Frank Cignetti just got fired.

[Elmgrovegnome]

BTW, my prediction for the next guy to be whacked if Fisher stays.........and I hope to God that I am right----------------------------------------->Lou Boudreau

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

That's on Fisher. It's also on Fisher if no one worth his salt as an OC wants to work with him. Stubborn old man with too much control. This is a lateral move at best.

Yeah, it seems even guys he knows well don't want to work with him............or don't want to hitch their wagons to a team with no QB and no Oline.

To me it is pretty simple, this is the move that saves Fishers job for next year. Just as I posted in another thread, Fisher was hired to see the move to LA. If the team does not move (again see other thread, I don't care where they play, just start winning) Fisher will be fired. It they move or there is still a chance they move after 2016 season he stays to see the move thru and get one season to get his crap together. I hope I am wrong and he is gone no matter what.

I fear that is the case too. And if things fall through for Kroenke and St. Louis and the NFL force the Rams to stay, then Firing Fisher may be the best beginning to turning over a new leaf. Fresh faces across the board and a plan to re-engage the city.

Glad this happened before the offseason. Maybe this will set the table for a real OC hire and Fisher will remove his fingerprints from the offense.

Again, let history repeat itself and force Martz onto the Rams head coach.

 

[Mojo Ram]

You guys are killin me with this scapegoat thing. If you coordinate that bad of an offense for ANY team you're packin your bags and likely well before this point in the season with most coaches. The NFL is about results.

We can all want to see Fisher fired and there is every reason to fire him. But from his level he has to make the accountability move. He cannot sit on his hands and do nothing. I was irked that it took that long, Cigs was so far in over his head it wasn't funny.

The OC hire of an in house guy instead of someone more proven is Fisher's fault. The failure is Fisher's fault regardless. But IMO we need to get off the dude's back about firing Cigs, like it was unwarranted or unfair. If there was ever a firing of a coordinator that was needed it was this one.

Re-posting this because just "liking" it wasn't enough.

Many fans just want Fisher fired, and until that happens anything Fisher does or doesn't do will be the wrong move in their eyes. The pitchforks will be out in full force until either...
A) Fisher is gone
B) Fisher goes 16-0 and wins the Super Bowl.

This crowd wanted Foles benched. It happened and were still lighting torches. This crowd watched the worst offense in the NFL for months and when a change is made it's mob mentality again.
If you want Fisher shitcanned that's cool, but it's not going to happen for at least 4-5 more weeks. So find a different dead horse to beat on, please.
Pretty please...with sugar on top.

 

[Debacled]

Again, you're assuming the store manager has set that department up to succeed. I think we're misunderstanding each other. I'm not standing up for cigs, I don't think he was the answer to our offense, but I don't think he was the entire problem. I don't think assigning our qb coach to OC (again) is the right move. I don't think any OC at this point in time can fix our oline, qb and receiver problems. fisher IMO is a big contributor to our coaching problems. He is responsible for putting so much stock into our Defense and so little into our O. He is responsible for making moves to get Long and Wells who were aging, injury prone, and on the decline. He is responsible for acquiring "projects" instead of instant talent on our O. He is responsible for having our new qb rely on a very fresh oline and signing this qb before an actual nfl game. This can not be put on Cigs, he was set up to fail. Back to your department store analogy, if I was the STORE OWNER, I would let go of the manager for setting up the department for failure and let go of the other unqualified team mates in the department.

Fisher isn't going to fire himself, he's in desperation mode with firing our OC and hoping the new qb coach can do something. I think that's pretty obvious. But if he REALLY thinks his job is secure, why not ride out the season with Cigs and find an actual proven OC in the offseason?

Ok lets take ALL of this into perspective. The offense has been anything but ignored, in FA or in the drafts, since Fisher has gotten here. Lets begin with the drafts.

2012 went DT, WR, CB, RB, CB, WR, GG, K, LB, RB Normal expectations, guys through round 3-4 are higher value picks. 3 D and 3 O there.
2013 went WR, OLB, SS, WR, OG, CB, RB. 2 D 3 O in the first 4 rounds.
2014 went OT, DT, CB, RB, SS, CB, QB, T, DB, DE, C. 3 D and 2 O in the first 4 rounds.
2015 went RB, OT, OG, QB, OG, WR, OG, LB, DE. All 5 O in the first 4

We are looking at 8 defensive players and 13 offensive players in the first 4 rounds of those drafts.

