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The Five Worst Offenses in STL Rams History
Posted by: Bernie Miklasz
http://www.101sports.com/2015/11/30/five-worst-offenses-stl-rams-history/
Cheer up, Rams fans.
Believe it or not, you could be watching an offense that’s even more futile than the weekly snooze fest you’re enduring in 2015.
Then again … if you’ve been a Rams fan for a while, you actually saw those offenses. The ones that make the 2015 attack look zippy by comparison.
So scratch what I said.
There’s no reason to smile.
The historian in me felt compelled to look at the 2015 Rams to see how they measure up to the other offenses that have represented the franchise since the team’s 1995 arrival.
I’ll present a list of the five worst offenses in STL Rams history.
But first, two notes: (1) the points-scored totals used here were/are the offensive points only and do not include touchdowns scored by the defense or special teams; and (2) I believe it’s a more accurate reading to cite the offensive performance relative to the NFL standard for that season. In other words: a bad offense in a year in which league scoring is up is worse than having a bad offense in a season when scoring across the NFL is down.
Here are The Five Worst:
1. The 2009 Rams
Offensive Points: 168.
Average: 10.5 points per game, ranked last (32nd.)
Relative to the NFL standard: a whopping 47.3 percent below the league average of 19.9 offensive points per game.
The Problems: Horrible pass protection, the decline of battered starting quarterback Marc Bulger, below-average set of wide receivers. Quarterbacks Bulger, Kyle Boller and Keith Null combined to throw only 12 touchdowns with 21 interceptions and were sacked 44 times. Hard-luck running back Steven Jackson did what he could, rushing for 1,416 yards and leading the team with 51 receptions. In a trend that is still very much in play here, the team struggled at the wide receiver position; Donnie Avery led the Rams with a mere 589 receiving yards and five TDs.
2.
The 2011 Rams
Offensive Points: 175.
Average: 10.9 points per game, ranked 32nd.
Relative to the NFL standard: a staggering 43.3 percent below the league average of 20.5 points per game.
The Problems: As usual the offensive line was awful. And the decision by head coach Steve Spagnuolo to hire Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator — a heralded move at the time — was disastrous. McDaniels installed a complicated offense that was an overreach for the Rams’ extremely limited offensive cast, After a promising rookie season in 2010, second-year quarterback Sam Bradford was pounded for 36 sacks in 10 games. He missed six games with a high ankle sprain and shouldn’t have played in several others. Bradford grimaced his way through the pain, limping around in a futile effort to elude pass rushers. Bradford’s sophomore year got off to an ominous start when he lost his go-to receiver, Danny Amendola, to a season-ending injury in the first game. Bradford and backups A.J. Feeley, Kellen Clemens and Tom Brandstater combined for only 9 TD passes and a passer rating of 69.0. They were sacked 55 times. Jackson, the reliable workhorse, managed 1,145 yards rushing despite defenses being sacked to stop him. Brandon Lloyd, a trade-deadline pickup, led the Rams with 683 receiving yards.
3. The 2008 Rams
Offensive Points: 225.
Average: 14.06 points per game, ranked 29th.
Relative to the NFL standard: their points-scored total was 30.5 percent below league average.
The Problems: After an 0-4 start head coach Scott Linehan was fired and replaced by interim Jim Haslett, the team’s defensive coordinator. Linehan came to STL in 2006 with a reputation of having a keen offensive mind, but as the remaining pieces of “The Greatest Show” Rams began to fade, Linehan was unable to come up with solutions. And the pressure of the job eventually made him crack. In 2008, Bulger’s play deteriorated for the second consecutive year; he threw 11 TDs with 13 interceptions and was sacked 38 times. (And hit frequently.) His passer rating fell off to 71.4. Backup Trent Green played some but had nothing left, throwing six interceptions and no touchdowns. The bottom line for Rams quarterbacks that season: 45 sacks, 11 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, and a 66.9 passer rating. The 2008 season was the final year for wide receiver Torry Holt in St. Louis; injuries slowed him to 796 receiving yards, breaking his streak of eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. In the backfield Jackson pushed his way for 1,042 receiving yards.
4. The 2015 Rams
Offensive Points: 170 (through 11 games.)
Average: 15.4 points per game, ranked 31st.
