Do we really just need a new OC?

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JerseyRam1

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I am as critical of Fisher as any member of this board, so I would be thrilled if the Rams went in a new direction completely. However, if you look at the defense with a proven DC in Williams, they rank 6th in the NFL. Special teams are also really strong, so we would all like to retain Fassel. Knowing the Rams are a handful of plays away from 7-3/8-2 perhaps an Offense make-over is the the way to go.

Perhaps a Fisher intervention is the easiest path. For that to work, Fisher would have to hand over they keys and become a game manager, and let his new OC control all aspects of the offense. If memory serves, thats what the Rams did when Vermiel handed over the offense to Martz. Think of how Tomlin was successful in Pittsburgh. He had Arians running the Offense with LeBeu running the defense.

For the last two seasons, Fisher has done it his way on offense, hiring from within and it has been a disaster. He needs help badly and a wise man would recognize, react and adapt rather than dig in and fight.
 

dieterbrock

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Change the OC and the offense stays the same.
Who woulda thought that the offense would get WORSE when Shotty left??
Egads...
 

drasconis

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Such an intervention needed to be done coming into this year. Now you would need to give him an extension and integrate it into that. One also has to question if they could get a OC that they would like/want...several guys they reportedly wanted to talk to in recent years have reportedly turned down the interview (which is really odd). so the new OC would have to get some serious power contractly and that itself may cause some tension.
 

JerseyRam1

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Actually should have happened two years ago. I completely agree and Fish would have to allow for this transition or he's out. No different than a reorg at a company not meeting its goals.

Such an intervention needed to be done coming into this year. Now you would need to give him an extension and integrate it into that. One also has to question if they could get a OC that they would like/want...several guys they reportedly wanted to talk to in recent years have reportedly turned down the interview (which is really odd). so the new OC would have to get some serious power contractly and that itself may cause some tension.
 

bdfitz

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The best move was and could still be Martz as OC. How many times have we scored 10 or less points per game? Fisher has no clue nor do his inexperienced choices in OC. Martz would have elevated Spruce, Cooper, Thomas and Austin. He made ingenious use of TE and U-Back players and would have been a great bridge to the St. Louis fans.

Gurley would have 30?receptions by now. Fisher has no idea how to fix this. The OC and QB have no bearing unless you unrest coltrol of all offensive overview from Fisher.
 

thirteen28

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Absent a philosophical U-Turn by Fisher, it won't make any difference. I see no reason to believe such a turnarond is coming. You would think after having traded a mother-lode of draft picks for the right to draft Jared Goff that the light would have went on for him. But then he sends him out there Sunday, with one hand tied behind his back, tries to sit on a lead from the first quarter on, and so forth. This is after spending his first two seasons here letting Sam Bradford be coached into a safety-first checkdown machine. I see absolutely zero evidence that Fisher will change his philosophy, or allow a new OC to come in and run an offense that would fully utilize Goff's skill set. And I further find it hard to believe he would be open to the front office forcing such a thing on him as a condition of employment, as happened to Vermeil prior to the '99 season.

This column sums it up pretty good:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-736165-fisher-goff.html

Bonsignore: Playing not to lose backfires for Rams, Jeff Fisher
VINCENT BONSIGNORE
Given everything Jeff Fisher could have said about Jared Goff's first career NFL start Sunday, what Fisher chose to say said everything you need to know about the Rams’ coach.

“As far as Jared’s concerned, he did a really good job,” Fisher began. “No delay-of-games.”

It was classic Fisher, a defensive-minded coach whose offensive philosophy seems to be making sure the offense doesn't screw anything up for the defense.

Hence Goff being asked to do little more than what his predecessor, Case Keenum, was asked to do the first nine games of the season.

As in throwing short, safe passes rather than taking chances down the field. Playing carefully. Deliberately.

Which is why Fisher went right to the mistake card when assessing Goff's first start.

And why Fisher immediately pointed out Goff's lack of mistakes.

Rather than the moxie he showed taking chances down the field or making big plays or being the catalyst to an expanded Rams offensive attack.

None of which Goff was asked or even allowed to do.

Because that goes against Fisher's offensive philosophy.

It’s called playing not to lose.

Which is great way to lose a bunch of winnable games.

And that's been a staple of Jeff Fisher-coached teams for years.

Including this year, as the Rams fell to 4-6 after gift-wrapping the Miami Dolphins a 14-10 win Sunday despite carrying a 10-0 lead into the final five minutes.

It’s the same record they had under Fisher last year through 10 games. And the season before that and the season before that. And, well, the season before that.

All roads under Fisher, it seems, lead straight to mediocrity.

And that's a problem.

That said, here are some observations after Goff's debut on Sunday.

RAMS ARE A MISTAKE-PRONE TEAM

Theoretically Fisher's philosophy of playing careful, deliberate football offensively and essentially putting games into the hands of the defense is a sound approach. The fact the Rams have been a play or two from winning in five of their six losses proves that.

But there is a major flaw.

When your philosophy reduces your margin of error to nearly nil, you have to play mistake-free football to see it through to a successful conclusion.

But as we saw Sunday – and pretty much every week that preceded it – the Rams are far from mistake-free.

They committed eight penalties, two of which significantly aided the Dolphins’ fourth-quarter touchdown drives and another wiped out a first-down run by Goff.

