Jeff Fisher cost Rams a chance to win, but he won’t admit it
Vincent Bonsignore
http://www.ramsondemand.com/threads/bonsignore-jeff-fisher-cost-rams-a-chance-to-win-but-he-wont-admit-it.46854/
Maybe in some alternate universe where Bradley Marquez is the equivalent of a prime-time Reggie Bush and the Rams didn’t have three timeouts remaining and their defense wasn’t playing its guts out and there were two minutes left to play, not four, maybe then Jeff Fisher would have been right to dial up a fake punt from his own 23-yard line.
Eh, who the hell are we kidding.
No, absolutely not.
No way, no how.
It wouldn’t have been a prudent call under those circumstances and it certainly wasn’t judicious in the situation the Rams faced on Sunday with a chance to steal a win over the Buffalo Bills and take another decisive step forward in the standings.
On a blazing hot Sunday afternoon in which the Rams left far too many makable plays on the Coliseum turf Sunday than they care to remember, the one they’ll be kicking themselves over most had less to do with execution or talent than flawed thinking.
Todd Gurley put a ball on the turf that resulted in a Bills touchdown in the second quarter.
Case Keenum floated a lazy sideline pass into the waiting arms of Bills cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman for a devastating pick-6 that put Buffalo up by a touchdown in the third.
And the Rams continued to shoot themselves in the foot with sloppy penalties at the most inopportune times.
All of which contributed to a 30-19 loss that sent the Rams stumbling into a two-week road odyssey to Detroit and London with negative momentum rather than positive.
But nothing was as egregious as the fake punt Fisher ordered with 3:47 left in the game, the Bills leading 23-19, and the Rams facing a fourth-and-5 from their own 23-yard line.
Rather then give his team one more chance to get the ball back and drive the field for a game-winning score, Fisher gifted the Bills the ball at the 24-yard-line. From there, they easily delivered a final dagger when Marquise Goodwin reeled in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to put the game out of reach.
Then Fisher clumsily pointed the finger everywhere else — including the Coliseum crowd of all things — rather than admitting he might have needlessly rolled the dice when being careful would have been the proper call.
Culminating with one final reach by going all in on what might have been or should have been had guys just done their job.
“If that thing works, it’s really good stuff,” Fisher said.
But it didn’t.
And everything Fisher said to justify or rationalize it was simply chatter to shift attention from the real issue.
He blew the call.
It didn’t cost them the game. But it denied them one final chance to win it.
And with every victory so precious to the Rams right now while playing with limited offensive weapons that leave very little margin for error, that’s nearly as bad as losing it.
Winning is tough enough as it is, let alone your head coach stepping in to sabotage things.
With the right decision staring him right in his face, Fisher fumbled it all away.
Rather than punt the ball and then lean on the strength of his team to get it right back with sufficient time to mount a comeback. Fisher put it in the hands of Marquez on a direct snap fake punt that Buffalo easily snuffed out.
Then Fisher did the most curious thing: He simultaneously threw his players under the bus while also blaming the crowd at the Coliseum for alerting Bills cornerback Ronald Darby the fake was on.
While never once admitting that, well you know, the whole part about calling a fake punt inside his own 25 in a one-score game with all his timeouts left — and the two minute warning — was brutally ill-advised.
Instead, Fisher put it squarely on the shoulders of his players by insisting the defensive look fit the call, and had the Rams merely carried out orders everything would have worked out beautifully.
“They executed it in practice,” Fisher said, sternly. “They didn’t execute it there.”
Marquez manned up and took his share of responsibility — while giving credit to the Bills — but seemed dubious that the Bills presented the ideal defensive scheme.
“We didn’t get the look that maybe we were anticipating,” he said. “But it was still a look we thought we could be successful with.”
Unfortunately the Bills didn’t bite.
And that prompted Fisher to half-jokingly — we think — put the screws on Rams fans for tipping off Darby the fake was on.
In actuality, Darby made a brilliant read by breaking off his blocking assignment to roll back and nail Marquez 2 yards shy of the first down.
But apparently an assist goes to the crowd. At least according to Fisher.
“He stopped coverage when he heard the crowd roar,” Fisher said. “So he came back and made the play.”
That’s nonsense, of course.
And even Marquez seemed a bit taken aback by his coach’s summation.
“As far as the crowd, I can’t speak to that,” said Marquez, who rightfully tipped his cap to Darby.
“He sniffed it out and was able to set the edge.” Marquez said.
At least someone was honorable enough to call it right.
Fisher certainly didn’t.
It was the wrong call at the absolutely wrong time.
It didn’t cost them the win. But it likely denied them one last legitimate shot to win it.
And that’s just as bad.
.
