Dak wrote:

But, the elephant in the room is that the defense didn’t play well. Even with mistakes, the offense did play well enough to win. But, the defense has to get pressure on Eli Manning in this game

Yeah I don’t get this focus on the offense. Even with a banged-up OL starting a rookie LOT and Hill being streaky, they did enough to win.

It was the defense that lost that game.

Zooey wrote:

So this is a completely open thing, I think.

Maybe so. Maybe not. Could be. You never know.

The Rams have no true leaders.

They have no take charge leaders on the team that truly command respect, that the team follows.

When you’re “so called” leader(s) is in the middle of scrums, as a combatant rather than an officer, you gotta problem.

Too many times we have seen this team lose their composure and focus on the task. They become more concerned with showing how tough they are outside the lines, or after the whistle.

There is absolutely no question in my mind, that this team needs real veteran leaders.

Too many cocky young hotheads that want to celebrate a 25yd play. WTF is that when you’re getting your arse whipped??

This team is just poorly coached, and poorly constructed.

I;ve thought that too.

wv wrote:

Well, i think he’s in complete denial about which team
was playing dirty on Sunday.

I don’t know about that. Listen to the (recently posted) new Jeff Fisher show.

wv wrote:

Some interesting stuff in there.

w
v

Such as?

(See this is me fostering conversation.)

Ten Takeaways from Rams’ 37-27 Loss to Giants

By Randy Karraker

http://www.101sports.com/2014/12/22/ten-takeaways-rams-37-27-loss-giants/

On a day that the Rams clinched their eighth straight losing season, but did earn ESPN’s top play with Darren Bates’ spectacular blocked field goal in the fourth quarter, there were more negatives to discuss than positives. And here are 10 takeaways from the Rams 37-27 loss to the Giants…
alec ogletree

Ogletree’s late hit on Beckham Jr. started a brawl in the first half

1) The Rams clearly have some fight. We saw that during the late second quarter rumble as Alec Ogletree roughed up Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. out of bounds. William Hayes got involved trying to defend Ogletree, who had been kicked by Beckham. T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod, along with James Laurinaitis and Janoris Jenkins and the rest of the defense, got into the heated battle. It happened last season in Carolina and in Seattle at the end of the season. The Rams have passion and desire and will defend their mates to the end, but sometimes that comes at the expense of team success. I love the passion, but I hope it can be lassoed and utilized as a force for good on the field, rather than a mechanism that results in a street brawl.

2) It was a terrible day for the defensive backs. Eli Manning was an astounding 25-32 for 391 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, resulting in a 148.8 passer rating. He was 16-18 for 200 yards and a score in the first half. Certainly, Manning couldn’t miss. But it was rather remarkable how often he had receivers running free down the field.

The Rams didn’t have an interception, and came close to just one pick. He came into the game with thirteen interceptions and had been sacked 27 times, going only two games (at Dallas and Tennessee) without being sacked. Nobody in the front seven had a sack, with T.J. McDonald recording the only one for the Rams. Once again a miscommunication left an opposing receiver wide open for a long touchdown, and ultimately poor pass defense let the Rams down.

3) Where was the defense vs. the run? Jeff Fisher and his regime have drafted and signed defensive players to play in the NFC West and stop guys like Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch. And indeed, the Rams have been sensational against the run for most of the second half of the season. But on this day, Giant running backs ran 30 times for 131 yards. The defense certainly didn’t slow the run down. The Giants were able to dictate to the Rams defense, which is something that shouldn’t happen with so much physical talent on that side of the ball.

