Forum Replies Created
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Merry Christmas everyone!
Do you people know the amount of hours I spend with you helpless Rams addicts every year?
I’ve lost track. But it’s time well spent.
So, you are a dog person,
i take it.w
v“.. linebacker C.J. Mosley, the only other rookie defender to make the Pro Bowl. Dallas offensive lineman Zack Martin is the third and final rookie to earn the honor. Coincidentally, those are the three players the Rams had the most interest in with the pick they ultimately used on Donald.”
I guess that sez something
about Snead.Course we dont know how many
‘busts’ he had ranked highly.It would be nice if someone
broke into rams park and stole
the last three draft boards
soze we could all look at them.I wonder if the season would have gone
differently if the rams had gotten
Z. Martin last year along with the
players they drafted?
w
vWell, if you take all that “obsession” vs “balance”
thing seriously, i would ‘think’
that means Snead is going to be obsessed
with putting a dominant OLINE on the field
next year. The QB situation is out of his control
in some respects but the OLine situation isnt.If the Rams just eliminated the big soul-crushing
Turnovers this year, they would have had a winning record.
So how do you avoid turnovers? — you avoid pressure
on your QB. How do you do that? — Dominant Oline.Seems to me, Snead will probably find the best, healthiest,
free agent OLineman on the market and sign him. And then
spend two of the top three picks in the draft on OLinemen.w
vwv wrote:
As far as GW, i dunno. I do think his
schemes are high risk – high reward,
and i do wonder if he should stick to
a ‘safer’ ‘sounder’ scheme — but then at times,…
i think to myself IF the players ever really
learn the system, its possible it will be
awesome.w
vBut, see, I disagree that he plays high risk defense. “Unsound” does not necessarily mean “high risk.”
He does all sorts of blitzing. But he backs that up with passive, soft coverage. Mike F is great on this point.
Why do you play off the ball? You do so because you don’t trust your secondary–or your scheme–to avoid the long play. It’s a passive, soft, timid deployment. And it’s what Williams does all the time.
Of course, we get burned deep anyway, because his fiddling with defenders’ roles puts us in weak positions. That’s a matter of incompetence, not high-risk deployments.
And, see, here’s the pattern I have been bitching about since the preseason. Because of his futzing, we suffer from 2 key weaknesses:
1. We give up running lanes to RBs.
2. We can’t get off the field because QBs hit quick routes that get to 3rd and short or convert on 3rd and long.And it’s that 2nd point that has killed us all year. The theory of playing off coverage is that it takes more plays to score and somewhere along the way you’ll get a stop. But since the pre-season, we have been vulnerable to the long drive that we can’t stop. Think of how often this year we have felt that sickening sense that we aren’t going to get the stop we need. At least half a dozen of our losses this year have featured that debilitating habit of not being able to get stops. Even some of our wins have featured it.
We can’t get stops because, for all that blitzing, the soft coverage negates our pass rush and keeps us on the field. Even if we don’t give up the big play, we give up enough 1st downs to pile points on the board against us.
This is the trend I have been whingeing about since the pre-season. It’s a pervasive pattern in most wins and losses, against good and bad offenses.
And the clincher is the DEN game. Williams did not call a Williams game that day. He challenged Manning all day. The “high risk” turned out to be far more effective. As it always does when you have talent.
If anyone wants to see what I am talking about, watch the AZ game. Watch what that AZ DC does. Honestly. He blitzes as much or more than Williams does. But is it high risk?
Nope. Because he challenges the offense all over the field. There is nothing there … and then his pass rush gets there. Really. Watch that game, what AZ is doing. That is the RIGHT way to blitz. That guy is streets ahead of Williams, and not because he doesn’t blitz.
And now for the question of continuity. It is so tempting, so attractive to think that “another year in the system” will pay off.
But is that what we have seen this year? Think about it. The 1st half sucked. OK, you could say that the guys were learning the system. I don’t buy that, but it would be a plausible read.
Then what happens. The light goes on and we play like heroes for a month. And THEN …
Then we give up the run to a lousy AZ offense. And we crater against Peyton’s less talented brother.
IF the problem was the team learning the system, how could it flip so quickly from excellence to suddenly forgetting how the system works? Guys who were making the system hum for a quarter of the season suddenly can’t figure out how to run it? Does that really make any sense?
Well, what the hell do I know? Fisher will last and keep Williams and we’ll watch him try to run this unit again next year. I have very lousy expectations. My only consolation?
When we’re 6-9 again next year, no one will be able to say, “they need another year in the system.”
I wouldn’t think …
Well, i dunno, RFL. You may be right, i have no idea.
But i do know, that GW’s system worked not that long
ago in New Orleans — they won a Ring with him.
And that Defense, as i recall gave up a lot of yards
and big plays, but they also got a ton of turnovers.But of course, they were paired with a very potent Offense.
Btw…If the Rams do just one thing next year — if they eliminate
all the Pick-6’s and Fumbles-for-TDs — they should
have a winning record. And i think those bad-plays
can be eliminated IF they make good personnel decisions
on the OLINE. We’ll see if Snisher can fix the Oline.w
v
Well to me, OBJ is just defending himself.
Ogletree is hitting him OUT OF BOUNDS.
Why ‘wouldnt’ OBJ grab Ogletree’s facemask at THAT point?I mean, where is the FIRST infraction? — Ogletree continuing
to hit OBJ out of bounds.Its irrelevant that Ogletree ‘started’ to hit OBJ
inbounds — the problem was Ogletree CONTINUED
to hit OBJ out of bounds.w
vI understand what RFL is saying.
