Rams' Jeff Fisher stands behind play call

[Marq]

Right. I thought in the situation of offsetting penalties that the down was replayed.

Not in a Rams game. Anything that is suppose to be will not be and that is a guarantee. I think Fisher must have slept with someones wife. It's got to be payback of some sort. It just flat out ridiculous.

 

[iced]

The Formation pisses me off more than not running the ball.

Wanna be aggressive? Fine - go for the jugular. But do something that might have a chance at working. That's a situation where they should be thinking we'd run the ball - maybe some play action from I-formation, getting Tavon or a TE out in the flat that shotty loves to do so often from our side of the field...

I don't get it - going empty set with 1 timeout, 1:27 left, on San Diego's 4? Defense knew we wouldn't run it after Benny goes in motion.

To be honest with the way Tre was running I don't see why we didn't hand it off to him anyway - or Tavon.

 

[RamsesIII]

I definitely wanted to go for the win. That's why I wanted to run the ball.

 

[RhodyRams]

Fisher can defend the play call, defend Hill, praise Hill for getting us to that position, but that still doesnt make it right. When have we ever heard Fisher criticize Schotty in the years he has been here? I can recall a single instance.

We have said it before in almost the same situation. Why go empty backfield on a goal to go situation, especially with the game on the line? Why pass when Mason and Austin had decent games all day? Why pass on 2nd down?

 

[Faceplant]

I would have loved to see the jet sweep or at least some formation that kept them guessing about it. I am all about going for the win, but I think we need to put our players in a better position to execute properly. IMO, that is to run the ball (at least on that second down play) or throw a back shoulder or fade to the corner. Throwing across the middle is just asking for trouble down that close. Too much congestion, and the QB has to see everyone quickly. Unfortunately, Hill did not. Tough, tough game.

 

[den-the-coach]

Ode to Brian Schottenheimer from Jeff Fisher:

 

[BadCompany]

Aren't you supposed to use the run to set up the pass?

Run Mason for 3 yards, and then you set yourself up for a 3rd and goal from the 3. Then the whole world opens up for you. SD has to respect the run, so a play action could work if you still want to pass. A corner fade could work. Or a high fastball to the back of the end zone, where either it's a catch or a throw-away. Or you pound away hoping for another three yards. Up the middle. An outside sweep. Hell, even one of those stupid fake-up-the-middle-end-arounds might have worked.

But a pass over the middle into the teeth of the defense? Hill shouldn't have thrown it, Schotty shouldn't have called it.

I'm not a professional coach, so I am loathe to be 'that guy' calling the hindsight plays. But geez... that just seemed to be way too cute. I get that they wanted to go for the win, and I'm fine with that... but if that's the case then run it three times! Go for it on fourth down! If you can't six yards on three carries, then maybe you don't deserve to win. But a cheap throw over the middle on second down?

Horrible. There is just no sugar-coating it. That was just horrible.

 

[LesBaker]

Once again, I just don't get why this is about the play call, and not about the execution BY THE PLAYERS, specifically a veteran QB who should be trusted NOT to make the fatal mistake he indeed made. I know i am in the minority here, but I had little issue with the play call.

Win the game. Taking that game to OT when you are inside the 5 yard line is not an option.

The bigger question, is why go "empty" and take the threat of play-action away? That is fair game IMO.

It was a dumbass thing to do on many levels. I expect a better designed play, not something that tells the D you are passing the ball in that tight a space.

 

[Big Game]

I'm sorry i feel as if the call and the execution of the play was piss poor. Like another poster mentioned why motion Benny out the backfield we did that against Seattle a year ago and it didn't work.

To be honest if that had gone play action i bet that would have worked.

Idk it just feels like the Rams have gave away way to many games this year. And the refs are not helping us out at all with some of these bogus calls.

Oh well playoffs are pretty much out of the picture lets play for pride and to finish with a possible winning record.

 

[ozarkram]

IMHO Hill never saw the defender. When he released the ball from his point of view and reaction he thought it was a TD. He had options. Poor decision, bad play call maybe. But its done.

 

[Fatbot]

Aren't you supposed to use the run to set up the pass? Run Mason for 3 yards, and then you set yourself up for a 3rd and goal from the 3.

You're assuming a run would have been successful, but I think perhaps the earlier 3rd-and-1 where they got stuffed weighed on Fisher's mind? Also, they (hopefully) had studied the data on SD's goal line defense and felt they were more vulnerable to the pass?