4) Why was Scott Wells playing, anyway? Wells had a high snap that caused quarterback Shaun Hill to panic and overthrow Stedman Bailey late in the first half, then delivered another high snap that went over Hill’s head and caused a fumble that snuffed any Rams comeback chances. The Rams came into the game with a record of 6-8, out of playoff contention. They used a 4th round pick on center Barrett Jones last year, and Fisher admitted that Wells has been fighting through some elbow issues. Why isn’t Jones getting an opportunity? With all due respect to Wells, he turns 34 on January 7 and has not played to the level expected when he signed a free agent contract with the Rams before the 2012 season. If he’s hurt, or is going to play like that, why not give Jones a chance to see if he can play next year? I’d like to see Jones and Brandon Washington…although you might not want to play them at Seattle, either. I think Fisher and his staff missed a chance to see some young talent against the Giants.
odell beckham jr

Beckham Jr.’s antics drew several penalties against the Rams.

5) The Rams were easily offended by Odell Beckham Jr. When asked why the Rams were jawing with Beckham Jr., Fisher said “I don’t know. Someone said he said came out and said he was going to set an NFL record today against the defense early this morning. I was told that, I don’t know. But he’s an outstanding player. He’s a very, very good player and he’s going to be hard to stop over the years.” Seriously? A rookie says he’s going to set a record and your feelings are hurt? Are you kidding? That’s ridiculous. After T.J. McDonald took a taunting penalty because of his involvement with Beckham late in the first half, Mark Barron came out during a time out to calm him down. The Giants scored on their next play. Beckham’s taunt after his first touchdown most certainly helped cause the fracas in the second quarter, when Ogletree manhandled him. If receivers know they can get into the Rams head with antics like that, the Rams are going to see that every week.

Apparently this group didn’t spend enough time with and learn enough from Cortland Finnegan.

6) The Rams and their fans have now suffered eight straight losing seasons. Even the Raiders have had a couple of 8-8’s in that time. The gold standard of late for St. Louis has been the Scott Linehan/Jim Haslett club that went 8-8 in 2006. Do we know bad football? The last team to have a streak this long was the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, who had nine straight losing years between 1985-1993. Of course, 1985-’87 were their last three years in St. Louis. So in our last 23 seasons of NFL football in St. Louis, we’ve had four winning seasons, and seventeen losing ones. And folks wonder why people don’t want to spend their hard earned money on going to the Dome.

7) Kenny Britt had a huge play and a great day. With 4:13 left in the first half, Hill was flushed from the pocket, rolled right, and appeared to throw the ball away. But Britt appeared from nowhere to make a brilliant, 27 yard sideline catch and help set up a Rams touchdown moments later. He finished with nine catches for 103 yards. Britt leads Rams wide receivers with 44 catches for 710 yards. He deserves a contract for next year.

Cool There were more devastating penalties. The Rams committed “only’ nine penalties for 76 yards…compared to the Giants 12-149. McDonald’s penalty was tough. But with 10:28 to go in the game and the Giants ahead 30-20, they lined up to punt on a 4th and 1 from the Rams 46. Incomprehensibly, veteran Kendall Langford jumped offsides, giving the Giants a first down that led to their final touchdown and a 37-20 advantage. Even though the volume of penalties is down a bit, their effects are still as great.
jeff fisher

Fisher’s job is likely safe heading into 2015.

9) Is Fisher on the hot seat? I got question on Twitter a couple of times. No, and he shouldn’t be. A good franchise simply can’t continue to churn through regimes every three years and hope eventually it’s going to work out. The Giants should be a model for the Rams. So should the Steelers.

Fisher took over an untenable situation in which nearly half the players on the roster he took over didn’t even make it to a training camp the next year. He heads into year four of the project. Are things perfect? Certainly not. But this is a franchise that needs stability on the football side. Giants fans have wanted Tom Coughlin fired several times, before the team won Super Bowls. I would have to believe that many Cowboys fans wanted Jason Garrett fired after they finished 8-8 for the third straight year last year, but now he’s working out pretty well at 11-4 and as NFC East champs.

I don’t think Fisher’s seat should be hot…or even warm…heading into the off-season.

