Well …

I dunno what to say. I have some half-thoughts, but the bottom line seems to me to be pretty ugly for this year. Another totally lost year of Ram football. I wonder if I’ll live long enough to see them competitive again?

1st, Fisher had 2 weeks to prepare. And we came out and absolutely stank in the 1st quarter. He has clearly lost all ability to lift the team from poor to competitive performance.

2nd, the strategic concept for opening the game, IMO, stank. Get the ball against a high powered offense to start. Throw 3 straight low percentage passes and keep throwing? Keep throwing without establishing the run? Fall behind by 13 before you figure you need to be sound? It was the opposite of last year. Trying to go high-octane offense without earning it. Result? No real chance to win the game.

3rd, the mistakes have reached the stage of being simply ridiculous. Penalties. Blocked punt due to mistake. Play breakdowns without cause. On one 3rd down play, Davis got sacked. Why? Because the DE simply rushed upfield and hit him. No one attempted to block him. I cannot think of any way to exonerate the coaching staff. There is no discernible discipline on the team. Even the STs have gone to crap.

4th, this defense hasn’t got the slightest amount of toughness. They haven’t met a clutch play they couldn’t bottle. After we scored to get to within 6, the D had 3 and 4. How did they give it up? A simple running play.

People can say they see talent and improvement on lots of plays. The fact is, the defense sucked again. It is incapable of making the sort of play that flips the game toward victory. If you believe they have talent, then that makes their performances all the worse. They have not YET taken control of any game.

5th, we are still suffering on offense from 1 serious ongoing problem. Dropping the football. Even Austin Pettis had 2 consecutive drops on the last drive that would have made a big difference. These poor Ram QBs–making quality throws under pressure and watching guys drop the ball, often with no one around.

5th, the OL cannot figure out the systemic job of pass blocking and Wells may be the worst freaking center in football. And its run blocking is only fair.

6th, despite all of that …

This offense deserved a win yesterday. They are really showing a lot of growth. And unlike the defense, they deserve the chance to keep growing. They are coming back from the dead.

7th, I am getting a ’98 vibe here. That team drove us crazy, but it was in fits and starts flirting with quality. A couple key additions and they were ready to fly.

8th, in ’99 we added a HOF QB and RB and some solid OL. For next tear, I don’t ask for new players, specifically. I ask for a new HC. Fisher is flailing. He has no influence on raising his team to a competitive level. The best you can say for him is that his team doesn’t panic … after it has butchered the 1st 3 quarters with pathetically ill disciplined execution his staff had 2 weeks to prepare for.

And now we have the tough part of our schedule. Wow.

By the way, Zack Stacy is not getting what good RBs need … consistent carries to build a game and establish a punishing rhytm. Not only did we pass entirely too much early yesterday, but the RBs rotate so fast he can’t get time. Benny’s game is actually better suited for a few plays now and then than Zack’s is. If you want value from Stacy, give him a dozen carries in the 1st half at least.