Relative to the NFL standard: with five games remaining, the offense is scoring at 27.6 percent below the league average.
The Problems: A terrible offensive line, with inexperience and injuries causing a collapse that’s made it close to impossible to get much going offensively. Left offensive tackle Greg Robinson ranks among the worst offensive tackles in the league this season. GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher tried to make up for their failure to cultivate an offensive line by selecting five offensive linemen in the 2015 draft, and that made the unit extremely vulnerable coming into the season. The ensuing chaos was quite predictable. Snead and Fisher traded Bradford to Philadelphia for QB Nick Foles, who lost the confidence of Eagles coach Chip Kelly only one season after putting up spectacular numbers in 2013. The Rams’ bosses not only acquired Foles but gave him a contract extension (including $14 million guaranteed) before Foles took a regular-season snap. Foles has been awful, and lost his starting job to career journeyman Case Keenum. Because of multiple draft busts and the current regime’s refusal to spend considerable money on a free agent wide receiver, the Rams’ receivers rate among the poorest in the league, with only one decent playmaker in Tavon Austin. Fisher-Snead spent a lot of money to sign free-agent tight end Jared Cook, and he’s done little to justify the investment. Fisher had a chance to repurpose his offense by making an ambitious hire to replace offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who left for a college OC job at Georgia. But Fisher went with the most simple choice possible by promoting quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. Rookie RB Todd Gurley has offered hope, but defenses are ganging up on him now, and Gurley’s production is on the wane. The Rams are 31st in points, 32nd (last) in yards from scrimmage, 32nd in passing yards, and 32nd in third-down conversion rate. In 138 possessions they’ve had only three drives last five minutes or longer.
5. The 2007 Rams
Offensive Points: 241.
Average: 15.06 per game, ranked 27th.
Relative to the NFL standard: The ’07 offense scored at a rate that was 23.7% below league average.
The Problems: Bad offensive line play — notice the theme with ALL of these putrid offenses? — made it easy for defenses to stalk quarterbacks Bulger and Gus Frerotte, who were sacked a combined 48 times. The QBs didn’t handle the pressure well, carelessly throwing 28 interceptions despite having the services of an effective Holt, who had 1,189 receiving yards and seven TDs. In his final year in St. Louis, Isaac Bruce caught 55 passes for 733 yards and four TDs. The Rams got their usual 1,000-yard rushing season from SJ39, but as a team turned the ball over 37 times. In a related note: between 2007 and 2011, when the Rams went 15-65, they gave up 223 sacks, third-most in the NFL over that time. And their 145 turnovers over the five seasons were the sixth-highest count in the league.
Notables …
I always thought the 1998 Rams had one of the worst NFL offenses I’ve ever seen, but that unit actually ranked 21st in the NFL that season with an average of 16.5 offensive points per game, or 15.4 percent below league average. It was bad, but … we’ve listed the five worst Rams offenses based on how they compared to the league average in that particular season… After the bottom five, here were the next Rams’ offenses on the list for their relative futility in a league context:
The 2012 Rams: Fisher’s first season here — 261 points, 21.6 percent below NFL average, 16.3 points per game.
The 1998 Rams: We cited the stats already; they scored at a rate that was 15But here’s a personal recollection: at one point, in a Thursday night game at Philadelphia, I sat there in the press box at Veterans Stadium cold and bored, watching the Rams huff and puff as QB Tony Banks handed off to “star” running back June Henley and tried to pass the ball to J.T. Thomas — his primary receiver. It was depressing. And looking back it was hard to believe that one year later the franchise had Kurt Warner handing off to Marshall Faulk and throwing it to Faulk, a healthy Isaac Bruce, the rookie Torry Holt, and receivers such as Az-Hakim and Ricky Proehl. A new and creative offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, made sensational use of this rich talent, and the 1999 Rams scored 447 points on offense en route to the Super Bowl championship. A radical transformation in one season.
The 1996 Rams: 259 points, 16.1 per game — 14.8 percent below league average. Banks, a rookie second-round draft pick, took over at QB for Steve Walsh early in the season. Banks struggled, as you’d expect. Rookie RB Lawrence Phillips, the sixth overall draft choice, immediately established himself as an overrated and ordinary talent — averaging 3.2 yards per carry and finishing with 632 yards. Isaac Bruce and rookie Eddie Kennison combined for more than 2,000 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, but that was about it for excitement.