10) To fill up the stadium, the Rams need their product to be better. As has been mentioned, the Rams have eight straight losing seasons and finished 3-5 at home this year. This after they went 5-3 at home last year. Fisher is 11-12 at the Dome (one home game was in London) and 20-26-1 overall heading into week seventeen. While that’s a dramatic improvement over the 15-65 before he got here, reality is that NFL teams need to win to fill the stadium. If the Rams can reach a deal to remain in St. Louis, they need to know that the novelty of a new edifice lasts only so long. Eventually, if you’re going to be selling a product, that product needs to be of quality for people to buy it…even if it is the only game in town. If the losing persists, people aren’t going to buy…wherever the team plays. The Cardinals and Blues have learned this; the Redskins, Raiders and Buccaneers know it too. Winning sells.

rfl wrote:

zn wrote:
Are those the same thing? Record, competitiveness?

I am disappointed by the loss too, but I don’t see it as darkly as you do.

Well, I’ll tell you what. I’d like to see an argument to try to disprove the claim that our record this year reflects our competitiveness.

Generally, you are what your record says you are. Rare exceptions, yes. But we are what we saw today. That’s who we are. The good days are far more anomalous than today was.

Well I don’t want this to be semantics. So I will abandon the whole “record/competitiveness” thing, which though I initiated it, now sounds too dangerously abstract for me.

As for coming up with an argument, I have rarely if ever been in a discussion about a team’s whole season where there’s a single, simple, nailed-down answer and all the rest doesn’t measure up. I think what we have HERE is zn’s take v. RFL’s take, with neither one in a position to bet the farm on it. In fact I think the glory of these discussions is how different people see things different ways, and then you can see the range of insights. The range is more important to me than the author. Because, like quantum physics, there’s only so much you can really know…but it’s interesting to see what the RANGE is. (And as a fan of internet discussion, I honestly appreciate the process.)

But, today for example. The same thing reared its ugly head–a blown coverage in the secondary by a young player who gives up an easy TD.

That’s just when they pull within 7 and Hill and Mason are finally in gear. And–by his own admission–Joyner blows a coverage on the 80 yard Beckham TD.

First, injuries (Gaines goes out Joyner comes in). Then, the big game-killing mistake. That kind of thing has dogged this team all season–inopportune blown coverages by a young secondary.

It also doesn’t help that the OL is ragged and playing like it.

But take all the things people are complaining about–the chippiness, the undisciplined actions, and if their coverage were sound, they would still be in the game. In fact, the Giants committed more penalties than the Rams, and Coughlin was complaining about his own team’s chippiness, and they won. Heck the Rams offense scored 27 points and could have won even with the OL a mess right now (they are starting 3 injured players and a rookie LOT). You subtract the points by Beckham on the 80 yarder and the points they got after the Randle 49 yarder, and the game is tied.

Okay so why does the secondary make so many game-killing mistakes. To me that’s obvious. They’re young, a couple of them like McCleod are playing over their heads (and that’s not always sustainable), and they do not have this system mastered.

So some, perhaps you (if I read you right) see the mistakes and chalk it up to coaching. That makes it inherent, or so it appears. A team with Fisher and Wms, from that view, can never become stable and consistent. I see it differently. I don’t think it’s the coaching, I think it’s execution. To me, that means that once the players become synced in, their prospects improve. We get more games like the Denver game, and fewer games like the Giants and Dallas games.

Now SHOULD THEY be synced in by now? To me that’s just opinion. Should Wms have dialed it back? Should Snead have already given them an all-pro secondary? TO ME, just in my place on the range of opinions, THAT all sounds like impossible standards.

There’s more to say about this but this discussion, I suspect, will take months and include many voices, so…that’s enough from me for tonight, I think.

Little consolation for the Rams

By Joe Lyons

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/little-consolation-for-the-rams/article_415635d1-deb3-5abd-b929-fd337b798c31.html

Before they took an offensive snap Sunday afternoon, the Rams found themselves in a 10-0 hole.

And they never completely recovered, losing 37-27 to the New York Giants in their home finale at the Edward Jones Dome.

