Some Rams-related Playoff Notes

[Alan]

That was during the period of the "I have no clue" FO.
Pickett has thrived in a 3-4.

 

[iced]

I always felt Fletcher never fully physically recovered from those injuries which leads to him holding and drawing flags

 

[Alan]

iced with a damn good point:
I always felt Fletcher never fully physically recovered from those injuries which leads to him holding and drawing flags

I'd forgotten that. He seems to have recovered fully now.

 

[rhinobean]

That was during the period of the "I have no clue" FO.
Pickett has thrived in a 3-4.

I wish Lewis and Kennedy had worked out! Would have been a good d line for years!

 

[dodgerram]

That was during the period of the "I have no clue" FO.
Pickett has thrived in a 3-4.

Yeah, right on.
Some pretty good players that the Rams let slip away.
I also would count Fitzpatrick under that category.

Go Rams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alan]

rhinobean adding:
I wish Lewis and Kennedy had worked out! Would have been a good d line for years!

Those picks made many of us gun shy about drafting a DT. Especially when you add in Carriker. Thank Bhudda Brockers broke that jinx. :wink:

 

[Alan]

dodgerram liking the conundrum that is Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, right on.
Some pretty good players that the Rams let slip away.
I also would count Fitzpatrick under that category.

I'm sure you remember that great game he had with us when we scored like 49 points. Then the next game he'd play for us he'd suck. That's been the story of his career. Buffalo found that out the hard way. I'd never trust him as my QB.

 

[dodgerram]

Harvard had some pretty good seasons after he left the Rams.
At the least he would have been a more than solid backup QB.

Go Rams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alan]

I agree.

 

[Sum1]

We have different memories of Fletch. In my memories he didn't got "torched" as often as you remember.

I didn't say we should have kept Fletch over Trumaine, although I think their performances are pretty equal, I said we should have kept him. He only had a cap hit of $2.35 million this year.

The Eagles seem to be pretty happy with him.

BTW, I was making fun of that Fisher statement. Fish has never been able to "fix" that kind of problem. In meetings or on the practice field. It was a decision they made that I wouldn't have made but then again I don't know everything they do. I think you need 4 high quality CBs on your roster because it's such a blow to your D when one gets injured. There were other priorities though. So.

I remember him getting beat often in 2012.

 

[Alan]

My memory isn't the best so you could be right Sum.

 

[fearsomefour]

Watching wild card weekend my biggest impression is that in todays NFL you need a QB who can extend plays with his feet or even make big plays with his running ability.
Rivers, Rodgers, Luck, Kaepernick, Smith, Brees all have that ability.
A pure pocket passer still can be effective and win it big but in order to achieve it you must provide him with a very good to elite o-line. The defensive linemen and lbs in particular in todays NFL are so big and simultaenously so fast it is simply amazing. A mobile QB can get away with an average or below average o-line a lot better and still make enough plays to win you a game.

Manning, Brady, Rivers, Dalton, Smith, Luck, Foles, Brees, Rogers, Crapperdoodle, Wilson, Newton….these are the QBs of the playoff teams this year. Only three of the 12 would really be considered QBs with a reasonable run option (Crapp, Wilson and Newton). The best of the bunch Manning, Brady, Brees, Rivers are statues in the pocket. As much as the idiocy of ESPN wants to hype up QBs who can run the ideal model is still a pocket passer who can read Ds, make adjustments and deliver an accurate ball. Mannings line in Denver (after injuries) is a C+, B kind of line and he refuses to stand in the face of pressure to deliver a pass. He has success because the ball is out of his hands very quickly and usually right on time to his receivers. A joker like Crapperdoodle who stares down his first option then looks to run is a bit of a joke to me. When they play a team with players who can get the concept of contain and control the run they will be int trouble….that should be Carolina next week.

 

[Alan]

All those "running" QBs are young and not likely to get much older if they keep it up. :lol:

 

[bwdenverram]

Fletcher was decent before his knee injury but not the same after. I'm probably the only one, but I wish we didn't give up on Avery so soon. He has done well in KC though.
Hard to find 4.3 guys.

 

[Alan]

Sometimes it takes 2 years to fully recover from a knee injury.

 

[dodgerram]

But those "statues" as you call them have other superior talents to offset their lack of running ability (and BTW, IMO Rodgers has some ability to hurt you with his legs as have Luck and smith, proven on wild card weekend).
Just for example:
As you said Peyton has a ultra quick release , Brady an uncanny pocket awareness and vision, Brees is nifty in the pocket and moves around very, very well, Rivers is a rock and hard to bring down (watch that one play where the defender bounced off of him like a fly) etc.etc.
Now ask yourself if you see those talents in Sam Bradford too...

