Jim Thomas Rams Chat Highlights

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RamBill

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JT’s Chat Highlights

—Fisher said yesterday at his 5 p.m. media session that there were still awaiting some test results on Chris Long’s ankle. Which makes you wonder if they did the testing in Anchorage. Shouldn’t take that long. Anyway, it makes me think Long may be sidelined for a while.

—I don’t think it all falls on the coaching. Certainly not. But they share part of the blame. The continuing penalties. The job Norv Turner did carving up the Rams’ defense was superb, neutralizing the Rams’ pass rush and continuing to attack the Rams on the perimeter with quick screens, sweeps, and jet sweeps. It just didn’t seem the Rams were that well prepared.

—It usually takes weeks to learn an offense. So it would be hard to see Case Keenum starting in the near future unless it was with a very much reduced game plan.

—Schotty? I think he’s a bright mind. Sure there are things I’d like to see done differently from game to game. But all the negativity towards him surprises me for the most part.

—The Rams had five completions of more than 20 yards on Sunday, which is twice their average (of 2.5 pass plays of 20-yards plus per game) last season. It’s more than any single game last season. In addition, there were incomplete deep shots to Brian Quick (should’ve been a pass interference) and one to Kenny Britt (underthrown, Britt was open). There were a thousand things that were at fault Sunday, failure to throw the ball deep was not one of them.

—I still think Boudreau is very good. But there were some odd plays. I can remember the two plays you are describing. The fact that many of these linemen barely played in the preseason showed on Sunday.

—I’m not disputing the fact that the o-line didn’t play very well. But Davis had a lot to do with the pressure. Granted he was thrust into a tough spot. But he needs to make decisions quicker, throw the ball away instead of taking the sack, and learn to step up in the pocket.

—Who Played Well? Brian Quick had a very good game. The facemask penalty was kind of a fluke. His finger got caught in the facemask. I thought T.J. McDonald played well at safety. McLeod wasn’t bad. E.J. Gaines held his own. Benny Cunningham.

—Bad Free Agent Pick Ups from Tennessee? Well, Cortland Finnegan sure was. But William Hayes was a great pickup at DE and jury’s still out on Jared Cook.

—As I’ve said before, it will take a total collapse _ 4 or 5 wins _ for Fisher’s seat to get warm. That’s just my opinion. (I’m certainly not talking to ownership on this!) As bad as Sunday was, it was just one game.

—Did you see what happened when Greg Robinson came into the game late. The Vikings ran a stunt and Robinson looked lost trying to block it. That’s why he’s not playing. Now, you can blame Fisher and the Snead for drafting him in the first place over say Jake Matthews, but that’s why he’s not playing.

—Robinson ended up with nine snaps at left guard after Saffold was hurt. I thought he struggled on some plays. Nine plays into his NFL career, I don’t think he’s another Jason Smith.

—Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner did everything he could to neutralize the Rams pass rush. Very rarely did Matt Cassel take seven-step drops. (When he did he was usually pressured.) There were a lot of quick throws, he attacked the perimeter. and Cassel got the ball out quick.

—I think Stacy is running hard. But Benny Cunningham looks like he’s running better so far.

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jrry32

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—Did you see what happened when Greg Robinson came into the game late. The Vikings ran a stunt and Robinson looked lost trying to block it. That’s why he’s not playing. Now, you can blame Fisher and the Snead for drafting him in the first place over say Jake Matthews, but that’s why he’s not playing.

Well, yea, I think that was the most logical explanation after seeing Joseph's performance.

On the play, it was a variation of the jet stunt. The Vikings brought an A Gap blitz and had their DT initially atack up-field(you want to cross the LOS before executing the stunt) before looping around to Stacy who was picking up the blitzer. Robinson wasn't at all ready for this and wasn't in position for Stacy to pass off the blitzing LB(I believe it was Barr) which allowed Barr to slide through behind Robinson.
 

Merlin

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JT’s Chat Highlights

—I don’t think it all falls on the coaching. Certainly not. But they share part of the blame. The continuing penalties. The job Norv Turner did carving up the Rams’ defense was superb, neutralizing the Rams’ pass rush and continuing to attack the Rams on the perimeter with quick screens, sweeps, and jet sweeps. It just didn’t seem the Rams were that well prepared.

—Schotty? I think he’s a bright mind. Sure there are things I’d like to see done differently from game to game. But all the negativity towards him surprises me for the most part.

—I still think Boudreau is very good. But there were some odd plays. I can remember the two plays you are describing. The fact that many of these linemen barely played in the preseason showed on Sunday.

I am sure Schotty is brilliant, given his rep around the league. But why are the Rams a dumb offensive team and this includes last year's start when they were healthy? Why have every one of Schotty's offensive teams been similar? Could it be that while he is brilliant he is missing something called coaching ability? You know, the ability to translate what you know into the minds of the players so they are ready to play fast and execute? His ability to teach?

Boudreau is definitely the man with the OL. But moving guys around doesn't always work so well with the rookies. I get their plan to install Robinson at OG until he's ready/needed for OT, but why not bring in more than him like an OG in the draft somewhere mid-rounds? Joseph looked like a guy who is now a backup at best. Contrast the OL with the DBs, where they didn't mess around, ensuring they brought in numbers to get the young impact they needed.

I get that hindsight is 20/20 and think that Snead/Fish do a good job with the draft. But at this point the lack of focus on OFFENSE is clear. So at this point I am left with one hope: that we see a DOMINANT DEFENSE. Because barring a trade for a QB this offense just doesn't have enough to consistently hang points on folks. They are easily gameplanned by opponents, execute poorly, and make dumb mistakes.

Seems to me the blame should land squarely on the coaching staff for the opener. Hope it gets better.
 

DaveFan'51

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—Fisher said yesterday at his 5 p.m. media session that there were still awaiting some test results on Chris Long’s ankle. Which makes you wonder if they did the testing in Anchorage. Shouldn’t take that long. Anyway, it makes me think Long may be sidelined for a while.
This was in reply to a question I asked JT at the beginning of his show yesterday. After that, for the next hour, It seemed like JT became an Eternal Optimist leading his mary band, over THEIR, down their usual Brilliant Path! I became Ill and went home to ROD!