“We just had too many penalties,” Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree said.

Said safety T.J. McDonald: “We hurt ourselves, penalties, we gave them free yards. ... We hurt ourselves with some big yards, putting us in a bad situation and had to adjust how we played because of the score.”

And that's been a problem all year.

RAMS DEFENSE IS PLAYING WAY TOO MUCH

The lasting impression of Sunday's loss is the Rams defense surrendering 14 straight points over the final five minutes. It gave the impression the defense collapsed.

That's unfair to a unit that's playing remarkable football but is the victim of being asked to carry too much of the weight.

Invariably, a breaking point occurs. And that is exactly what happened Sunday.

Not that anyone on defense wanted to admit it.

“We always say, we want the offense to put up 50 points – that’s not going to happen week-in and week-out,” Rams defensive end Robert Quinn said. “They gave us a 10-0 lead, all we had to do was either hold them to field goals or keep them out of the end zone. I guess the last six minutes, we definitely – the best way to put it is we dropped the ball. It’s frustrating, we thought we had a win, but I guess that’s why you play until the clock says zero.”

HOW SAFE IS JEFF FISHER?

Barring a complete about-face, the Rams will let Fisher coach through the end of the season. And barring a complete turnaround, the Rams will finish the season at .500 or below.

The question is, does he return on a new deal once his contract expires at the end of the season?

It's getting more and more difficult to justify that, especially if the Rams continue down their current path. The offense has not progressed during his four-plus years at the helm, and the struggles are even more pronounced with the defense playing as well as it is.

Can the Rams afford to put the fate of Goff, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, in a head coach who hasn't been able to figure out a sound offense nearly five years into the job?

Or are they better off handing things over to an offensive-minded coach with a proven track record of developing young quarterbacks and taking offenses to another level?
 

Prime Time

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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...o-thought-to-change-at-offensive-coordinator/

Jeff Fisher: No thought to change at offensive coordinator
Posted by Josh Alper on November 22, 2016

623037060-e1479827806465.jpg
Getty Images

The Rams made a change at quarterback in Week 11 by moving first overall pick Jared Goff into the starting lineup, but coach Jeff Fisher says they won’t be making a change involving the guy calling plays for Goff.

Rob Boras was bumped up to the offensive coordinator job with four games left in the 2015 season when the Rams fired Frank Cignetti in a move that hasn’t lit a fire under the Rams offense. They’ve scored three touchdowns in the last four games, rank at or near the bottom of the league in most major categories and haven’t gotten running back Todd Gurley going this year.

Despite that, Fisher says that no one’s thinking about bumping Boras aside.

“Not given it any consideration,” Fisher said, via the Los Angeles Times. “I did that last year. I have confidence in Rob and the offense has confidence in Rob. And the offense right now knows they’re not doing what they should be doing.”

Given that last year’s switch failed to ignite the offense, it’s fair to wonder if the Rams have enough offensive talent across the board to make a better showing regardless of who is calling the plays. Fisher said the team is looking at changes on the offensive line and that he’d like to see Goff take more deep shots in the coming weeks. If those shifts don’t work out, it will also be fair to wonder if Fisher will have a say in who the next offensive coordinator will be in Los Angeles.
 

rdlkgliders

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I am not one to believe that our past 5 OC 's and 5 + QB's have all been inept.
I am taking the common denominator
 

DaveFan'51

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" Bring in 'Kid Shannahan' from Hotlanta!"! Keep Williams and Fassel !
 

…..

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Give US Soccer alittle credit, they have the balls to make a change.

The Rams? Well, they're the Rams.
 

Ramrasta

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Think of it this way. If we replace Boras, there is nowhere yo go but up.
 

jap

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Everyone knows who I want as the admiral of the U.S.S. Horns offense. There isn't a more aggressive disciple of the Air Coryell philosophy than Mike Martz. It is Mad Mike more than anyone else who is responsible for the league-wide switch in focus to the passing game. I am also intrigued to see what Martz would do to renovate the running game with superstud, Todd Gurley, as the prime beneficiary. And is there really a better QB whisperer available than Mad Mike?
 

JIMERAMS

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I am not one to believe that our past 5 OC 's and 5 + QB's have all been inept.
I am taking the common denominator

really? so where are our last 5 QB's and who are they leading to the playoffs? common denominator is Backup QB's starting from day 1.
 

99Balloons

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I see a pattern with Fisher's saying that Rob Boras is safe. It's always the opposite. Boras will get fired this week.
 

rdlkgliders

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really? so where are our last 5 QB's and who are they leading to the playoffs? common denominator is Backup QB's starting from day 1.
To each his own, however I disagree the common denominator is an offensive philosophy that is failing and that philosophy is brought on by our Head Coach. Sam Bradford and the Vikings will quite possibly make the playoffs. we point our fingers at QB's, OC's and OL play. I grant you that we have not had a season where all of the aforementioned have played great but the poor offensive output is now on the shoulders of the HC and without change we will be without efficient production to win as evidenced over his tenure. Nick Foles like him or not is about to go to the playoffs on his second team along with Bradford and the Vikes both of which are part of my OP
 
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TexasRam

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The problem is Fisher. Ass backwards philosophy. 5 playoffs in 20+ years or whatever it is.

He needs to go. Before he ruins Goff.