Ok cool. They are DEFINITELY drafting defense too much right? Not the case at all.

Better yet, lets look at FA.

2012- Scott Wells (31), Cortland Finnegan (28), Kendall Langford (26), Rocky McIntosh (29), Will Hayes (27), Barry Richardson (26), Jo-Lonn Dunbar (27)
2013 - Jake Long (28), Jared Cook (26)
2014 - Kenny Britt, Davin Joseph
2015 - Saffold, Akeem Ayers, Nick Fairley, Garret Reynolds,

I'm sure I am missing guys in FA. You don't see super young FAs come out often, and when they do they typically break the bank. Long, Wells, Finnegan.....none of them put the team in a position where they couldn't maneuver because of money. Did they pay them a lot? Sure they did, but it isn't like they took it out of my wallet. Nobody expected an ACL tear for Long let alone two for Bradford. Nobody thought after one stellar year Finnegan would find the biggest cliff he possibly could to fall off of.

It not like they have been restacking the D over and over and over and ignoring the offense. This is a capable offense with Tavon and Gurley in it, but without a hope from the QB position it is punchless. Period.

Let me also make this clear, I do not think Cigs was the problem. I've been preaching this up and down to anyone who will listen, this team is in it deep with its QB issues, and it won't be fixed this year. The had a perpetually injured Bradford and decided to roll the dice moving on from him, which is understandable. The play has not panned out. Hell look at Dallas. Everybody was fawning over recieving options and their offensive line last year and at the beginning of this year. Down goes their starting QB and they are still looking for answers.

 

[RamBill]

Gordo: Cignetti is fall guy for Rams' failures
• By Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_97afcf21-1351-589f-b6c4-a9ce662a071a.html

Rams coach Jeff Fisher built exactly this team to his personal specifications.

He loaded up on the defensive side for Year 4 and gave coordinator Gregg Williams even more impressive weaponry. He constructed a ball-control offense centered on rookie running back Todd Gurley.

He ordered field position football, asking punter Johnny Hekker to pin teams deep in their zone and placekicker Greg Zuerlein to score from midfield. He wanted to slug out victories like that 24-22 triumph at Arizona.

The Rams climbed to 4-3 and took aim at the playoffs. At last this was Fisher Football!

But hope proved fleeting. The Rams misfired again and again and again in the heart of their schedule, losing five consecutive games to plunge from the playoff race and clinch still another non-winning season for long-suffering St. Louis fans.

Sunday’s 27-3 loss to the Cardinals prompted Fisher to bench erratic quarterback Nick Foles for the second time and serve up offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti as the unwitting scapegoat.

“Not all the blame is to fall on his shoulders, but that is the way this business works,” Fisher said Monday after cashiering Cignetti. “Players contributed, coaches contributed, everybody contributed, but we have to move in a different direction.

“The lack of production is obvious. We’ve been talking about it for weeks. ... You know, 18 touchdowns in 12 weeks just doesn’t give you a chance to win a lot of games. In seven of our 12 games, we’ve scored 13 points or less.”

In this bomb’s away era of the NFL, the Rams are somehow mustering just 178 passing yards and 15.8 points a game. Their third-down conversion rate fell to 24.5 percent after Sunday’s one-for-12 fiasco.

Now it falls to assistant head coach/offense Rob Boras make this “attack” less terrible. Wish the new coordinator luck because he doesn’t have much room to work, given Fisher’s conservative leanings.

“That’s going to include our philosophy, which is to run the ball and convert third downs and play-pass and be aggressive and attack and do those kind of things,” Fisher said.

Then there is the offensive talent, or lack thereof.

“We’ve got good players,” Fisher insisted. “We’ve got to use them. We’ve got players that are hurt. We’ve got to get them back. We need direction moving forward offensively.”

Gurley is a budding star, but otherwise Fisher and general manager Les Snead have assembled lots of mediocrity on the offensive side.

They spent an eighth overall pick on receiver Tavon Austin, a nice change-of-pace player who hasn’t produced to his draft slot.

They spent a second overall pick on left tackle Greg Robinson, who has struggled just to survive as an NFL pass blocker during his second season.

They reached for receiver Brian Quick in the second round and got an eternal project who still can’t make plays four years into his career.

They thought they had a gem in third-round pick Stedman Bailey, but two suspensions derailed his career. Then, sadly,gunshot wounds suffered back home in Miami left his football future uncertain.

They spent giant dollars on tight end Jared Cook, who flashes offensive brilliance between his dropped passes and missed blocks.

