretty hard, pretty stern, about this last quarter of the season about being 4-0. We wouldn’t be in a position right now to go do that, to be 4-0 in this last quarter, had we not taken care of business the first three times — the first three games in this last quarter of the season.”
Meaning victories over Detroit, Tampa Bay, and playoff-bound Seattle. Williams, who spoke with reporters after Thursday’s practice, said he saw encouraging signs from the team this week.
“I haven’t had to really worry about them in the meetings and how focused they’ve been in the meetings,” Williams said. “They’ve really practiced well. You can see the tempo of the practices.
“You can see the communication of the practices, and you also see that these guys like being around each other. That’s the fun part of it, because it is a real tight-knit fraternity.”
Which makes you wonder. If only Williams had spoken with the team at midseason. About going, say, 6-2, over the second half of the season.
January 3, 2016 at 10:11 am #36528znModerator7 things to watch: Rams at 49ers
Jim Thomas
‘NINERS RUNNING ON EMPTY
Man, do the 49ers miss departed running back Frank Gore. The talented, but injury-prone Carlos Hyde made it through only seven games before a foot problem ended his season. Veteran Reggie Bush suffered a season-ending knee injury while stumbling out of bounds on the concrete edges of the Edward Jones Dome surface, in St. Louis, on Nov. 1. The ’Niners, who managed only 38 yards on 21 carries in that meeting with the Rams, will trot out some combination of former Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne, retread DeJuan Harris, and rookie Kendall Gaskins.
ANQUAN THE GREAT
Anquan Boldin missed the first 49ers-Rams contest because of a hamstring injury but is to be on the field Sunday, one week after becoming the 13th player in NFL history with 1,000 career catches. He’s as tough and physical as they come at wide receiver and even with his skills starting to diminish at age 35, the Rams can’t afford to take him lightly. The ’Niners’ other top wideout, former Raven Torrey Smith, told Bay Area reporters recently that his 2015 season has been “terrible.” But his 602 yards receiving would lead the Rams, and his 21.5 yards per catch leads the league.
LIFE WITHOUT DAVIS
The day after the 27-6 loss to the Rams in what was Game 8 for the 49ers, the team traded veteran tight end Vernon Davis to Denver. Over the years, Davis has had some moments vs. the Rams, including five TD catches and a 118-yard game in 2011. So the Rams won’t miss his big frame running down the seam or in the red zone. His replacement, third-year man Vance McDonald, is coming off one of the most productive games of his young career — five catches for 61 yards and a TD vs. Detroit — but is nothing special.
GABBERT AT QB
QB Blaine Gabbert, the pride of Parkway West High and the University of Missouri, makes his eighth start for the 49ers in place of Colin Kaepernick. Gabbert is 2-5 in his starts and has thrown a modest six interceptions in 238 passes. But Gabbert has played it safe, throwing a lot of check-downs and underneath stuff, and the ’Niners are converting only 23.2 percent of their third downs with him under center. The Rams have been impressed by his improvisational skills and athleticism on scrambles.
HOLD THAT LINE
One of the biggest issues on San Francisco’s 31st ranked offense has been blocking, particularly pass-blocking. The ’Niners have yielded 52 sacks this season, a league-high total and just four short of a franchise record. A record, they’d obviously rather do without. Rookie Trent Brown made his first NFL start last week at right tackle, so this could be a matchup edge for Rams left defensive ends Williams Hayes (who had three sacks last week vs. Seattle) and Chris Long.
HOLD THAT LINE II
Meanwhile, the Rams’ offensive line has shown improvement over the past few weeks, and will start the same line combination for the fifth consecutive game in LT Greg Robinson, LG Garrett Reynolds, C Tim Barnes, RG Cody Wichmann and RT Rob Havenstein. Granted, the Rams don’t pass the ball a whole lot — in fact, they’re tied for the league low with Minnnesota (435 attempts). But they’ve yielded a league-low 18 sacks, an impressive accomplishment considering the inexperience and injuries on the O-line.
LIFE WITHOUT GURLEY
For the first time since Game 2, against Washington, the Rams will play a game without Todd Gurley (foot injury) at running back. In what has been a highly disappointing season for backup Tre Mason, this marks one last opportunity for the second-year pro to redeem himself. Benny Cunningham will figure into the mix, especially on passing downs. Rams coach Jeff Fisher also indicated undrafted rookie Malcolm Brown, promoted to the active roster from the practice squad this week, could see some action.
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