People call Jeff Fisher teams dirty

[ChrisW]

Reading through reddit threads, I see fans of other teams call Jeff Fisher teams "dirty". Then it's compounded by the fact that G. Williams is our DC. But, I was thinking....Is our team dirty? Or is it just hard nosed old-school football?

We know that Jeff favors the defensive side of the ball, and especially places a higher value on the front 7. The type of players that he fleshes out our DB's with is hard hitting players that fly to the ball. When you mix our front 7 with our secondary, you get something that is beautiful to watch. The front 7 just blisters the offensive line, applying pressure after pressure. Then, you have the secondary flying to the ball to knock the ball loose.

Back to the point, after thinking back to when Fisher took over, I can't think of a single play that would show any kind of targeting by our players. Some other fans might point to McCleod's hit on Sanders last year, or Barron's hit on Big Ben this year. But both plays were pretty innocent. McCleod's was a legal hit, and Barron lost his balance, carrying his momentum into Ben.

What do you guys think? Do we play on the dirtier side? Or is this defense just a form of football from the last era of the NFL.

 

[WvuIN02]

You hit upon it in the beginning, but I think its a few things. Bounty gate is always going to be associated with GW and thus whatever team he is employed by which is a huge part of the perception. Strike one. People who have watched football for awhile will always remember some of the thuggish type of Titans teams he put together, and they were. Not just hard nosed players but guys who took stuff too far after the whistle.

Albert Haynseworth is the shining example of those types of players, but you had Finnegan ripping Andre Johnson's helmet off....and so on and so forth. He had a reputation in Tennessee for putting together teams of thugs.....they played hard, but were not well respected by a lot of the players and fans. I don't really see that in St Louis though aside from the obvious association of Finnegan.

 

[DR RAM]

Naw, we naught dirty.

 

[RAMBUSH]

Hard hitting football players ! Boo hoo !

 

[DaveFan'51]

I personally have never heard or read Fisher's Teams being called "Dirty", Very Aggressive, maybe, but never Dirty! I'm not saying it hasn't been said. Just that I personally have never heard it!!
Now, as to Williams, I'm not going to :deadhorse:!! The past is the past!!

 

[jrry32]

Let them call us dirty while our defense shuts their offense down.

 

[HometownBoy]

Nah, we're not dirty, there's definitely dirtier/chippier. Like the Panthers or the Hawks. We just hit hard and play loose, sometimes people get hit harder than they like or somebody goes down and they just need something to blame. Also it makes us easier to push around, because when you get that perception the group people think are the dirtier party will always be the one that gets the brunt of the punishment. Like the Panthers game we had where Bradford went down, they were chipping and yelling at us all day and not a thing happened, then their shitty DB celebrated over Bradford's injured body and only the Rams seemed to be on the receiving end of punishment after the fracas.

And like you said, anybody associated with Gregg Williams is going to have that associated with them by proxy.

 

[DR RAM]

We play like a dirty, desperate whore, and I love it......

 

[Ramhusker]

It's just an old school, slobber-knocking, ear-hole tackling, smash-mouth brand of football and all the wussies prancing around the globe these days don't know how to handle it.

 

[DR RAM]

It's just an old school, slobber-knocking, ear-hole tackling, smash-mouth brand of football and all the wussies prancing around the globe these days don't know how to handle it.

Slobber, knocking, ear-hole, smashmouth, handle....like I said....

 

[jrry32]

Nah, we're not dirty, there's definitely dirtier/chippier. Like the Panthers or the Hawks. We just hit hard and play loose, sometimes people get hit harder than they like or somebody goes down and they just need something to blame. Also it makes us easier to push around, because when you get that perception the group people think are the dirtier party will always be the one that gets the brunt of the punishment. Like the Panthers game we had where Bradford went down, they were chipping and yelling at us all day and not a thing happened, then their crappy DB celebrated over Bradford's injured body and only the Rams seemed to be on the receiving end of punishment after the fracas.

And like you said, anybody associated with Gregg Williams is going to have that associated with them by proxy.

I still remember that big fight in that game where Chris Long got ejected despite multiple Panthers including Steve Smith being just as guilty. And since that game, I despise Bill Vinodouche.

 

[jap]

So when the Gurley Man starts smashing opposing defenders, will he be deemed a dirty player? Will any NFL defender ever admit he was rag-dolled by a Gurley Man?

 

[Penguin.]

Ogletree is the only dirty player on our team, albeit a very good dirty player.

 

[iced]

I still remember that big fight in that game where Chris Long got ejected despite multiple Panthers including Steve Smith being just as guilty. And since that game, I despise Bill Vinodouche.

Me too...and its kinda funny because since then I've always felt Vinobitch has been one of the worst refs too

 

[Loyal]

I honestly don't think we are any dirtier than any other, but we ARE more physical than most. We hit the QB over and over and over...Sometimes they don't last the game (QB's)..Dirty? Don't know what they're talking about, do you "Tree"?

 

[Ram_Rally]

These people have been brainwashed by the new nfl. 30 years ago guys were getting slammed on their heads WWE style. But since you can't hit a qb or a "defenseless" receiver we look bad for unloading on people.

 

[Limey]

I always thought Fisher's Titans teams were dirty, and with Fisher hiring Williams, drafting players with "troubled " histories and putting out teams that play hard-nosed football, I can see why fans of other teams still think that. When you hear that our defence has knocked yet another QB out of the game, I can see that it would add to that impression, but none of the QB injuries were caused by dirty play, our guys just play hard. Oh, and they are pretty good at it, which is what really upsets other fans.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The Rams are no more dirty than the Ravens were and are less dirty than the Marvin Harrison led Steelers were. The Rams hit hard. They fly to the ball but they haven't been getting flagged for illegal hits. Guys like Harrison used to get fined for them regularly.

However fans from other teams want to think they have been cheated by dirty players when someone gets hurt or to explain away their hardships. I have had a conversation with two different Steelers fans and they both hate the Rams now for Barron's hit on Big Ben's knee. They say it was intentional, to take Ben out of the game. They didn't like that he was not fined or suspended for it. I said " Doesn't the fact that he was not fined or suspended tell you something?"

 

[LumberTubs]

This secondary is incredible to watch. I love how if an opposing receiver catches the ball, you soon see blue and gold missiles coming in at all angles with the sole aim of hitting the man and trying to force a fumble. You can see that they are deliberately trying to get a helmet or shoulder on the ball and it paid off yesterday with the forced fumbles.

That isn't dirty, its extremely physical but within the rules of the game.

I also enjoyed how Fairley, once he'd recovered the fumble, saw a receiver in front of him and ran him over. I didn't enjoy GRob doing the same thing to Todd Gurley after he scored his second TD though! :shocked:

 

[DaveFan'51]

So when the Gurley Man starts smashing opposing defenders, will he be deemed a dirty player? Will any NFL defender ever admit he was rag-dolled by a Gurley Man?

I think, By the end of the year, Everyone will be going " Gurrrrrrley! Gurrrrrrley! Gurrrrrrley!:yess: