Play To Win , Not To Lose

[diehard99]

After we had a 21 point lead over Dallas I think our coaching staff played not to lose rather than playing to win the game. Davis,at least in that game, gave us a chance to put the peddle to the metal and open it up wide even with our few mistakes early. Davis and company clearly have some serious chemestry going and I think its just the start of points.

 

[thirteen28]

After we had a 21 point lead over Dallas I think our coaching staff played not to lose rather than playing to win the game. Davis,at least in that game, gave us a chance to put the peddle to the metal and open it up wide even with our few mistakes early. Davis and company clearly have some serious chemestry going and I think its just the start of points.

Mmm, not sure I agree. After all, they did go for it on that 4th down deep in Dallas territory when they were in comfortable FG range. That wasn't a "play not to lose" call.

 

[diehard99]

Thats one play, besides going for field goals doesnt mean your not playing to win. But aggressive, or more aggressive play calling does. We had every opertunity to trounce Dallas for real.

 

[diehard99]

Mmm, not sure I agree. After all, they did go for it on that 4th down deep in Dallas territory when they were in comfortable FG range. That wasn't a "play not to lose" call.

Actually, that call did cause us to not be tied at the end.

 

[thirteen28]

It's one play, but it was a pretty big one and certainly isn't indicative of a "play it safe" mentality. Davis put the ball in the air 42 times, including 20 in the first half. And they did push the ball down the field.

You can disagree if you wish, but I didn't see them go into a shell the way they used to under Spags when they would get any kind of lead over 10 points. We lost not because we played it safe, but rather we made some mistakes that, coupled with ridiculously biased officiating allowed Dallas to get back into the game and eventually take the lead.

 

[AZRamsFan93]

Offensive play calling was not a problem. We scored 31.

Defensive calling may be a different situation.

 

[diehard99]

It's one play, but it was a pretty big one and certainly isn't indicative of a "play it safe" mentality. Davis put the ball in the air 42 times, including 20 in the first half. And they did push the ball down the field.

You can disagree if you wish, but I didn't see them go into a shell the way they used to under Spags when they would get any kind of lead over 10 points. We lost not because we played it safe, but rather we made some mistakes that, coupled with ridiculously biased officiating allowed Dallas to get back into the game and eventually take the lead.

You dont go with the flow of the game you create the flow of the game. Spags, hes been gone for years now. Two games in a row now weve scored on our opening drives, go check how long thats been since weve done that. Davis is making all the difference in the world. Time to ride the train for high scoring wins!

 

[diehard99]

Offensive play calling was not a problem. We scored 31.

Defensive calling may be a different situation.

No, the offense scored 24 points.

 

[thirteen28]

Offensive play calling was not a problem. We scored 31.

Defensive calling may be a different situation.

Technically the O only scored 24, but your point is correct. Overall Schotty called a pretty decent game. Our guys just didn't execute on a few plays (Cook's drop, Wells fumble, the pick six).

 

[jrry32]

Couldn't have picked a worse game to use as an example of this.

 

[LesBaker]

It's one play, but it was a pretty big one and certainly isn't indicative of a "play it safe" mentality. Davis put the ball in the air 42 times, including 20 in the first half. And they did push the ball down the field.

You can disagree if you wish, but I didn't see them go into a shell the way they used to under Spags when they would get any kind of lead over 10 points. We lost not because we played it safe, but rather we made some mistakes that, coupled with ridiculously biased officiating allowed Dallas to get back into the game and eventually take the lead.

Oh gawd that brought back rotten memories......get a lead and give it to Jackson out of a three wide set with 8 defenders stacked up at the LOS.

 

[diehard99]

It's one play, but it was a pretty big one and certainly isn't indicative of a "play it safe" mentality. Davis put the ball in the air 42 times, including 20 in the first half. And they did push the ball down the field.

You can disagree if you wish, but I didn't see them go into a shell the way they used to under Spags when they would get any kind of lead over 10 points. We lost not because we played it safe, but rather we made some mistakes that, coupled with ridiculously biased officiating allowed Dallas to get back into the game and eventually take the lead.