They traded quarterback Sam Bradford for Foles, who did OK until his implosion at Green Bay. All attempts to reassemble him since have proved futile.

They tried to build offensive line strength via free agency and failed, landing one broken down blocker after another. Then they tried to build with kids instead, suffering predictable growing pains this season before injuries further diminished the group.

Former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer exited after last season, landing at the University of Georgia for a year. Now Cignetti is looking for work while Boras tries to spice things up.

The Rams’ offensive playbook reads more like a play pamphlet, seemingly centered on three plays:

A hand-off to Gurley with Austin flying past in a fake jet sweep.
A hand-off or pitch to Austin with Gurley faking a run into the line.
A fake hand-off to Gurley and/or Austin to freeze the safeties, then a long heave to either wide receiver Kenny Britt or Cook.

Recently Cignetti mixed in a wildcat play, with Gurley taking a direct snap and either running the ball himself or giving it to Austin. That removed the quarterback from the equation — which was not a bad idea, all things considered.

Foles ranks 31st among NFL quarterbacks in with a 69.0 passer rating. (Write your own numerical joke here.)

Keenum struggled before suffering his concussion, but Fisher had to reinstate him as starter with Foles hanging deep passes short and rifling out passes 10 feet too high.

Fisher wants Boras to produce better quarterback play, a more efficient running game and less offensive sloppiness — like those annoying false starts by wide receivers or tight ends.

He hopes the coaching change will jar and refocus the players.

“I hope they all took it personally because they need to,” Fisher said. “You’ve got a good man and a good football coach that’s busting his butt every single day. Now, for whatever reasons, he’s no longer here. They have to take some responsibility for that.”

So does the man at the top. Rams owner Stan Kroenke gave Fisher the freedom to do his own thing and here we are, 4-8 this season and 24-35-1 overall.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Here is a theory. Mayb the frustrations lead to some heated debate and Cignetti said, Screw You! I'm out of here. Fisher says good riddance and out of displeasure with Vignetti throwing in the towel, he decides to say he was fired.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Re-posting this because just "liking" it wasn't enough.

Many fans just want Fisher fired, and until that happens anything Fisher does or doesn't do will be the wrong move in their eyes. The pitchforks will be out in full force until either...
A) Fisher is gone
B) Fisher goes 16-0 and wins the Super Bowl.

This crowd wanted Foles benched. It happened and were still lighting torches. This crowd watched the worst offense in the NFL for months and when a change is made it's mob mentality again.
If you want Fisher shitcanned that's cool, but it's not going to happen for at least 4-5 more weeks. So find a different dead horse to beat on, please.
Pretty please...with sugar on top.

Early in the season there was a break down of the Rams offense and how simple the scheme was. The guy basically said, "Here it is, beat it".
I was thinking, how the will that work against NFL defenses?

It worked great in 4 games. Then the injuries kicked in and Foles crumbled. But even if the Rams were healthy, for that system to work the Offensive Line would have to play to the level of the 1984 Rams OLine. That won't happen with two rookie starters, an injury prone Guard, a default Center, and an OLT that plays with his head in his ass.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Early in the season there was a break down of the Rams offense and how simple the scheme was. The guy basically said, "Here it is, beat it".
I was thinking, how the will that work against NFL defenses?

It worked great in 4 games. Then the injuries kicked in and Foles crumbled. But even if the Rams were healthy, for that system to work the Offensive Line would have to play to the level of the 1984 Rams OLine. That won't happen with two rookie starters, an injury prone Guard, a default Center, and an OLT that plays with his head in his ass.

I'm not even sure a stud OLine could've made it 100% full proof. Defenses are so good today.
It was incredibly one dimensional, and it was all generated at or behind the LOS. While i'm one of those old school types that loves the Fisher philosophy, i knew it wasn't going to last without some kind of offensive threat downfield. Our WR's aren't a vertical threat, nor can they "go and get" contested balls. Our QB doesn't know the playbook.

I enjoyed the success while it lasted. IMO Fisher has already decided that Boras is just an interim solution. I'd be very surprised if he's the OC in 2016.

 

[shaunpinney]

I'm sure Schotty is smiling quietly to himself somewhere

 

[kurtfaulk]

Recently Cignetti mixed in a wildcat play, with Gurley taking a direct snap and either running the ball himself or giving it to Austin. That removed the quarterback from the equation — which was not a bad idea, all things considered.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING!!!!!!!!!