In Case You’re Wondering …
The “Greatest Show” Rams were so absurdly prolific on offense, we should never forget the extent of their radiance. Let’s stay with the method of rating Rams’ offenses based on the NFL scoring trend in a given season. Well, check out these numbers:
The 1999 Rams scored 447 points on offense, averaging 27.9 points per game … or 32.2 percent above the NFL average.
The 2000 Rams scored 512 on offense, averaging 32 points per game … a preposterous 40.2 percent above the NFL average.
The 2001 Rams scored 468 points on offense, or 29.2 per game … or 36.7 percent above the league rate.
By the way: over their last four games, the 2015 Rams have scored four total touchdowns on offense. The 2001 Rams once scored four offensive touchdowns in one quarter … (against Indianapolis on Dec. 30 of that season.)
(You may cry now.)
Final Thoughts …
Here’s what fascinates me: for many years now in St. Louis, we’ve seen how quickly an offense can be taken down by an inadequate or weak offensive line. We’ve also seen the other end of the spectrum, too. There was the brilliance of the O-line’s virtually flawless pass protection during the “Air Coryell” years — and with the “Greatest Show” we came to understand the value of having a shutdown left tackle, Orlando Pace. We’ve also observed the strain of trying to score points — even at an average level — with mediocre quarterback play. And we know what it means to have exceptional quarterback play (Kurt Warner, Jim Hart.) I mean, is there anything more basic than this in realizing what’s necessary to have a winning offense?
But we’re now into the third GM-coach regime at Rams Park since the “Greatest Show” flickered out, but no one in a position of football leadership has been able to build a good O-line or find a quarterback capable of elevating an offense. It’s just amazing to me, how people that are paid so much money for their football knowledge and expertise can be so oblivious and clueless about prioritizing and improving the most important parts of a sickly offense. In this context, we shouldn’t be surprised by the ongoing offensive futility with a franchise that’s careening toward its 12th consecutive non-winning season. It’s become a bad and unbreakable habit.
Thanks for reading…
–Bernie
Posted by: Bernie Miklasz
http://www.101sports.com/2015/11/30/five-worst-offenses-stl-rams-history/
Cheer up, Rams fans.
Believe it or not, you could be watching an offense that’s even more futile than the weekly snooze fest you’re enduring in 2015.
Then again … if you’ve been a Rams fan for a while, you actually saw those offenses. The ones that make the 2015 attack look zippy by comparison.
So scratch what I said.
There’s no reason to smile.
The historian in me felt compelled to look at the 2015 Rams to see how they measure up to the other offenses that have represented the franchise since the team’s 1995 arrival.
I’ll present a list of the five worst offenses in STL Rams history.
But first, two notes: (1) the points-scored totals used here were/are the offensive points only and do not include touchdowns scored by the defense or special teams; and (2) I believe it’s a more accurate reading to cite the offensive performance relative to the NFL standard for that season. In other words: a bad offense in a year in which league scoring is up is worse than having a bad offense in a season when scoring across the NFL is down.
Here are The Five Worst:
1. The 2009 Rams
Offensive Points: 168.
Average: 10.5 points per game, ranked last (32nd.)
Relative to the NFL standard: a whopping 47.3 percent below the league average of 19.9 offensive points per game.
The Problems: Horrible pass protection, the decline of battered starting quarterback Marc Bulger, below-average set of wide receivers. Quarterbacks Bulger, Kyle Boller and Keith Null combined to throw only 12 touchdowns with 21 interceptions and were sacked 44 times. Hard-luck running back Steven Jackson did what he could, rushing for 1,416 yards and leading the team with 51 receptions. In a trend that is still very much in play here, the team struggled at the wide receiver position; Donnie Avery led the Rams with a mere 589 receiving yards and five TDs.
2.
The 2011 Rams
Offensive Points: 175.
Average: 10.9 points per game, ranked 32nd.
Relative to the NFL standard: a staggering 43.3 percent below the league average of 20.5 points per game.
