- Joined
- Nov 24, 2012
- Messages
- 2,624
- Name
- News Bot
Jim Thomas
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/fisher-has-had-some-experience-ending-slumps/article_fcf4cfb0-8356-5f54-b73b-1957a184f785.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 4f785.html</a>
In losing 31-7 to Dallas nine days ago, and then 35-11 to San Francisco on Thursday, the Rams are in arrears by 48 points over five days’ time. That makes them the second-worst beatings in back-to-back games over Jeff Fisher’s NFL head-coaching career – a career that began way back in 1994 on an interim basis for the Houston Oilers.
One must go back to 2009, Fisher’s second-to-last season in Tennessee, to find the worst. In Week 5 of that season, the Titans lost 31-9 to eventual AFC champion Indianapolis. It was even worse the following week, a 59-0 loss to eventual AFC East champion New England. The Patriots’ 45-0 halftime lead was the largest in NFL history. The 59-0 loss was the worst in Titans-Oilers franchise history.
So in the span of eight days, Fisher’s Titans were outscored by 81 points. And that wasn’t even the worst of it, because that Tennessee team entered its bye week 0-for-2009 after the loss to New England with an 0-6 record.
Following the bye, Fisher switched to Vince Young at quarterback and the Titans went on to win seven of their next eight contests. As a result they clawed their way back into playoff contention at 7-7 before a Christmas loss in Game 15 against San Diego, then finished 8-8.
With this year’s 1-3 start and back-to-back stinkers in mind for the Rams, Fisher knows what it’s like to bring a team back from the brink of oblivion. In fact, he’s done it a couple of times. In 2006, the Titans started 0-5 in what was Young’s rookie season, losing three of those five contests by seven points or less. The Titans went on to finish 8-8 that season as well.
The 2009 Titans rode running back Chris Johnson to climb out of that 0-6 hole in a season in which he rushed for 2,006 yards.
Fisher said Friday that the Rams planned to “adjust” their offensive philosophy — at least for now — to more of a run-first philosophy. Trouble is, the Rams don’t have anyone resembling a Chris Johnson in their backfield at the moment.
The bye week undoubtedly helped the 2009 Titans get their act together, and Fisher hopes a long weekend after the Thursday night game – kind of a mini-bye week – can help the Rams regroup.
“I think we found out against very good opponents the last two weeks where our team is and what we need to do and where we need to improve,” Fisher said.
But before drawing up even a single X or O for this Sunday’s game against winless Jacksonville, a reality check is needed. To wit, neither Dallas nor San Francisco should be regarded as “very good.”
The 49ers (2-2) had been outscored 56-10 and were missing four of their top 12 defensive players entering Thursday night’s game. In other words, they were ripe for the picking.
Similarly, there were plenty of compliments about the high quality of the Dallas team in the visitors’ locker room following the Rams’ 31-7 loss. Actually, the Cowboys are the definition of mediocrity. They are 106-106 since the start of the 2000 season. They were 8-8 in 2011; 8-8 in 2012; and so far this season ... 2-2. Their thumping of the Rams was followed by a loss at San Diego.
So after underachieving in the first quarter of the 2013 season, the Rams must begin the second quarter with the realization that they must play much better just to be competitive with mediocre teams. Otherwise, who knows how bad it will get once they start playing teams such as Houston, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Seattle (twice) on this year’s schedule.
The Rams of the previous two games look unprepared, devoid of intensity, and most surprising for a Fisher team, lacking in physical play. There have been instances of sloppy play against Dallas and San Francisco that would be embarrassing for a high school team.
The most glaring example came early in the second half of the Dallas game. After Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray was tackled after a short gain, linebacker Alec Ogletree had some sort of helmet issue and left the field.
Veteran linebacker Will Witherspoon was late getting on the field as Ogletree’s replacement. When the ball was snapped by Dallas, Witherspoon was still 5 yards from where the man he was supposed to be covering – Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar – was lined up in the slot.
There was no way Witherspoon could make up that distance in time, and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo floated a 24-yard pass to Escobar for a ridiculously easy touchdown.
It was like giving the Cowboys a free seven points. One quarter later, the Cowboys got another seven points on what amounted to a freebie.
Cornerback Cortland Finnegan was lined up over Dallas wide receiver Dwayne Harris in the slot. Finnegan blitzed on the play, leaving Harris uncovered and only one player between Harris and the goal line – safety T.J. McDonald.
But instead of making sure he accounted for Harris, McDonald took three steps toward the line of scrimmage, influenced by Romo’s play fake. By the time he noticed Harris running at him it was too late. Harris ran right by him down the seam for an easy TD.