With the way the game was going (with the refs and the D just gave up an 11-play 90 yard TD drive or something?) I think Fisher felt overtime was a losing proposition and it was no time to play it safe. It was time to win now. Yes, running it could be the way to win, too, but he obviously calculated running it would get stuffed, so decided to take the 2 shots passing into the end zone. Passing on that 2nd down was an unexpected choice and could have caught SD off guard.

I myself would have run it, but I totally understand the choice to pass there. Even if I personally disagree, it's simply not a criminal act by Fisher, it's just a choice that didn't work.

What is a crime is the empty backfield at your opponent's goal line. Sure some teams do it -- when they have Peyton or Brady as their QB. The Rams don't and need to get real that our QB needs that run threat helper. Just a terrible play call by Schotty. Just like the pulling lineman on 3rd-and-short is idiotic, run the goddamn QB sneak there. Sigh, sorry I digress.

My final thought that's bugging me is the wild inconsistency with the Fisher regime. Once upon a time we massively overspent for "playmakers" like Tavon and Cook. Then we didn't know how to use them. Then we declared a "do over" and that the Rams identity is a smash mouth run game with preaching winning 13-10. And still the Rams have no lead blocking FB -- not even when our lone lead blocker, Harkey, is injured.

Well, what is our identity? Are we a conservative smash mouth team? If so, we shouldn't pull linemen on 3rd-and-1, but line up jumbo and ram it down your throat. If so, we don't go empty backfield on the 6 yard line, but jumbo and ram it down your throat. A smash mouth team stays with the more conservative choice and runs with an air of inevitability, crushing the spirit of the opposing defense. And I won't go off on the tangent of how too much blitzing on the other side of the ball plays into throwing off the conservative team identity... Overall I just don't get Fisher -- too much offensive cutesy and wild lack of focus on defense for his supposed preferred conservative identity. Not necessarily a criticism of Fisher since being unpredictable can be an asset, but just rambling that I still don't know what the team's identity is!

 

[RhodyRams]

Would OT have been better than a loss?

At this point I think not

 

[LesBaker]

I didn't notice that. I was watching a crappy stream. I feel so bad for Tavon. He's either invisible for weeks or he finds the endzone on spectacular plays and they all get called back.

On the punt return I noticed something that I have seen a couple of times before........blockers are actually slowing him down because he cannot get around them. Fassell needs to let these guys know once he is in the open just let him go, he doesn't need a convoy and it gets him caught.

 

[LesBaker]

The Formation pisses me off more than not running the ball.

Wanna be aggressive? Fine - go for the jugular. But do something that might have a chance at working. That's a situation where they should be thinking we'd run the ball - maybe some play action from I-formation, getting Tavon or a TE out in the flat that shotty loves to do so often from our side of the field...

I don't get it - going empty set with 1 timeout, 1:27 left, on San Diego's 4? Defense knew we wouldn't run it after Benny goes in motion.

To be honest with the way Tre was running I don't see why we didn't hand it off to him anyway - or Tavon.

Yes I agree and will add this..........

I can see that play on 3rd down maybe. But SD had just stopped the clock and there was 1:03 left to go. Second down run it and see what happens, if you don't score then line up and pass it.

It was a mistake to do it when they did. And it was a mistake to do it the way they did. In hindsight it's easy to see this wasn't the right thing to do. I'm not going to excuse Hill, he fucked it up too, but on 2nd down from the 4 you RUN the ball.

 

[CoachO]

Yes I agree and will add this..........

I can see that play on 3rd down maybe. But SD had just stopped the clock and there was 1:03 left to go. Second down run it and see what happens, if you don't score then line up and pass it.

It was a mistake to do it when they did. And it was a mistake to do it the way they did. In hindsight it's easy to see this wasn't the right thing to do. I'm not going to excuse Hill, he fucked it up too, but on 2nd down from the 4 you RUN the ball.

Go back and watch the play again. This plain and simple was on Hill.

If he stays with his reads, and lets the entire play develop, he would have seen Cunningham come WIDE OPEN just before he forced the ball to Britt. He had set up the LB covering him perfectly, and had inside position with no help underneath. It would have been a walk in TD reception.