Go Rams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Selassie I]

That easy to spot eh? :lol:

Just making sure.

I think that's two separate issues. Being a great coach and engendering an atmosphere that promotes penalties are not joined at the hip IMO. Many might say that his coaching success and the persona of his teams are intertwined. Possibly true in his case.

When anyone talks about a team having penalty problems the blame is always laid at the coach's doorstep. Rightfully so IMO. When you hire Fisher you get those penalties as part of the package. Those that think he's a great coach like that part of the package. Not the penalties per se but the mind set/toughness that is associated with that. Maybe you're OK with that but as you so astutely observed, I'm not a fan. :wink:

To take it a step further, that type of coaching is old school and doesn't work as well as it used to. Chippiness on the field in today's game is more likely to be punished than rewarded. I never, ever saw taunting by a player when I first started watching football. The other players would never have put up with it. The difference is that when I was younger the teams were actually teams and not just a collection of individuals with a common goal. You didn't see the "it's all about me" attitude that is so prevalent today. You have to nip that stuff in the bud in today's NFL and when has Fisher ever shown an ability to stop that kind of behavior? In my opinion he encourages it even if inadvertently.

I will say this though, I think Fisher is the best coach we've had in a long time. Doesn't mean I think hes a great coach and it also doesn't mean I'm not gonna rag on him when he makes laughable statements like the one he made about the team meetings. That's just funny to me. :heh:

Fletcher wasn't penalized for being chippy, he was getting penalized for very obvious pass interference. Not sure how Fisher's teams being chippy relates to Fletcher... I wish he had been more chippy though.

If you're looking for an example of how a player (CB specifically) can excell in the league today while being very chippy and literally breaking the written rules without penalties. Look right here in our division at Sherman.

Fletcher's problems were not a result of chippyness,,, they were from poor play. Certainly correctable, but with a player of his experience level and injury history... moving on to Tru was the smart move. Don't forget Cortland was added at a big price... leaving no room for burnt toast Fletcher.

Fisher could have helped Fletch in meetings and on the practice field immensely. Thing is, he wasn't worth it.

 

[fearsomefour]

But those "statues" as you call them have other superior talents to offset their lack of running ability (and BTW, IMO Rodgers has some ability to hurt you with his legs as have Luck and smith, proven on wild card weekend).
Just for example:
As you said Peyton has a ultra quick release , Brady an uncanny pocket awareness and vision, Brees is nifty in the pocket and moves around very, very well, Rivers is a rock and hard to bring down (watch that one play where the defender bounced off of him like a fly) etc.etc.
Now ask yourself if you see those talents in Sam Bradford too...

Go Rams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right, but Rogers and the other, even Wilson at this point, dont look to run to make plays. So, with the other guys you are describing guys that have the ability and were given the time to develop their QUARTERBACKING skills. Not some hack poser dbag like Kapperdoodle and to a lesser degree Newton.
Most guys are not going to have the blend of skills that Manning, Brees ect have. A guy who keeps the running part of his game as a play to play option is probably not going to develop the other skills.
Bradford has some of those skills and others are developing. I would much rather take a gamble with a pass first guy than a drop and run guy....any day of the week.

 

[Alan]

Selassie I with some of this and some of that:
Fletcher wasn't penalized for being chippy, plus other stuff.

Sorry Haile, I took this:

BTW... I realized you were taking a shot at Fish. That was clear to see.

I would have to strongly disagree with your statement that Fish has never been able to fix a problem like that. His extensive success in coaching,,, especially on the defensive side of the ball,,, is the reason he's one of the highest paid coaches in the league.

Your dislike of Fisher is not hard to pick up on. In case you hadn't noticed, my feelings on Fish are much different.

from an earlier reply of yours and completely morphed into a diatribe about Fish. :lol:
Chippiness and Fletcher should never be mentioned in the same sentence. I frequently go off on tangents, cotangents and sometimes even cosines.

Reread my last reply with that in mind. I disagreed with the statement above of yours that I quoted. I would just ask you to think about all the times reporters, in just this last year, have questioned Fisher about all the penalties and then ask yourself what he's done to fix that.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Count me in as glad Avery isn't here limping off the field after every other catch+contact play anymore,and also happy to see that he's finding some success at this point.