The Problems: As usual the offensive line was awful. And the decision by head coach Steve Spagnuolo to hire Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator — a heralded move at the time — was disastrous. McDaniels installed a complicated offense that was an overreach for the Rams’ extremely limited offensive cast, After a promising rookie season in 2010, second-year quarterback Sam Bradford was pounded for 36 sacks in 10 games. He missed six games with a high ankle sprain and shouldn’t have played in several others. Bradford grimaced his way through the pain, limping around in a futile effort to elude pass rushers. Bradford’s sophomore year got off to an ominous start when he lost his go-to receiver, Danny Amendola, to a season-ending injury in the first game. Bradford and backups A.J. Feeley, Kellen Clemens and Tom Brandstater combined for only 9 TD passes and a passer rating of 69.0. They were sacked 55 times. Jackson, the reliable workhorse, managed 1,145 yards rushing despite defenses being sacked to stop him. Brandon Lloyd, a trade-deadline pickup, led the Rams with 683 receiving yards.
3. The 2008 Rams
Offensive Points: 225.
Average: 14.06 points per game, ranked 29th.
Relative to the NFL standard: their points-scored total was 30.5 percent below league average.
The Problems: After an 0-4 start head coach Scott Linehan was fired and replaced by interim Jim Haslett, the team’s defensive coordinator. Linehan came to STL in 2006 with a reputation of having a keen offensive mind, but as the remaining pieces of “The Greatest Show” Rams began to fade, Linehan was unable to come up with solutions. And the pressure of the job eventually made him crack. In 2008, Bulger’s play deteriorated for the second consecutive year; he threw 11 TDs with 13 interceptions and was sacked 38 times. (And hit frequently.) His passer rating fell off to 71.4. Backup Trent Green played some but had nothing left, throwing six interceptions and no touchdowns. The bottom line for Rams quarterbacks that season: 45 sacks, 11 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, and a 66.9 passer rating. The 2008 season was the final year for wide receiver Torry Holt in St. Louis; injuries slowed him to 796 receiving yards, breaking his streak of eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. In the backfield Jackson pushed his way for 1,042 receiving yards.
4. The 2015 Rams
Offensive Points: 170 (through 11 games.)
Average: 15.4 points per game, ranked 31st.
Relative to the NFL standard: with five games remaining, the offense is scoring at 27.6 percent below the league average.
The Problems: A terrible offensive line, with inexperience and injuries causing a collapse that’s made it close to impossible to get much going offensively. Left offensive tackle Greg Robinson ranks among the worst offensive tackles in the league this season. GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher tried to make up for their failure to cultivate an offensive line by selecting five offensive linemen in the 2015 draft, and that made the unit extremely vulnerable coming into the season. The ensuing chaos was quite predictable. Snead and Fisher traded Bradford to Philadelphia for QB Nick Foles, who lost the confidence of Eagles coach Chip Kelly only one season after putting up spectacular numbers in 2013. The Rams’ bosses not only acquired Foles but gave him a contract extension (including $14 million guaranteed) before Foles took a regular-season snap. Foles has been awful, and lost his starting job to career journeyman Case Keenum. Because of multiple draft busts and the current regime’s refusal to spend considerable money on a free agent wide receiver, the Rams’ receivers rate among the poorest in the league, with only one decent playmaker in Tavon Austin. Fisher-Snead spent a lot of money to sign free-agent tight end Jared Cook, and he’s done little to justify the investment. Fisher had a chance to repurpose his offense by making an ambitious hire to replace offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who left for a college OC job at Georgia. But Fisher went with the most simple choice possible by promoting quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. Rookie RB Todd Gurley has offered hope, but defenses are ganging up on him now, and Gurley’s production is on the wane. The Rams are 31st in points, 32nd (last) in yards from scrimmage, 32nd in passing yards, and 32nd in third-down conversion rate. In 138 possessions they’ve had only three drives last five minutes or longer.
5. The 2007 Rams
Offensive Points: 241.
Average: 15.06 per game, ranked 27th.
Relative to the NFL standard: The ’07 offense scored at a rate that was 23.7% below league average.
