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Fisher stays even-keel in face of 1-4 start
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_a002145d-f3ce-55bc-9188-aa1070d8cfaf.html
The last thing Jeff Fisher expected in mid-October was a 1-4 record in what was supposed to be a breakout year. But that’s what it is for his Rams, and worse yet, next up on the schedule are the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
“The big thing about it is you don’t change what you’re doing,” Fisher said Tuesday. “What we’re doing here is right. The players are coming to work, they’re having fun, they’re working hard.
“We know we don’t have the production that we like. We’ve played three good opponents, and we haven’t done well enough to win the game. But we’ve been in the games. So things will turn.
“We’ve got a tough stretch ahead. But this is why we say: ‘Hey, we focus on this week. We’ll get ’em back.’”
That approach characterizes one of the things Fisher does best. He’s even-keeled. He doesn’t panic. He stays the course.
In that sense, it wasn’t really surprising when Fisher went into the “I’m OK, your OK” mode when quizzed about the team’s latest disheartening loss, 31-17 to San Francisco on Monday night.
He didn’t lavish praise on anyone (with the exception of rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald). But he didn’t throw anyone under the bus (with the possible exception of cornerback Janoris Jenkins).
A couple of examples:
Offensive line play • “I thought there were some real good efforts (Monday). We did some good things against a good defensive front. Our pass protection needs to improve. We let the pocket collapse at times. They do that to everybody. We can improve overall.”
Yeah, when you give up five sacks, you probably need to do better.
Quarterback Austin Davis • “He was OK. I don’t think he played as well as he did the first couple weeks. But again, the position’s hard to play. He got off to a fast start, made some good throws. ... He’s improving.”
Davis missed eight consecutive throws in a three-possession span stretching from late in the third quarter to the 4-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
“Austin had a good feel for what we were doing,” Fisher said. “We got away from the run a little bit. I would’ve liked to have seen us hand the ball off a little bit more — it’s easy to second-guess.”
In their first five possessions of the second half, the Rams gained only 20 yards. The Rams had only three running plays in the fourth quarter, but they also trailed by double-digits at that time and needed two scores in a relatively short period of time.
The 49ers’ defense “made some adjustments,” Fisher said. “They made some halftime adjustments, and pressured us a little bit and took a few things away. We had some people open. Again, sometimes they’re hard to find. But we had two or three plays in those ... possessions, where we had some opportunities.”
Fisher did not think Davis got antsy in the pocket.
“No, I think he felt pressure and he escaped, tried to extend the plays,” Fisher said. “But no, I don’t think he was ‘flushing,’ or getting spooked or anything like that. He has a good feel for that.”
Even with the losses mounting, and the criticism mounting outside Rams Park, Fisher chose to accentuate the positive Tuesday.
“Overall, there are a lot of good things in this game,” Fisher said. “Lot of good things. Great effort. We played very physical. Some really, really outstanding individual efforts on some individual plays. So we have to take those positives and move forward. Disappointed for the players. We had a lead. We just couldn’t make things happen second half.”
Not exactly music to the ears of Rams fans expecting public executions Tuesday morning on the parking lot at Rams Park.
Fisher did provide some brief illumination on the Jenkins miscue on the 80-yard touchdown catch-and-run by veteran wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.
“We were in a 3-deep concept, so Janoris is supposed to be on top,” Fisher said succinctly.
So not only did Jenkins get burned on the play, he was in the wrong coverage, playing tight against Lloyd at the line of scrimmage.
Which makes what linebacker James Laurinaitis said in the locker room afterward, when quizzed about the play, all the more understandable.
“We have to play the defenses that are called,” Laurinaitis said. “We’re just in zone coverage. I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus. We had this coverage in specifically for this team, and we just have to execute it.”
That touchdown by Lloyd seemed to take the life out of the Rams, even though they still had a 14-10 lead at the half. The Rams’ reaction to that play, based on what transpired in the second half, seems to be symptomatic of a larger issue facing the team.
It doesn’t look like this team can take a punch — in other words, display the resiliency to bounce back after a bad play or two, regroup, and find a way to scratch out a victory. It’s a fourth-quarter league, and the Rams lost by three points to Dallas, six points to Philadelphia, and with 2½ minutes left against San Francisco trailed by only seven points.
The 49ers, on the other hand, are a case study in resiliency. They found a way to hang in — and win — when tons of things were going bad a couple of weeks ago in Philadelphia. Came from behind against Kansas City a week ago, and took plenty of body blows by the Rams in the early going Monday.
“We were talking about this last week,” Fisher said. “We were down 34-7 and we recovered. So we made a good run in Philadelphia. So (the players) didn’t get down.
“All you need to do is look at the last extra point after we threw the interception for a touchdown (against San Francisco). Just look at that. We almost blocked it.
“So I don’t think there was a matter or issue relating to the (Lloyd) touchdown pass. We still went in at halftime with the lead. And that was the chatter, that was the talk, it was very positive when we were in there.”
But there’s a difference between hanging in, playing with effort, and finding a way to win. The Rams still haven’t discovered that difference.
