Reporters sum up 2014

Rams see progress despite 6-10 mark

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-see-progress-despite—mark/article_210893c5-f7cf-5ab0-ae65-a1a2c648e7bc.html

For the handful of Rams veterans who have been around for a while, this is the worst time of the year.

“It’s the disappointment of not being in the postseason, of having to watch playoff football against teams that you’ve played against,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “Some teams that you’ve beat. Some teams that you should’ve beat. And just really self-reflection on how do we become those teams? How do we win those close games that we lost?”

As the chase for the Lombardi Trophy gets underway in January, the Rams will watch a Denver team they dominated in a 22-7 victory Nov. 16.

They’ll watch an Arizona team they led 14-10 midway through the fourth quarter on Nov. 9. An Arizona team they held without a touchdown a month later in St. Louis.

A Dallas team they had on the ropes with a 21-0 lead in the first half in September.

And a Seattle team seeking to repeat as Super Bowl champion, a Seattle team they defeated in St. Louis in October and then played toe-to-toe for three quarters Sunday.

Despite all that, the team’s 6-10 finish was the worst in the three-year tenure of coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead. And they did so with clearly the most talented roster since the Fisher-Snead tandem came in three years ago.

So the discussion, or the debate, will probably take place for weeks into the offseason. Did the 2014 Rams regress? Or are they as close to breaking out as they’ve been in years?

“It’s most definitely a motivation going into the offseason,” running back Benny Cunningham said. “We know what he have in this locker room, and we know we’re not far from being where we want to be as a team.”

Was it progress, or a step back in 2014?

“It’s definitely not a step backwards,” tight end Lance Kendricks said. “We have a lot of young guys on the team. I think the talent is there. It’s just putting it all together and really displaying it on the field.

“We practice hard. We work hard. Game day, we gotta make sure that we’re focused, we’re ready. Mistakes are gonna happen. But you’ve gotta find ways to overcome them, just be more consistent.”

But when you see an inexcusable coverage bust by cornerback Janoris Jenkins lead to the go-ahead touchdown Sunday in Seattle … and when you see the Rams get outscored 20-0 in the second half and commit three turnovers to fuel another fourth-quarter meltdown, you realize that those are the plays that losers make and winners avoid.

So it doesn’t take a gridiron savant to figure out what the Rams need to improve on the most as they step into 2015.

“I think if you asked anybody in this locker room, they would tell you we’ve got to finish better,” safety T.J. McDonald said. “That’s one thing we need to understand. We’ve just got to finish better as a group regardless.”

And from Kendricks: “Minimize turnovers. I think that’s a big key. When we don’t turn the ball over, we win. … I think it’s just minimizing the turnovers, and minimizing the mistakes and the penalties.”

Fisher and Snead quickly took the Rams from awful to respectable. But they’ve been stuck in a rut of flirting with .500 and winning seven or six. Until they start minimizing the miscues that Kendricks talked about, they’re not going to take the next step — namely, from respectable to good.

Of course, solving the quarterback situation would help the Rams take that step as well.

“I’m just praying that we can keep No. 8 healthy,” Laurinaitis said, referring to Sam Bradford. “Just more so for him. Because if he can play 16 (games), he can do it. I really believe he can do it in this league, and do it really well.

“Maybe it’s bias but I believe that a lot of teams, especially in our division, would say if we had No. 8 healthy all year, who knows how many different games here and there (the Rams win).”

Losing Bradford two weeks before the start of the regular season was a blow for the Rams. It would be for any team.

“Definitely difficult,” Kendricks said. “Whenever your starter goes down in the preseason, you kinda have to figure out what’s next. I think as a team, we bounced back as best as we could considering when Sam went down.

“We gave ourselves a chance. We fought throughout the season, through a bunch of different things. You know, when Chris Long went down and we had a bunch of injuries in the O-line. I think we persevered for the most part. But we didn’t get the W’s that we wanted.”

All teams suffer injuries, but as Laurinaitis put it, when the Rams lost Bradford for the season and Long for most of the season, they lost two cornerstones of the franchise.

“It took us a little while to find our groove after losing Sam, and losing Chris (Long) for most of the season,” Laurinaitis said. “I think Shaun (Hill) and Austin (Davis) did an admirable job. And the guys that filled in for Chris did a great job.

“You’re taught not to make excuses in football. However, it’s hard when you lose a QB, and then in the first game against the Vikings, Shaun hurts his quad. There goes the whole timing and rhythm with the wideouts.

“But goodness, I believe 100 percent in this coaching staff, the front office, and everything we’re doing here. We’ve got the pieces. I think we have the nucleus. And we’re gonna add some more, and we’ll see what happens in free agency and the draft and everything.

“I really believe we’re really close. I do. I’m just not saying it. Because I know where this franchise has been when I first got here. And I know the feeling of the guys. And I know the talent that we have in the locker room.”

All well and good. But here in the Show-Me State of Missouri, seeing is believing.

