PA Ram wrote:

zn wrote:

I think what they can do is line up someone to play the safety position. SF has had great success against this Gregg Williams scheme, even during the bounty gate era. There was no friggin safety in position to make a play last night…. it was frustrating, like watching a bad HS team.

I just have to disagree with this.

There is no way on earth Jenkins is supposed to play it the way he did. He blundered and hugely. Who is supposed to anticipate that happening? It’s like, you’re not supposed to text while driving during rush hour. If you text while driving during rush hour, I won’t be sympathetic to the idea there should have been a traffic cop there to warn the other drivers.

I know the ESPN talking heads tried to put this one on Wms but I just saw that as them shamelessly exonerating Jenkins for a basics 101 level dumb dumb dumb play.

Jenkins may have screwed up but why put him in the position to screw up–because if he does–it’s 6 points.

A good DC does not let that happen.

Chances are? Because they were covering for something else we don’t know about.

And you’re not supposed to think “hey wait I have to account for the fact that a veteran player who has been doing well this year will make the single dumbest mistake a player could make in this situation.”

Last year everyone was complaining because they used too much cover 2 and didn’t man-up the corners. Now that they do what we ask, we put fantastically bad execution errors on the coaches?

from off the net…trying to get all sortsa views

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tbux

Warner made an observation—if anyone knows what a QB is doing and not doing it is him. He didn’t bash Davis, but he said Davis does some things well, but doesn’t handle pressure well. The late pick 6 a perfect example of that. They need to practice more on teams blitzing and reading it and how to beat it. It will continue until we beat it routinely.

wv wrote:

zn wrote:

wv wrote:

21Dog wrote:

wv wrote:
I have not seen the game yet,
but did 500 year-old Brandon Lloyd
actually outrun JJ ?
Is Lloyd faster than JJ?

w
v

Word to the wise (I’m giving you credit for wisdom, wv).

Don’t watch it.

Brutal. Inexcusable.

Watched the replay of it.

O dear.

One of the worst regular-season
plays I’ve seen from a ram CB
in my 40+ years of watching ram
football.

JJ loves the big plays
dont he.

w
v

Yep.

Lloyd is slow. We knew that when he was a Ram and is older now. Jenkins is much faster.

Jenkins made a bigtime, primetime, big circus mistake. He peeked in the backfield with one on one coverage late in a half.

You don’t do that.

ESPN tried to make it about the coverage, so there was supposed to be safety help.

No…Jenkins is SUPPOSED TO KNOW not to do that.

He knows he’s supposed to know that. That’s why he’s hiding under the table like a cowering dog.

Maybe they draft a CB high
next year.

w
v

Jenkins has been great all season till now.

Far better if he just finally learns.

.

wv wrote:

21Dog wrote:

wv wrote:
I have not seen the game yet,
but did 500 year-old Brandon Lloyd
actually outrun JJ ?
Is Lloyd faster than JJ?

w
v

Word to the wise (I’m giving you credit for wisdom, wv).

Don’t watch it.

Brutal. Inexcusable.

Watched the replay of it.

O dear.

One of the worst regular-season
plays I’ve seen from a ram CB
in my 40+ years of watching ram
football.

JJ loves the big plays
dont he.

w
v

Yep.

Lloyd is slow. We knew that when he was a Ram and is older now. Jenkins is much faster.

Jenkins made a bigtime, primetime, big circus mistake. He peeked in the backfield with one on one coverage late in a half.

You don’t do that.

ESPN tried to make it about the coverage, so there was supposed to be safety help.

No…Jenkins is SUPPOSED TO KNOW not to do that.

He knows he’s supposed to know that. That’s why he’s hiding under the table like a cowering dog.

Mackeyser wrote:

You presume it’s the team tanking and not the NFL essentially doing it TO them…

See, for the team to tank, that would be too hard to conceal. For the NFL, it wouldn’t take that many people. Why do you think the Refs held out and they have such a STRONG contract? You can’t even criticize obvious missed calls for fear of being fined!

It’s one thing to respect the Refs dignity. It’s another for them to codify silence even in the face of incompetence or injustice.

In watching this Rams team, I’ve never felt for a second that they’ve not been trying to win. And I’m not shy in sharing my opinions.