.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

18
13
13
7
3

they were the last 5 outings by the offense.

notice the trend there? it started off mediocre and progressively got worse.

why can't fisher find a decent oc that can help the players realise their potential? i refuse to believe the offensive players are this bad. no way, no how.

4 years of this shit.

.

 

[drasconis]

Ok lets take ALL of this into perspective. The offense has been anything but ignored, in FA or in the drafts, since Fisher has gotten here. Lets begin with the drafts.


Ok cool. They are DEFINITELY drafting defense too much right? Not the case at all.

.

I agree that it isn't that they have ignored the O, they just haven't had much of a plan...at least not a clear long term one.

As you point out the drafting as actually leaned O - though if you take out this last year and look only at the first 3 years then it is 8O and 8D in the first 4 rounds, pretty balanced.

They have gone heavy WR and had bad luck there (Austin is a great weapon - but not a true WR as currently used). They took as many RB as OL in the first 3 years in the 4th round or higher, and took 4RB to 5OL total in the first 3 years. It is great to have a stable of RBs, but the reality is statistically you have at least 2 times as many OL on the team as RB. Heck they were still collecting RBs when they should have used one of those picks on QB.

Going so heavy O this last year really doesn't solve much- it just puts you in a wait and see (hope) position. What are the odds about 30% of players drafted become average or better? So in theory 1 of the 4 OL draft this year is likely to work out, but you generally are going to give them 3 years to develop....this is why they need to be sprinkled in every year so that you aren't hoping an entire draft class is a "hit".

 

[brokeu91]

 

[Ballhawk]

I'm sure Schotty is smiling quietly to himself somewhere

Instead of looking for a job?

 

[LumberTubs]

I don't see this making a big difference but I also don't see how this could have been avoided. Cignetti was either not going to the well enough (for example, Gurley's limited number of carries on Sunday) or going to the well too much (Austin jet sweeps or the crappy WR screens that the opposition sniff out almost without fail). He wasn't striking the right balance. His position had become untenable and Fish had no choice.

It remains to be seen whether more balanced and imaginative play calling will overcome the O line and receiver issues but there was only one way to find out.

 

[shaunpinney]

The problem is, for his first OC baptism, he didn't really have a lot of hope when our QBs play has been appalling, I really do think he's been worse than the backups we've been riding the last few seasons

 

[LesBaker]

Twelve.


That's the combined touches of Gurley and Austin against the Cards. I would fire him for that alone.

And Skillet Hands Cook got 9 targets........

 

[LesBaker]

Re-posting this because just "liking" it wasn't enough.

Many fans just want Fisher fired, and until that happens anything Fisher does or doesn't do will be the wrong move in their eyes. The pitchforks will be out in full force until either...
A) Fisher is gone
B) Fisher goes 16-0 and wins the Super Bowl.

This crowd wanted Foles benched. It happened and were still lighting torches. This crowd watched the worst offense in the NFL for months and when a change is made it's mob mentality again.
If you want Fisher shitcanned that's cool, but it's not going to happen for at least 4-5 more weeks. So find a different dead horse to beat on, please.
Pretty please...with sugar on top.

Props to ANY post with The Wolf in it.

 

[dieterbrock]

If Fisher stays and OBrien is fired from Houston, then hire OBrien.

.

Is he on the hot seat in Houston? Seeing they are tied for division lead and a game back in the wild card I'd think he's pretty safe? I dont follow them so Im just asking

 

[dieterbrock]

You guys are killin me with this scapegoat thing. If you coordinate that bad of an offense for ANY team you're packin your bags and likely well before this point in the season with most coaches. The NFL is about results.

We can all want to see Fisher fired and there is every reason to fire him. But from his level he has to make the accountability move. He cannot sit on his hands and do nothing. I was irked that it took that long, Cigs was so far in over his head it wasn't funny.

The OC hire of an in house guy instead of someone more proven is Fisher's fault. The failure is Fisher's fault regardless. But IMO we need to get off the dude's back about firing Cigs, like it was unwarranted or unfair. If there was ever a firing of a coordinator that was needed it was this one.

Point for me is this, Fisher could hand over the play calling to Boras. When they stayed in house, he sold Boras/Cignetti almost as a co-OC sitch.
Cignetti was in way over his head, and I'm sure would have taken the demotion just fine.
The act of firing is sending some sort of message, that's what I have the issue with.
Now had he fired him and brought in someone from the outside to step in? Would have made more sense.