Like I have already said, I understand why alot of people wanted them to run the ball, but to say this was a poorly designed play just doesn't fly. It was BAD execution by a veteran QB that the coaches trusted to make a play. Hill had played pretty well throughout the game, and was the reason they were in the position to win the game in the first place.

But this was on him, not the play call.

 

[WoodsideRam]

My issue is I didn’t mind the pass. But what really bugs me is I don’t think we take advantage of matchups. We’ve got Britt and Cook. Two really big guys. Why not a back shoulder throw or a fade to one of those guys? Or some kind of rub route where you're throwing one up to one of those guys in the corner of the endzone. Where are the play designs that take advantage of their size in that situation? You totally negate Britt’s size by running that play.

 

[LesBaker]

Go back and watch the play again. This plain and simple was on Hill.

If he stays with his reads, and lets the entire play develop, he would have seen Cunningham come WIDE OPEN just before he forced the ball to Britt. He had set up the LB covering him perfectly, and had inside position with no help underneath. It would have been a walk in TD reception.

Like I have already said, I understand why alot of people wanted them to run the ball, but to say this was a poorly designed play just doesn't fly. It was BAD execution by a veteran QB that the coaches trusted to make a play. Hill had played pretty well throughout the game, and was the reason they were in the position to win the game in the first place.

But this was on him, not the play call.

Do you see an issue with running on second down then trying the pass on third down?

And it's a stretch and a half to say Hill played pretty well throughout the game. C'mon.

 

[CoachO]

Do you see an issue with running on second down then trying the pass on third down?

And it's a stretch and a half to say Hill played pretty well throughout the game. C'mon.

I'm sorry. I guess we have a different perspective on what we were watching. I saw him throw a perfect TD pass to Britt that was called back by a ridiculous penalty. I saw him get the ball out on time more often than not, and make plays by moving around, both in the pocket and getting out of it. I saw him make throws to Bailey more than once in tight space.

I also saw him throwing the ball away, or putting it in spots where only his receivers would be able to make a play on it (Britt catch at the end). Yes he made TWO bad decisions. But unlike some, I don't simply look at hist stats (completion %) when I look at the overall performance. So saying he was horrible just isn't any more accurate than me saying he played "pretty well" overall.

I also have not once tried to say that final decision was excusable.

As far as running he ball on 2nd down. I have no issue either way. But let's assume they did run the ball for another "no gain" as was the case plenty throughout the game. Then they put themselves in a MUST THROW situation on 3rd down. Whichever way they go, none of us know how it would have worked out.

All I have said, is I didn't have an issue with the play call as much as the execution. At some point, this is about the players making plays. It isn't always about coaching decisions.

 

[shaunpinney]

stupid, stupid call. I would much rather Fisher stand up and say, "in the heat of the moment, we messed up"

They were probably so excited to be on their goal line that the rush of adrenaline was too much. I think I'd just call it being cocky. Put Bam Bam in, Mason, Stacy, you know the guys that we know can grind a yard or two, use the size of Cook and Britt or fake the run and get Austin the ball, damn he's little enough, give him the ball and have cook give him a leg up over their D-line anything rather than a stupid, stared down WR pass

I'd have been happier to see a failed run, setting up the FG giving us a chance in OT

 

[LesBaker]

I'm sorry. I guess we have a different perspective on what we were watching. I saw him throw a perfect TD pass to Britt that was called back by a ridiculous penalty. I saw him get the ball out on time more often than not, and make plays by moving around, both in the pocket and getting out of it. I saw him make throws to Bailey more than once in tight space.

I also saw him throwing the ball away, or putting it in spots where only his receivers would be able to make a play on it (Britt catch at the end). Yes he made TWO bad decisions. But unlike some, I don't simply look at hist stats (completion %) when I look at the overall performance. So saying he was horrible just isn't any more accurate than me saying he played "pretty well" overall.

I also have not once tried to say that final decision was a excusable.

As far as running he ball on 2nd down. I have no issue either way. But let's assume they did run the ball for another "no gain" as was the case plenty throughout the game. Then the put themselves in a MUST THROW situation on 3rd down. Whichever way they go, none of us know how it would have worked out.

All I have said, is I didn't have an issue with the play call as much as the execution. At some point, this is about the players making plays. It isn't always about coaching decisions.

Eh I dunno if 3rd down becomes a must throw situation if they don't score on 2nd down. Plenty of drives down there are run, run, run.