It doesnt matter if you move the ball other than changing field position. As much as I agree with you about the bad calls, which ive seen some for years now against the rams, we became unagressive in the middle of the game which aloud dallas back in the game. I think our wide receivers along with Davis can produce much more than anyone or even we might have thought possible before the season. Time to open it up!

 

[LesBaker]

Technically the O only scored 24, but your point is correct. Overall Schotty called a pretty decent game. Our guys just didn't execute on a few plays (Cook's drop, Wells fumble, the pick six).

Change any ONE of a number of plays and the Rams win. You don't even have to change two plays, we can name a few that if changed would have been enough to get the Rams the win.........

 

[thirteen28]

Oh gawd that brought back rotten memories......get a lead and give it to Jackson out of a three wide set with 8 defenders stacked up at the LOS.

Yeah, I remember. Remember losing a game Tampa when we had a big lead early and went into a shell, and damn near coughed up another big lead in Denver in Sam's rookie year. He and Prevent Offense Pat were notorious for going ultra-conservative as soon as we had any kind of decent lead.

 

[thirteen28]

Change any ONE of a number of plays and the Rams win. You don't even have to change two plays, we can name a few that if changed would have been enough to get the Rams the win.........

Yep. Just Cook hanging on could have meant four extra points ... in a game we lost by three.

Ok, I'm leaving work now, I think I'm going to go road rage on the way home )

 

[diehard99]

Couldn't have picked a worse game to use as an example of this.

This was the perfect example. A team we havnt matched up well against in recent years, got off to a great start, unlike other years, MOMENTUM in our favor, and a QB that doesnt know any better than to score as many points possible. He has no bad knee issues , hasnt been hit and sacked 100 times so he doesnt have a worry about it, hes quick in his reads and wants to move down the field. We should attack Philly early and often and never slow down or look back!

 

[thirteen28]

It doesnt matter if you move the ball other than changing field position. As much as I agree with you about the bad calls, which ive seen some for years now against the rams, we became unagressive in the middle of the game which aloud dallas back in the game. I think our wide receivers along with Davis can produce much more than anyone or even we might have thought possible before the season. Time to open it up!

I simply don't see what you were seeing. We continued to put the ball in the air and mix the running and passing games. I've actually heard the opposite take from your by some - that we should have started feeding the ball to Stacy more and kept it on the ground - i.e. should have gone more conservative. Given that Stacy only had 12 rushes while Davis had 42 attempts passing, I think that argument has more merit than the one that we went too conservative.

We apparently watched different ball games.

 

[diehard99]

Yeah, I remember. Remember losing a game Tampa when we had a big lead early and went into a shell, and damn near coughed up another big lead in Denver in Sam's rookie year. He and Prevent Offense Pat were notorious for going ultra-conservative as soon as we had any kind of decent lead.

Shotty has a few of those same traits. Although, I like him alot better.

 

[diehard99]

I simply don't see what you were seeing. We continued to put the ball in the air and mix the running and passing games. I've actually heard the opposite take from your by some - that we should have started feeding the ball to Stacy more and kept it on the ground - i.e. should have gone more conservative. Given that Stacy only had 12 rushes while Davis had 42 attempts passing, I think that argument has more merit than the one that we went too conservative.

We apparently watched different ball games.

No we didnt, your just expecting less because weve been so bad for so long.

 

[jrry32]

This was the perfect example. A team we havnt matched up well against in recent years, got off to a great start, unlike other years, MOMENTUM in our favor, and a QB that doesnt know any better than to score as many points possible. He has no bad knee issues , hasnt been hit and sacked 100 times so he doesnt have a worry about it, hes quick in his reads and wants to move down the field. We should attack Philly early and often and never slow down or look back!

It's a god awful example. We continued throwing the ball, we continued being aggressive, and we went for it on multiple 4th downs while leading. We tried to score a TD right before half while up 21-7. We never stopped trying to throw deep. There was no conservative game-plan. There was no shutting it down. There was no "playing to lose". The Rams were aggressive throughout this game on offense. It's an example that makes no sense at all to me. This is about the best example you can find of an offense playing to win. Why didn't we win? The defense sucked and the offense made some crucial mistakes.(not to mention the referees)