But I do feel like…something… is amiss. And the refereeing is the vehicle to that end. That’s the pattern, the demonstrated bias. I don’t know why. To move to LA? To further punish Gregg Williams? I have only guesses, some of which make more sense than others at any given time.

But the team quitting or tanking? I just haven’t seen that.

Well, but, I don’t know what else I would assume. Do I believe the Rams are a special target of the refs? No. But it doesn’t matter, because they have the same reaction to their own mistakes as they do to bad calls–any kind of setback. They break under it. They go all hang doggy.

Heck they aren’t even the most penalized team in the league. They’re tied for 9th. The 49ers are actually ahead of them at 4th.

Going hang doggy is not good. I think they need Hill at qb. I also think the Wms defense asks too much of them. I think both Fisher and Wms overestimated the team and thought it could handle more.

Mackeyser wrote:

Well, that and the blatant bias the Refs are showing.

I just can’t get past that. Quinn is held on every play including the 80yd TD. I just saw a pic showing Staley held him…badly. Almost a bad a hold as the Langford takedown on the Dez Bryant TD.

No team is going to overcome that level of bias. So, unless something changes in that regard the Rams are peeing into the wind no matter what they do.

What’s that phrase? Just because I seem paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t really out to get me…

Sure, I agree that the Rams have a fragile psyche right now. However, they may also seem to be responding to the rather obvious bias that they also see and feel that once that first really bad call comes, that they KNOW a bunch more will come that allows the opponent to score dozens of unanswered points. It’s starting to feel inevitable. And that has to SUCK to feel that inevitability as a player.

How must Robert Quinn feel to beat his guy on almost every play and KNOW that he’s not gotten a holding call in what? 300 snaps? is that even possible that he’s not been held ONCE in 300 snaps???

I just think it was a bad call. The Cook call. I am never one to buy into theories like that. A confident team doesn’t let itself get deflated that way, regardless.

I also think that they aren’t doing what they promised with Quinn, and setting him up to succeed.

Of course he’s being held. Heck Jake Long should try it. But you can set up a top passing rushing DE to make plays. What happens instead is that every game he’s in the same spot doing the same things.

To me there is a main culprit here. Team psyche. Now…that gets close to “psych 101” posts but I don’t know, I think I have a feel for this particular issue. You can tell if a group has a “mental issue” and I think this group does.

Let’s assume for a sec that the bad call on Cook started them down the slippery slope. Interesting, did you notice that after that call Cook started just sucking as a player? Whole 2nd half. So did the bad call undermine them? If it did, and I think it did, that’s bad. A good, solid, veteran team with confidence overcomes setbacks like that.

So that to me is the key. This is a team with fragile confidence. Mistakes have killed them even though they knew they could have had a couple of games. When confidence goes, so does steady play.

Look at Pettis for an example. Before Phil, he was the hands guy, who could make crazy good catches in traffic on poorly thrown balls. But he drops 2 against the Eagles, and by god it carried over to tonight. He wasn’t the same player as the guy who made the crazy good catches we have talked about before.

You could see them deflate. Davis too. In fact this is why I never accept that a qb who is exuberant and enthusiastic and shows emotion is good. Because there’s a flip side to that coin. I prefer the dead fish qb who is the same in all conditions. You can SEE Davis getting down on himself after mistakes. You think the team can’t see it? And when he does that, you KNOW more mistakes are coming. You can make money betting on it.

A confident team will overcome bad calls, and overcome their own mistakes. How many game-killing mistakes did SF and Dallas make?…before they finally won?

The Rams need a dramatic win to give them team confidence. The paradox of course is that lack of confidence undermines them.

from off the net

=========

kailuaram color]

tre mason activated!

espn just said mason has been activated for tonight. AWESOME! 😀

from off the net

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UMSLBlues12

Gruden comparing Austin Davis to Drew Brees

Gruden had an entire segment on it in the ESPN pre game.

Including the fact that they lick their hands a lot. Looks like ESPN is buying into the AD9 hype…

Rams’ 1999 defense also worthy of respect

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12523/rams-1999-defense-also-worthy-of-honor

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Long before the St. Louis Rams traded for running back Marshall Faulk or hired Mike Martz to run the offense or any of the other moves they made that eventually turned the offense into what is now known as the “Greatest Show on Turf,” the Rams’ offense was perpetually stuck in the mud. Even in practice.