St. Louis Rams season report card

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/13866/st-louis-rams-season-report-card

This was supposed to be the year the St. Louis Rams took the next step and made the postseason or at least had a winning record for the first time since 2003. Even the Rams offered such optimism in their preseason letter to season-ticket holders. But injuries, a tough schedule, a slow start and a continued propensity for undisciplined mistakes prevented the Rams from making that move. The defense took about six weeks to find a groove while the offense was mostly uneven, struggling regularly against some of the league’s better defenses. Those looking for tangible progress will be unable to find it after the Rams finished 6-10, one fewer win than either of the previous two seasons under coach Jeff Fisher. Some will point to more intangible things such as individual player improvement but it’s fair to wonder if Fisher will ever do more than take the once-dreadful Rams any further than their current level of mediocrity.

OVERALL: D+

Once again, the Rams were up and down for most of the season only to finish with a similar record under Fisher. They had some big wins, some embarrassing losses and a lot of in between but six wins simply isn’t good enough in the third year of a regime that has yet to post a winning season. And though injuries hurt and the schedule was tough, the Rams didn’t persevere as well as other teams who did under similar circumstances.

OFFENSE: D

Early in the season, the Rams were posting decent offensive numbers but when the defenses got tougher, the numbers reverted to the form more commonly seen in St. Louis in recent years. They finished 28th in yards per game, 20th in rushing and 23rd in passing. The Rams still seem to have a long way to go to be capable of moving the ball and scoring consistently when playing top-tier defenses such as those in the NFC West.

DEFENSE: C-

For much of the second half of the season, this group played like a legitimate top-five defense. But it took too long for them to come around and they still offered brutal performances against the Giants and Chargers. All told, the Rams finished 17th in yards per game allowed, 14th in rushing yards allowed per game and 20th in passing yards allowed per game. Based on numbers alone, that’s slightly below average even if the upside remains much greater.

Team MVP:

DT Aaron Donald — No, that’s not a misprint. Donald was not only the Rams’ best rookie but their best player in 2014. It took five weeks for Donald to elbow his way into the starting lineup but once he did, he was one of the most disruptive defensive tackles in the league. It was no coincidence that the ailing Rams pass rush, which had set a record for sack futility in the first part of the season, took off. Donald finished with nine sacks, including a streak of five games in a row with a sack near the end of the season. He also had 18 tackles for loss and his presence pushing the pocket up the middle led to many sacks for the team’s edge rushers. Without Donald in the starting lineup, the Rams had one sack, gave up 152.5 rushing yards per game and averaged a sack on 0.9 percent of opponent’s pass attempts. After he entered the starting lineup, the Rams had 39 sacks, gave up 96.25 rushing yards per game and averaged a sack on 9 percent of opponent’s pass attempts.

Best moment:

The Rams’ 22-7 victory against the Denver Broncos. As individual moments go, the Rams had some great ones including “The Mountaineer” punt return fakery that led to a 90-yard touchdown for receiver Stedman Bailey. But the victory against Denver was the moment the Rams most showed what their potential is as a team. Those seven points were the fewest scored by the Broncos since Peyton Manning took over as their quarterback. The Rams claimed their second win of the season against one of last season’s Super Bowl participants.

Worst moment:

Quarterback Shaun Hill’s game-ending interception against San Diego. Just a week after knocking off the Broncos, the Rams found themselves poised to beat the Chargers on the road or, at worst, kick a game-tying field goal. Trailing 27-24 with 1:03 remaining and second-and-goal at San Diego’s 4, Hill dropped back to pass with receiver Kenny Britt running a drag route across the goal line. Hill locked on Britt right away but never saw San Diego safety Marcus Gilchrist waiting on the other side. Hill tried to force the throw to Britt and Gilchrist stepped in front to seal the Chargers’ win. What’s worse, had Hill just waited a half a second, he had running back Benny Cunningham wide open on the left side. It was the team’s seventh loss and ended any reasonable hope of a late playoff run.

2015 outlook:

This team has had moments where it looks as though it’s on the verge of a breakthrough only to take a step back. Heading into the offseason, the Rams don’t look like they’ll have a ton of holes to fill but the biggest is quarterback. There’s no obvious solution that offers a guaranteed fix but the Rams will likely try various avenues, including the possible return of Sam Bradford plus the use of an early draft pick on a quarterback. Add some talent on the offensive line, especially the interior, and in the secondary and the roster would appear to be in good shape. On non-roster issues, Fisher and his staff will need to take a closer look at why they keep starting seasons slow and eliminate the continued penalties, busted coverage and other various miscues that continue to plague them. If the Rams don’t take a meaningful step forward next year, they could have another major hole to fill: head coach.

Rams Have Work Cut Out to Close Gap with Seahawks

By Anthony Stalter

http://www.101sports.com/2014/12/31/rams-work-cut-close-gap-seahawks/

While conducting his post-game interview on Sunday with Steve Savard and D’Marco Farr, Jeff Fisher made a rather stirring comment in wake of his team’s loss to Seattle.