Trust is something that one can have or not have in someone based on experience, past performance and using that to reasonable predict he near future. It’s not a feeling. To me, it’s really the same as saying Bradford can be good when healthy, RFL and I just don’t see him ever being healthy enough to have a snowball’s chance of playing without getting hurt again. He cannot run, he cannot evade rushers, he is a one-legged athlete.
For Fischer and Snead NOT to acknowledge that relying on Bradford to be the starter next year and any length of time beyond that would demonstrate to me that they are ignoring the evidence in front of them and they are making an emotional decision to stick with Sam based on – feelings or wishful thinking.
Adrian Peterson came back from a horrific knee injury, maybe Sam can too. History tells us he most likely will not and the Rams need to recognize that.
I have no idea what 2 ACL surgeries portend,
but i thot it was interesting that Fisher said
the knee is not more likely to be injured if its had
a second surgery. I think i heard him say that this week.
Maybe i hallucinated it.Sure would be a great story if Sam ‘could’ come back
and start sixteen games. Who knows. Maybe he’ll
come off the bench next year in the second half of the year
to lead the team to the playoffs. Or maybe he
plays and blows out the knee a THIRD time. So many possible
scenarios.
It will be a weird offseason.w
vAustin is 5th gear and Schotty can only drive a 3-speed. Martz would have made Austin a household name by now.
I tend to agree with this.
Though, the ball that bounced of Tavon’s hands
for the big INT is a reflection of a problem with Tavon.
He does not seem to have good hands.
I do not think he’s very good at catching ‘bullets’ —
I think Warner would be a good QB to throw to Tavon.I think they should loft the ball to him as often as
they can. Which means throwing long at times. I dont
think they throw to him on deep patterns enough.He seems to be a little better at punt returns lately.
He’s making decisions quicker. I think we’ll see
some great returns in the future. And some awful-muffs.
Sigh.I am not sure i would trade up to 8 for Tavon,
if i could go back in time and be in charge.I think Stedman can be a 70 catch guy
with the right QB. I’d say he has the best
hands on the team. Maybe the best hands
of any WR since…?w
vCardin is no.7 on this list.
I would think one of these
young men, is going to be wearing
horns next year.Good, Bad, Ugly.
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AlyoshamucciSo, I have a moment to talk about the last couple games, and that’s about it. I know there are many who read these and get a lot out of them, so I’ll say this up front,and be moving on . .
“The team this year has no starting QB, and any team that does not have a starting QB has no real shot. Fisher gets 5 years from me. Continuity is the only thing that can save us, the WORST franchise besides the Raiders.”
We’ve seen how well we can play, and had a few games gone a little different we’d be in the hunt, even with backup QBs.
The Good
1) Gaines is okay (not injured). He has done a better job than I could have ever imagined, and he is playing the “straight man” opposite Jenkins. Also, he doesn’t seem to have any injury or mental awareness issues. Tru may be expendable, which means someone will pay handsomely for him and we’ll net a compensatory pick.
2) Aaron Donald should be in the pro bowl. What a great pick.
3) Robinson seems to be getting more comfortable, and showing off some of the freakish athleticism that we expect.
4) Kenny Britt has earned a paycheck from us. His aggression and leadership are priceless, and beyond that he makes tough catches.
5) Our team has an attitude. I like that.
6) Austin is becoming more of a factor. At least he hasn’t maxed out his usefulness.
7) mason’s TD was fierce. Facemasked and STILL made the pylon.
The bad
8) I did not like the let-down against the Giants. The Cards was depressing too, though we were inches away from that one (Jenks pick, Bailey’s drop, ouch). I REALLY did not like Shaun Hill’s performance in either game. That changes my draft, because apparently we need a better backup than we have.
9) Our interior line is not acceptable.
10) There was a lack of imagination on defense against the Giants, and the inability to cover the most explosive player in the NFL over the last two weeks confuses me. Why didn’t we adjust the coverage?
11) No defensive line sacks. Its like they can hear it when they are being praised and play at half speed.
12) Stedman has to know he’s hot and be ready, even for a questionably thrown pass.
13) How many of Sims’ penalties for roughing were real? This is a question. I remember three out of the 5 mentioned and they were barely calls or bad calls.
14) The commentators need to stay off the “moving to LA” thing for one . . darn . . game.
15) Throw the ball to Stedman more.
The Ugly
16) Frustrated fans. I don’t get it. We like the worst team in the NFL, we’re accountable for making the best of it, just like anything else in our lives.
Draft. So the play of Hill the past few games means we cant make the playoffs with him even if he is surrounded by talent. That changes my draft board.
1) Trade down and pick up a 4th . . draft Scherff at 15 to play OG. (There is a chance I take Arik Armstead here if Fish okays his personality)
2-8) Shane Carden
3) Gallek OC BC
4) Stephon Anthony MLB/OLB Clemson
5) Zegarrette Davis DE Kentucky Freak at 6-6 275 plays inside and out, but on Kentucky in a great class where he’ll be overshadowed.
6) Jeff Prater WR Northwestern 6-5 222 USC transfer with hands and physical ability
7) Gabe Wright DT AuburnUDFA Uzomah TE Auburn 6-5 268.
=======================wv wrote:
I think we just disagree about the OLine
and Fisher’s personnel decisions.w
vYou know I was joking, right?
I don’t think we disagree about the OL…on that we may be parsing small differences. I just have this automatic thing over the years about people not counting OL injuries as related to performance. It’s my Niagra Falls. Or…one of them.
Oh, i did not pick up on the joke.
Year FOUR. I will be lighting the torches
and calling for Demoff’s Head early
and often next year if they dont
win double-digit games. Just so you know.Also, I want the equipment manager
fired. Just as an example.w
v