The Problems: Bad offensive line play — notice the theme with ALL of these putrid offenses? — made it easy for defenses to stalk quarterbacks Bulger and Gus Frerotte, who were sacked a combined 48 times. The QBs didn’t handle the pressure well, carelessly throwing 28 interceptions despite having the services of an effective Holt, who had 1,189 receiving yards and seven TDs. In his final year in St. Louis, Isaac Bruce caught 55 passes for 733 yards and four TDs. The Rams got their usual 1,000-yard rushing season from SJ39, but as a team turned the ball over 37 times. In a related note: between 2007 and 2011, when the Rams went 15-65, they gave up 223 sacks, third-most in the NFL over that time. And their 145 turnovers over the five seasons were the sixth-highest count in the league.
Notables …
I always thought the 1998 Rams had one of the worst NFL offenses I’ve ever seen, but that unit actually ranked 21st in the NFL that season with an average of 16.5 offensive points per game, or 15.4 percent below league average. It was bad, but … we’ve listed the five worst Rams offenses based on how they compared to the league average in that particular season… After the bottom five, here were the next Rams’ offenses on the list for their relative futility in a league context:
The 2012 Rams: Fisher’s first season here — 261 points, 21.6 percent below NFL average, 16.3 points per game.
The 1998 Rams: We cited the stats already; they scored at a rate that was 15But here’s a personal recollection: at one point, in a Thursday night game at Philadelphia, I sat there in the press box at Veterans Stadium cold and bored, watching the Rams huff and puff as QB Tony Banks handed off to “star” running back June Henley and tried to pass the ball to J.T. Thomas — his primary receiver. It was depressing. And looking back it was hard to believe that one year later the franchise had Kurt Warner handing off to Marshall Faulk and throwing it to Faulk, a healthy Isaac Bruce, the rookie Torry Holt, and receivers such as Az-Hakim and Ricky Proehl. A new and creative offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, made sensational use of this rich talent, and the 1999 Rams scored 447 points on offense en route to the Super Bowl championship. A radical transformation in one season.
The 1996 Rams: 259 points, 16.1 per game — 14.8 percent below league average. Banks, a rookie second-round draft pick, took over at QB for Steve Walsh early in the season. Banks struggled, as you’d expect. Rookie RB Lawrence Phillips, the sixth overall draft choice, immediately established himself as an overrated and ordinary talent — averaging 3.2 yards per carry and finishing with 632 yards. Isaac Bruce and rookie Eddie Kennison combined for more than 2,000 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, but that was about it for excitement.
In Case You’re Wondering …
The “Greatest Show” Rams were so absurdly prolific on offense, we should never forget the extent of their radiance. Let’s stay with the method of rating Rams’ offenses based on the NFL scoring trend in a given season. Well, check out these numbers:
The 1999 Rams scored 447 points on offense, averaging 27.9 points per game … or 32.2 percent above the NFL average.
The 2000 Rams scored 512 on offense, averaging 32 points per game … a preposterous 40.2 percent above the NFL average.
The 2001 Rams scored 468 points on offense, or 29.2 per game … or 36.7 percent above the league rate.
By the way: over their last four games, the 2015 Rams have scored four total touchdowns on offense. The 2001 Rams once scored four offensive touchdowns in one quarter … (against Indianapolis on Dec. 30 of that season.)
(You may cry now.)
Final Thoughts …
Here’s what fascinates me: for many years now in St. Louis, we’ve seen how quickly an offense can be taken down by an inadequate or weak offensive line. We’ve also seen the other end of the spectrum, too. There was the brilliance of the O-line’s virtually flawless pass protection during the “Air Coryell” years — and with the “Greatest Show” we came to understand the value of having a shutdown left tackle, Orlando Pace. We’ve also observed the strain of trying to score points — even at an average level — with mediocre quarterback play. And we know what it means to have exceptional quarterback play (Kurt Warner, Jim Hart.) I mean, is there anything more basic than this in realizing what’s necessary to have a winning offense?
But we’re now into the third GM-coach regime at Rams Park since the “Greatest Show” flickered out, but no one in a position of football leadership has been able to build a good O-line or find a quarterback capable of elevating an offense. It’s just amazing to me, how people that are paid so much money for their football knowledge and expertise can be so oblivious and clueless about prioritizing and improving the most important parts of a sickly offense. In this context, we shouldn’t be surprised by the ongoing offensive futility with a franchise that’s careening toward its 12th consecutive non-winning season. It’s become a bad and unbreakable habit.
Thanks for reading…
–Bernie