Despite the fact that Pete Carroll’s team successfully wrapped up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and his squad just concluded a 6-10 season, Fisher said that the Rams are “closing the gap” between themselves and the Seahawks. These, of course, are the same Seahawks that are coming off a dominating Super Bowl performance back in February.

Now would be the time to be flippant and take sarcastic, less-than-witty shots at how Fisher is delusional about the state of his franchise. But I’m not going to crush him for believing the Rams are closer to catching the Seahawks than they were a year ago. There is some truth to what Fisher is saying, mainly due to how Aaron Donald is now on the same defensive line as fellow first-rounders Robert Quinn, Chris Long and Michael Brockers. T.J. McDonald also made significant strides in his development from last year to this season, and E.J. Gaines turned out to be a steal in the sixth round.

But while the Rams are built to compete with the Seahawks from a defensive standpoint, offensively they might as well be light years away.

Let’s start at quarterback, because that’s the easiest distinction between the two teams. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Russell Wilson rushed for 849 yards in the regular season, which was 210 more than any other quarterback. As Terry Blount of NFL Nation recently wrote, “Based on the down distance and situation, Wilson’s runs added more than twice as many points to his team’s net scoring margin than any other quarterback.”

When squaring off against the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning, defenses mix up coverages in hopes that they can somehow stay a step ahead during a given game. But at least when opponents face pocket passers, they don’t have to account for the quarterback on running plays and thus, from a mathematical standpoint, they still have the edge.

But with Wilson running the read option, defenses are forced to bring additional defenders to stop the run. That methodical advantage that they had on running plays is now gone because at least one defender has to account for the quarterback, who can do things like this.

I’m not breaking any news when I note that the Rams don’t have that type of weapon at quarterback. In fact, they don’t have a reliable option at quarterback period, let alone a dynamic one like Wilson. Finding a quarterback this offseason won’t be a simple task, either.

The other advantage the Seahawks currently have is that they have an established identity. When they traded Percy Harvin to the Jets earlier this season they lost a playmaker at the skill position but the move hardly left them without a personality. Opponents knew they still had to stop Marshawn Lynch and account for Wilson’s mobility both on passing and rushing plays. Losing Harvin didn’t change who the Seahawks were.

On top of somehow finding a quarterback that won’t make them limited in the passing game, the Rams also have to establish a clear identity, one that they can use to impose their will on opponents as opposed to merely hoping will show up on a game-by-game basis. They ostensibly want to be a power-based offense but you’re not going to win enough games to compete for a playoff berth when you’re only gaining 4.1 yards per attempt on the season.

If the Rams are content with bringing back Sam Bradford at a reduced cost and keeping Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator, then they better build up the O-line like Dallas did. They need an upgrade at center, guard and probably right tackle, which is tough to accomplish in one offseason. But if you can’t find an impact signal-caller, the next best thing is to build up the running game as much as possible and rely on a quarterback that won’t turn the ball over. The Chiefs reached the playoffs a year ago with this philosophy and nearly did so again in 2014 despite not one of their receivers catching a touchdown pass.
tre mason-2

Without a solid QB option, the Rams will likely lean on the ground attack with running back Tre Mason.

But the Chiefs also rushed for 6.3 yards per attempt in a win over the Seahawks earlier this year and finished with an average of 4.6 YPA for the season. For comparison, the Rams rushed for 3.8 and 2.2 yards per attempt, respectively, in their two games against the Seahawks. So when talking about finding a true identity, I’m talking about the Rams being able to play to their strength not only against the Oaklands and Washingtons of the league, but against the stiffest competition as well.

The Rams have proven over the past two years that they can be competitive in the division and Gregg Williams’ defense can complete with any opponent in the league (or at least the ones that don’t have Odell Beckham).

That’s probably why Fisher suggested, even following a 20-6 loss, that the Rams are closing the gap with a team like Seattle.

But the Seahawks are consistent and unrelenting. They have their quarterback, their identity and a transcendent defense. For all intents and purposes the Rams might be closer to the Seahawks than they were a year ago, but the fact remains that there’s still a sizable gap.

And with that, they certainly have their work cut out this offseason if they truly want to narrow the distance between themselves and who they’re looking up at in the division.

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“…But while the Rams are built to compete with the Seahawks from a defensive standpoint, offensively they might as well be light years away.
Let’s start at quarterback, because that’s the easiest distinction between the two teams. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Russell Wilson rushed for 849 yards in the regular season, which was 210 more than any other quarterback. As Terry Blount of NFL Nation recently wrote, “Based on the down distance and situation, Wilson’s runs added more than twice as many points to his team’s net scoring margin than any other quarterback.”
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“…If the Rams are content with bringing back Sam Bradford at a reduced cost and keeping Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator, then they better build up the O-line like Dallas did. They need an upgrade at center, guard and probably right tackle, which is tough to accomplish in one offseason. But if you can’t find an impact signal-caller, the next best thing is to build up the running game as much as possible and rely on a quarterback that won’t turn the ball over. The Chiefs reached the playoffs a year ago with this philosophy and nearly did so again in 2014 despite not one of their receivers catching a touchdown pass.

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