That’s because even as the Rams struggled to win games, they actually had the defensive pieces in place to become a good team if only the offense could keep them off the field long enough to come up for air.

“I just don’t think they talk about our defense enough,” receiver Torry Holt said. “We were the No. 1 offense in the National Football League, but our defense was top five in the NFL. But they were so overshadowed by what we were doing offensively and the speed and the points that we were generating, the energy that we created. But I think our defense just didn’t get talked about enough and still doesn’t get talked about enough.

“Some would say there wasn’t a lot of household names. I beg to differ. Todd Lyght, Kevin Carter, Mike Jones, D’Marco Farr, Ray Agnew, Keith Lyle, the list goes on and on of guys that were more than able to start on any team in the National Football League. They played together as a cohesive unit all the time for a long period of time for 16 weeks. They created a lot of turnovers and gave us as an offense the opportunity to get the ball back and generate more points.”

As the Rams offense burst on to the scene in 1999, the defense made a similar move to rank near the top of the league in most categories. Though the two were simultaneously impressing on a weekly basis, the defense was quietly flying under the radar by offering big plays and shutting down opponents in blowout victories.

Although it was easy to point to the large leads the offense often staked the defense to as the reason for success, such leads were also a product of a defense capable of getting enough early stops for the points to accumulate. And in many cases, the defense also provided the points.

That season, the Rams were fourth in the NFL in points allowed per game (15.1), first in run defense (74.3 yards per game) and tied for the league lead with 57 sacks. They also finished sixth in takeaways with 36 and scored three defensive touchdowns.

Defensive end Carter posted a then-franchise record with 17 sacks on his way to a Pro Bowl berth. Defensive tackle Farr and cornerback Lyght joined Carter in Hawaii. It was a group that also featured the young versions of future difference-makers London Fletcher and Leonard Little.

“We all did our job,” Farr said. “The Greatest Show on Turf thing where it became just about the offense, that’s something else from outside this room. We all worked together. When we stopped them and got the ball back, we knew we were going to score. It was a personal challenge. They’d be up watching us play defense and we’d be up watching them play offense. If you don’t do it, we’re going to do it. If you have a whole group like that, the next thing you know you are in the Super Bowl.”

In no place was that more evident than on the practice fields at Rams Park. For the previous two seasons under coach Dick Vermeil, the Rams’ defense would regularly dominate the proceedings in practice. Receiver Isaac Bruce remembers the helpless feeling of playing on an offense that couldn’t even score in practice let alone in games.

But after the offseason additions of guys like Faulk, Martz, Holt, Adam Timmerman and others, it didn’t take long for the defense to realize that things were about to change.

“It’s not like you don’t have much respect for the guys you play with, you do,” Farr said. “They’re your teammates, you love them, but we were facing a whole lot better on game day than we were getting in practice. So practice got boring some of those years. We could shut those guys down anytime we needed to, so how were we getting better? Then all of a sudden it switched where we’re on our heels, we’re backing up and you look up and start to recognize signals and demeanor. Then it became something different and they started to compete with us and beat us.”

In many ways, the practices became tougher than the games for the defense. Where Farr could once have his way with any nondescript guard on the roster, players like Timmerman and Tom Nutten would offer much more resistance. Tales of left tackle Orlando Pace’s dominance of end Grant Wistrom in practice still get talked about anytime an offensive tackle beats an end consistently in pass-rush drills. But Pace’s excellence only made things easier for Wistrom.

Though the defense still doesn’t get the credit it might deserve 15 years later, there is no denying the Rams wouldn’t have even gone to Super Bowl XXXIV, let alone win it, without a strong defensive performance. When the offense finally struggled against Tampa Bay’s stout defense in the NFC Championship Game, it was the Rams’ defense that rose to the occasion.

The Rams held Tampa Bay to 203 total yards and came up with two turnovers, five sacks and a safety in leading St. Louis to an 11-6 victory.

