Friday, December 21, 2007

Rams vs Steelers

Something has to happen for this team to do a 180 degree turn before next season. Much has been written and discussed about President John Shaw's verbal commitment to Head Coach Scott Linehan regarding next season. Many people have also brought up the example of former head coach Dick Vermeil having two lousy seasons and in his third winning SuperBowl 34. OK, Vermeil kept his job by firing some assistants and most notably hiring Mike Martz.

Since early on Scott Linehan has taken over the offense from offensive coordinator Greg Olsen. So what changes can Shaw demand of Linehan, who was selected to keep the high powered Rams' offense humming? It makes no sense to me to keep him around and hire an offensive coordinator, Linehan should have that area covered. He doesn't, so Shaw will have to make a tough decision.

On the defensive side, the NFL Network "mentioned" that Linehan and defensive coordinator Jim Halsett are at odds and Haslett may not return next year. Bryant Gumbell and Neon Deion botched so many names, and used the teams names so interchangeably last night this report warrants further scrutiny. In my opinion Haslett is a keeper. His unit had a bad outing last night, but they have played with poise, and enthusiasm all year.

As far as the fans. My hope is that they were trying to send a profound message to the front office that they demand change. In a night that I witnessed for the first time in my life a number being retired for the Rams, it saddened me to see so many opposing fans, and seemingly quiet Rams fans during Faulk's ceremony.

One game left, and a ton of unanswered questions. It seems though that some of the Rams high profile players are feeling like the fans and losing patience with Linehan's regime.

On a side note: I truly hope that Isaac Bruce finishes as a Ram and on his own terms. He is productive and the epitome of a professional.

Lastly whomever may still be reading this in a tough season: Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to all Rams Fans.

Ram On!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Rams vs Packers

Well the Rams of 2007 are nothing if they aren't consistent. Last week I wrote about the predictable pattern that this team displays every time they lose a game. This week was not an exception.

To recap: The Rams offense found it's groove and played well in the first half, trailing only by 3 points at halftime. In that first half the offense and defense played well. Fast forward to the second half: The Rams defense spent too much time on the field due to the offense's inability to sustain drives. The special teams contributed with a missed field goal, some poor punts and a fumbled kick return. And that's a wrap folks.

The formula seems to easy for this team to win:

1) Don't turn the ball over
2) Don't have a special teams breakdown
3) Score TD's instead of FG's in the red zone
4) Play with the same intensity in both halves of the game

Until this team can play well for 60mins the future looks bleak.

Ram On!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Rams vs Bengals

Like most of you this season it getting almost unbearable to watch. Not that the team isn't putting forth an effort. With the crazy amount of injuries I'm not that familiar with some of the players.

This game was almost like every game this season. The defense keeps the Rams in the game, offense play calling is vanilla, few mental errors on offense and special teams doom drives and the Rams coulda shoulda......

So team president John Shaw is interviewed by the St Louis Dispatch and concludes that Scott Linehan more than likely will return. Let's look at this. The great debate is very simplistic:

A) Linehan is a good head coach that simply had too many injuries to key players thus the reasoning for the poor record.

Or

B) Linehan has taken a once explosive offense and handcuffed them with safe play calling, and not signing the right free agents to compliment a once potent offense. Defensively he's lucky to have signed Jim Halsett.

I hate to be like John Shaw but I see the injury defense, but the inability to make plays even in the opener when most guys were healthy scares me.

I will let this season play out and be watching that this team still competes, and plays hard. If that changes I believe Linehan must go, because if you can't motivate guys who should never be in a starting role who can you motivate?

Ram On!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Rams vs Falcons

Quick thoughts:

The Rams defense still is in need of more play makers, but they do play hard for all 60 minutes.

The Rams really need to look in free agency for a replacement for Chavous. I understand he is a great guy in the locker room, but he misses too many tackles and rarely is a difference maker.

Kudos to the patchwork o-line. I thought they did pretty well especially in the first half.

Why does Linehan/Olson get so conservative in the second half?

If we are going to run Jackson up the middle so much why did they release Hedgecock?

I really hope John Shaw is being truthful when he said that the Rams would be very active in free agency to get more play makers on this team, especially on the offensive side.

I really like Jim Haslett's enthusiasm, wish it would cross over to the offense.

Ram On!