“It wasn’t us in any phase of the game — offense, defense or special teams,’’ tackle Joe Barksdale said. “I know it sounds cliche, but we have to be better. There’s no excuse….’’

Quarterback Shaun Hill felt the same way.

“To be honest with you, if I didn’t know any better and I saw what I’d just watched, I’d say this was a bad team,’’ he said. “But we’re not a bad team. We’ve beat some of the best teams in the NFL and we’ve been in almost every game we’ve played this season. Generally, we’re not a team that beats ourselves, but today, that’s exactly what we did.

“I know the makeup of this team, and that’s what makes a game like today so frustrating.’’

On offense, the Rams had their moments. They finished with 387 yards and had 23 first downs to just 19 for the Giants. Hill turned in a solid game, completing 24 of 32 passes for 290 yards with touchdown passes to tight end Lance Kendricks (23 yards) and wide receiver Chris Givens (47 yards). His passer rating was 110.2.

Rookie running back Tre Mason ran 13 times for 76 yards, averaging 5.8 a carry, and scored on a 10-yard run. Wide receiver Kenny Britt was targeted 11 times and finished with nine catches and 103 yards.

“The only number that matters is the final score and obviously we didn’t come up with the number we needed there,’’ guard Davin Joseph said. “It’s a team effort and we just didn’t get it done. We just made too many mistakes, and we always seemed to make them at the wrong time.’’

Mason added: “If you don’t get the ‘W,’ any other numbers are meaningless. We were mediocre and hurt ourselves with a lot of self-inflicted wounds.’’

After the Giants took a 3-0 lead, the Rams’ Benny Cunningham fumbled the ensuing kickoff. It was his first fumble of the season. Five plays later, New York was up 10-0.

“Being down, especially that early, I don’t think it changes the mindset,’’ Hill said. “Every possession, you’re looking to put points on the board.’’

The Rams did just that, getting a 51-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to make it 10-3. But on the Rams’ next possession, a Hill pass went off the hands of Tavon Austin. It was picked off by the Giants’ Kerry Wynn and led to a field goal and a 13-3 Giants lead.

The Giants were up 20-3 when Mason scored after taking a pitch around the left end for a 10-yard TD with just over two minutes to play in the first half. The Rams got the ball back and drove to the New York 2 before a high snap on third down threw off the play’s timing and forced Hill to throw the ball away. Zuerlein’s field goal as time expired made it 20-13 Giants at the half.

“Offensively, we didn’t have the ball much in the first half,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “But we felt good (at halftime). We had the ball (to start the second half); just needed to make some plays, get some points, create a turnover, maybe get to the quarterback.

“But those things didn’t happen.’’

With the Rams down 27-13, Hill threw a well-placed ball to Kendricks for a 23-yard touchdown. Less than a minute later, however, the Giants scored on an 80-yard bomb to re-establish control at 34-20.

“You’re not going to beat an NFL team when you’re making crucial mistakes at key times and that’s exactly what happened to us today,’’ Hill said. “I’m sure when we look at the film we’ll see guys who played well, who made plays, but right now, it’s hard to come up with a lot of positives.’’

The Rams trailed 37-20 when Hill found Givens for a 47-yard touchdown with 3:56 to play. The Rams’ Daren Bates blocked a field goal to give his team a final chance, but another errant snap went over the head of Hill. The Giants recovered and ran out the clock.

“I’ll have to get a look at the film and see what happened,’’ Hill said. Fisher noted that center Scott Wells “has been fighting through’’ an elbow injury.

Several Rams admitted to hearing the late-game boos in the home finale.

“This is a fan-driven league,’’ Hill said. “We like to give them what they pay good money to come see. At the same time, there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears on our end. I can promise you that.

“We share their frustration.’’

The Rams close the season Sunday in Seattle against the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks.

“We’re gonna come back strong, no question about that,’’ Joseph said