- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
Gordon: Rams still haven't found what they're looking for
• By Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_49b13ddd-24b1-554f-becf-a6fa4dcf30b2.html
Rams coach Jeff Fisher tried to polish up another agonizing loss with words of encouragement for his team.
"Despite the fact that this is a very, very difficult loss for us and the way they're feeling right now, there's significant improvement in this football team this week and today," he said after his team's come-from-ahead 34-31 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
"We've still got some work to do," he said. "We've got some time to look at what we're doing and make some adjustments and heal up and we'll go from there.
"But I'm very disappointed for our players because they played very, very hard and very smart today."
Such happy talk would be great if this were Year 1 of the Fisher Regime, or even Year 2. But now we're into Year 3 and the Rams lost two of the three games during the easiest portion of their schedule.
They go into their bye week knowing they have little chance of contending this season, which was their stated goal. Just as they have the previous two years, the Rams are finding new ways to lose.
Will the misery ever end out at Rams Park?
A botched shotgun snap and a dropped touchdown pass proved costly. Those mistakes were made by center Scott Wells and Jared Cook respectively.
Those are two of the team's high-priced veterans. Those mistakes sting more than a touchdown interception tossed by a fill-in quarterback, mishaps by youngsters in the secondary or dubious penalties called on a back-up defensive end.
The bottom line: The Rams blew a 21-0 lead over a beatable opponent on their own field. That cannot happen in Year 3 of a makeover.
"At home, up 21-0, that's got to be a blowout," middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "I just feel like each phase made mistakes and regardless of all that, heck, even at the end we had a chance to win it."
Sure, there were positives. Quarterback Austin Davis exceeded expectations again, completing 30 of 42 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions. He moved around, made plays all over the field and exuded confidence.
(Can Davis really take a back seat to Shaun Hill after such an uplifting performance? Fisher said that is case, but our guess is we'll see plenty more of Davis this season.)
The Rams controlled the offensive line of scrimmage, run blocking and pass protecting and piling up 448 yards. One this day, anyway, it didn't seem to matter that top draft pick Greg Robinson can't play his way into the starting lineup. The veterans got the job done.
Receiver Brian Quick caught a 51-yard touchdown pass. Running back Zac Stacy had 121 yards rushing and receiving.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins had a nice 25-yard "pick six". Outside linebacker Alec Ogletree forced a timely DeMarco Murray fumble as the Cowboys neared scoring range.
These are players the Rams want to build around. They did some exciting things against a decent opponent.
But this also made a ton of mistakes, earning another 119 yards in penalties.
"We've got to self-check, gut-check, go to work," Laurinaitis said. "This bye will be a good week for us to really self-examine who do we want to be as a team."
Great, but this is Year 3 of this regime. By now the Rams should know who they want to be. In fact, they should already be that team -- or at least close to do it, despite some of their major injury hits.
In the "Not For Long" league, teams aren't supposed to stay bad. But the Rams are still wallowing in the same mediocrity that swallowed up so many of their previous teams.
• By Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_49b13ddd-24b1-554f-becf-a6fa4dcf30b2.html
Rams coach Jeff Fisher tried to polish up another agonizing loss with words of encouragement for his team.
"Despite the fact that this is a very, very difficult loss for us and the way they're feeling right now, there's significant improvement in this football team this week and today," he said after his team's come-from-ahead 34-31 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
"We've still got some work to do," he said. "We've got some time to look at what we're doing and make some adjustments and heal up and we'll go from there.
"But I'm very disappointed for our players because they played very, very hard and very smart today."
Such happy talk would be great if this were Year 1 of the Fisher Regime, or even Year 2. But now we're into Year 3 and the Rams lost two of the three games during the easiest portion of their schedule.
They go into their bye week knowing they have little chance of contending this season, which was their stated goal. Just as they have the previous two years, the Rams are finding new ways to lose.
Will the misery ever end out at Rams Park?
A botched shotgun snap and a dropped touchdown pass proved costly. Those mistakes were made by center Scott Wells and Jared Cook respectively.
Those are two of the team's high-priced veterans. Those mistakes sting more than a touchdown interception tossed by a fill-in quarterback, mishaps by youngsters in the secondary or dubious penalties called on a back-up defensive end.
The bottom line: The Rams blew a 21-0 lead over a beatable opponent on their own field. That cannot happen in Year 3 of a makeover.
"At home, up 21-0, that's got to be a blowout," middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "I just feel like each phase made mistakes and regardless of all that, heck, even at the end we had a chance to win it."
Sure, there were positives. Quarterback Austin Davis exceeded expectations again, completing 30 of 42 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions. He moved around, made plays all over the field and exuded confidence.
(Can Davis really take a back seat to Shaun Hill after such an uplifting performance? Fisher said that is case, but our guess is we'll see plenty more of Davis this season.)
The Rams controlled the offensive line of scrimmage, run blocking and pass protecting and piling up 448 yards. One this day, anyway, it didn't seem to matter that top draft pick Greg Robinson can't play his way into the starting lineup. The veterans got the job done.
Receiver Brian Quick caught a 51-yard touchdown pass. Running back Zac Stacy had 121 yards rushing and receiving.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins had a nice 25-yard "pick six". Outside linebacker Alec Ogletree forced a timely DeMarco Murray fumble as the Cowboys neared scoring range.
These are players the Rams want to build around. They did some exciting things against a decent opponent.
But this also made a ton of mistakes, earning another 119 yards in penalties.
"We've got to self-check, gut-check, go to work," Laurinaitis said. "This bye will be a good week for us to really self-examine who do we want to be as a team."
Great, but this is Year 3 of this regime. By now the Rams should know who they want to be. In fact, they should already be that team -- or at least close to do it, despite some of their major injury hits.
In the "Not For Long" league, teams aren't supposed to stay bad. But the Rams are still wallowing in the same mediocrity that swallowed up so many of their previous teams.