If Fisher is to bring the Rams out of their two-game funk, eliminating such plays is a good place to start.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/fisher-has-had-some-experience-ending-slumps/article_fcf4cfb0-8356-5f54-b73b-1957a184f785.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 4f785.html</a>
In losing 31-7 to Dallas nine days ago, and then 35-11 to San Francisco on Thursday, the Rams are in arrears by 48 points over five days’ time. That makes them the second-worst beatings in back-to-back games over Jeff Fisher’s NFL head-coaching career – a career that began way back in 1994 on an interim basis for the Houston Oilers.
One must go back to 2009, Fisher’s second-to-last season in Tennessee, to find the worst. In Week 5 of that season, the Titans lost 31-9 to eventual AFC champion Indianapolis. It was even worse the following week, a 59-0 loss to eventual AFC East champion New England. The Patriots’ 45-0 halftime lead was the largest in NFL history. The 59-0 loss was the worst in Titans-Oilers franchise history.
So in the span of eight days, Fisher’s Titans were outscored by 81 points. And that wasn’t even the worst of it, because that Tennessee team entered its bye week 0-for-2009 after the loss to New England with an 0-6 record.
Following the bye, Fisher switched to Vince Young at quarterback and the Titans went on to win seven of their next eight contests. As a result they clawed their way back into playoff contention at 7-7 before a Christmas loss in Game 15 against San Diego, then finished 8-8.
With this year’s 1-3 start and back-to-back stinkers in mind for the Rams, Fisher knows what it’s like to bring a team back from the brink of oblivion. In fact, he’s done it a couple of times. In 2006, the Titans started 0-5 in what was Young’s rookie season, losing three of those five contests by seven points or less. The Titans went on to finish 8-8 that season as well.
The 2009 Titans rode running back Chris Johnson to climb out of that 0-6 hole in a season in which he rushed for 2,006 yards.
Fisher said Friday that the Rams planned to “adjust” their offensive philosophy — at least for now — to more of a run-first philosophy. Trouble is, the Rams don’t have anyone resembling a Chris Johnson in their backfield at the moment.
The bye week undoubtedly helped the 2009 Titans get their act together, and Fisher hopes a long weekend after the Thursday night game – kind of a mini-bye week – can help the Rams regroup.
“I think we found out against very good opponents the last two weeks where our team is and what we need to do and where we need to improve,” Fisher said.
But before drawing up even a single X or O for this Sunday’s game against winless Jacksonville, a reality check is needed. To wit, neither Dallas nor San Francisco should be regarded as “very good.”
The 49ers (2-2) had been outscored 56-10 and were missing four of their top 12 defensive players entering Thursday night’s game. In other words, they were ripe for the picking.
Similarly, there were plenty of compliments about the high quality of the Dallas team in the visitors’ locker room following the Rams’ 31-7 loss. Actually, the Cowboys are the definition of mediocrity. They are 106-106 since the start of the 2000 season. They were 8-8 in 2011; 8-8 in 2012; and so far this season ... 2-2. Their thumping of the Rams was followed by a loss at San Diego.
So after underachieving in the first quarter of the 2013 season, the Rams must begin the second quarter with the realization that they must play much better just to be competitive with mediocre teams. Otherwise, who knows how bad it will get once they start playing teams such as Houston, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Seattle (twice) on this year’s schedule.
The Rams of the previous two games look unprepared, devoid of intensity, and most surprising for a Fisher team, lacking in physical play. There have been instances of sloppy play against Dallas and San Francisco that would be embarrassing for a high school team.
The most glaring example came early in the second half of the Dallas game. After Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray was tackled after a short gain, linebacker Alec Ogletree had some sort of helmet issue and left the field.
Veteran linebacker Will Witherspoon was late getting on the field as Ogletree’s replacement. When the ball was snapped by Dallas, Witherspoon was still 5 yards from where the man he was supposed to be covering – Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar – was lined up in the slot.
There was no way Witherspoon could make up that distance in time, and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo floated a 24-yard pass to Escobar for a ridiculously easy touchdown.
It was like giving the Cowboys a free seven points. One quarter later, the Cowboys got another seven points on what amounted to a freebie.
Cornerback Cortland Finnegan was lined up over Dallas wide receiver Dwayne Harris in the slot. Finnegan blitzed on the play, leaving Harris uncovered and only one player between Harris and the goal line – safety T.J. McDonald.
But instead of making sure he accounted for Harris, McDonald took three steps toward the line of scrimmage, influenced by Romo’s play fake. By the time he noticed Harris running at him it was too late. Harris ran right by him down the seam for an easy TD.
If Fisher is to bring the Rams out of their two-game funk, eliminating such plays is a good place to start.