“We got into a dogfight,” Farr said. “It made me respect Tampa more on defense, because if you can slow those guys down, then you can play. But we were more than capable of going into a dogfight with anybody. That type of game is what that defense was used to before the offense took off. It was nothing new to us. It was ‘OK, that’s what type of game this is? Great.’ We’d been there before. So we were trained for it.”

They became champions because of it.

Rams-49ers: Matchup breakdown

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12513/rams-49ers-matchup-breakdown-2

EARTH CITY, Mo. — A look at three individual matchups to keep an eye on when the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers meet at 8:30 p.m. ET Monday night on ESPN.

Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis vs. Niners running back Frank Gore

Like clockwork, San Francisco running back Frank Gore has been the centerpiece of the offense almost since he arrived in the league back in 2005 and certainly since his second season in 2006. Gore’s physical, powerful running style has made life difficult for the Rams in the time since, and has allowed Gore to have as much or more success against St. Louis than any other team. Gore has 14 rushing touchdowns against the Rams, the most of any player in NFL history. In 14 meetings, he has rushed for 1,149 yards and those touchdowns on 254 carries with five 100-yard outings. In the teams’ last meeting in St. Louis, Gore had 20 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams’ defense, meanwhile, has struggled to stop the run, sitting 29th in the league in that category by allowing 152.5 yards per game and 28th in the league at 4.82 yards per rush allowed. Laurinaitis isn’t the only one tasked with slowing Gore, but much of the responsibility falls on the middle linebacker in terms of having everyone lined up correctly and not allowing for mental mistakes like a blown gap responsibility. Laurinaitis said this week that he feels like he could not watch much tape and know exactly what the Niners are going to do. That might be the case, but knowing and doing are two very different things.

Rams right tackle Joe Barksdale vs. 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks

Barksdale has been a pleasant surprise in the Rams’ lineup since he became a full-time starter a year ago, but Brooks is one player who has proved a nightmare — not just for the Barksdale but the Rams as a whole. Without the services of Aldon Smith and NaVorro Bowman, the 49ers have leaned on others to pick up the slack, but Brooks hasn’t necessarily been able to do that as one would expect. In the Thursday night meeting in St. Louis a year ago, Brooks had a sack and a half and led the team with nine tackles on his way to his best season. Brooks has been relatively quiet so far this season with nine tackles and a sack, but he’s getting pressure with three hits and nine pressures. There are other 49ers capable of generating pressure, especially defensive lineman Justin Smith, but neutralizing Brooks is a good place to start.

Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins vs. 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin

Despite numerous offseason additions and the return of a healthy Michael Crabtree, it’s Boldin who is still the 49ers’ most productive receiver with his 25 catches and 303 yards. Much like Gore, Boldin has made a career of tormenting the Rams. In 15 games against the Rams, Boldin has 97 receptions for 1,326 yards and seven touchdowns, including six 100-yard games.

Given the other options in the passing game, it’s unlikely Jenkins will shadow Boldin as he did Dallas’ Dez Bryant earlier this season, but the two will likely see plenty of each other as they did a year ago. In the 2013 game in San Francisco, Jenkins repeatedly tussled with Boldin, who had nine catches for 98 yards and got Jenkins off his game with his physical style and willingness to engage in trash talk. There is no love lost between these two, but the Rams need more from Jenkins in order to keep Boldin and the 49ers in check.

znhater wrote:

I see posts at other bb sites stating some think Bailey is a future starter. I think he’s OK, but a guy with 16 career catches and no receiving tds in a season and 1/4 doesn’t give me confidence. He’s also had chances and squandered them away with failed drug tests. I guess in asking, how do u folks here feel about Bailey and his future? Thx

It’s the way he plays. It’s not the numbers. I am a Bailey advocate. I think he IS starting material. Again, that was just by watching how he plays…it has nothing to do with the stats. He’s confident, aggressive, field smart, has very good hands, adjusts to the ball, fights for the ball, and can run routes. That little bit was apparent even in his limited time.

BUT with the emergence of Quick and the addition of Britt, combined with his suspension, he may not get many targets any time soon.

Which is fine. IMO if what he showed last year holds up, then, it means the Rams could be deep at WR. Which…would be different, and interesting.

.

That’s sad news. My condolences to the family. Does anyone know what happened?

This is the thread on the herd board.

http://www.ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?5,521652,521652#msg-521652