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I apologize in advance for the rant And let me emphasize, I like to eat crow on my own team, but I'm also a realist and I saw some trends continue today that are concerning to me moving forward in the schedule.
To me we needed to come into this game and beat the tar out of the Jags for me to regain my confidence in this team, and sincerely believe they can turn this season around. We needed to be clicking on all cylinders in all 3 phases of the game. We needed to get an early lead on the Jags and keep our foot on the gas. The problem is, I didn't see that.
Instead I saw many things some coaches have call "minor issues that will be corrected" continue to become trends and habits for our football team. Were there some bright spots in this 34-20 win? Sure, there had to be considering the score. But if you look beyond some of the obvious "stats" there were some of these trends that I painfully had to see continue. Here are my Cons and Pros (so many Cons I want them to go first).
CONS:
-Special Teams penalties: I don't need to elaborate much, but I ask: HOW CAN YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE THE SAME EXACT MISTAKE WEEK AFTER WEEK FOR 5 STRAIGHT WEEKS? Coach Fish said after the ATL game in regards to penalties something along the lines of "he'll make the players an offer they simply can't refuse." What was that offer? Salary bonuses for whoever can rack up the most ST penalties? The frustrating thing is that the situation ISN'T changing and its the SAME 22-23 year old guys making the SAME infringements (Armstrong, Bates, etc.) At some point I'd take those guys out and I'd elect to have a less physically talented, but smarter veteran bunch so we aren't having a penalty almost EVERY time. How many times have we seen Tavon make an electrifying play only to have it called back?
And what was with our team trying so hard to outsmart the Jags with the punt, that they failed to block a guy coming straight up the middle (who blocked the punt)? ST is a mess and idk if I should blame Fassel for scheming or Fisher for sticking with the guys who make the same boneheaded plays.
-Oline: had their moments. Particularly in the run game. Although I've been a Stacy fan since before we drafted him, I think our success on the ground had less to do with him and more with our opponent. Just look at what DRich was able to muster compared to what has the past 2 weeks. I was particularly concerned by the olines inability to consistently pass protect for Sam. This isn't a great front 7, yet there were times the pocket quickly collapsed around Sam. He wasn't hit nearly as much in this game as in weeks past, and it showed with the game he turned in, but he was pressured and hit more than he should have been.
-Tackling: I still see too many inconsistencies with this young team when attempting to tackle. I get that turnovers can be game altering, but there is a time and a place. Stew's strip was the perfect example of the right situation: one defender is already tackling the player while the other defender has a chance for a turnover. Too often though I see players who's natural way of tackling seems to be the forearm, shoulder, or strip tackle; none of which consistently bring down the elite or even good players in the NFL. The particular play that I'm thinking of was the simple run (or was it a catch) that was going for a healthy 6-10 yard gain and turned into Jones-Drew's long of the day because 2 defenders simply threw their bodies at MJD thinking he'd come down. Tackling is also about leverage: the lower man in a collision usually prevails.
-Coaching: The decision to carry only 4 CBs was one I never agreed with. I'd much rather carry 5 CBs than 5 Ss. Why? Because the most Ss you ever see on the field is 3. You consistently see 3 CBs on the field in this league with the 4th rotating in for certain situations. This led to McLeod consistently being our nickel with Finn out. Forced us to use Matt Digiorno most of the game, who reminds me of Dahl.
How about Shotty? So damn predictable. How will we ever become an explosive offense if we only take one shot beyond 30 yards in the game? The sequence that really had me peeved was on the 80 or 90 yard drive, we fortunately scored 7 on (on 3rd down). We run the ball down their throats for the better part of the drive and its what gets us down to the 5, and what do we do? We proceed to throw the ball 3 straight times. Anyone wonder why SJ had such low TD totals his final years in STL. It wasn't because he was a bad short yardage back, it was because when the Rams got the ball inside the 5, they wanted to get cute and try to outsmart the other team.
Didn't like the Harkey 3rd and 1 play, even though it worked. And to add: you know your LG spot is a mess when Fish is doing the same LG rotation he had in week 17, TC, & preseason in week 5.
-Catching: we have a real problem with our youngsters on catching the football. TA usually can make up for his drops, but it doesn't erase them. Harkey had a bad one too.
-I'd just like to add. Although we scored 34. I think we should have scored points offensively in the 1st and 3rd quarters, when we didn't. This game was WAY closer than it should have been in the 3rd and 4th quarters after it looked like the Rams had gained some real momentum heading into the half. Had they carried it into the 3rd this could have been a true blowout. We also benefited from playing, who I'm certain now, the WORST STARTING QB in the NFL. Idk about the outcome if Henne started the game.
PROS:
-Sam had a pretty solid day. Loved the look off and throw on the Pettis TD. Thought he really threded the needle on a few plays. Loved his movement going 2 his left and extending the play on his throw to Quick. I do wish he'd could find a way to limited batted passes; some say a pump fake, but you don't always have enough time. I think generally speaking he'd have less batted passes if he wasn't passing 5-10 yards every time. Which is not always his fault. Sure, he may be guilty of checking down too quickly at times, but he also doesn't have open WRs most of the time and his OL isn't good enough too hold their blocks to allow for a better (downfield) option than a checkdown.
-Stacy. Man I love this kid. This is what I saw on tape from Vandy. I was questoning why we didn't see him with the 1st team O more later in the preseason to see what he could really do. I also thought with this whole "committee" approach we'd see more than just DRich for 25 carries and RB2 for 1 or 2, by week 5. Today was a good mix of Stacy and DRich. Stacy, like MJD and Ray Rice is so short that he's hard to find behind his OL and then once you do find him you have less to grab onto, but what you do grab onto is very compact and strong. I LOVED some of his runs where he twisted and turned his body and drove the pile with his leg drive for 5 more yards than expected. Also, I think his frame is better built for pass pro (than any RB we have), and he had a good rep at Vandy for his skills.
-JL yet again, was solid. Good in coverage and in the run game. That pick was too easy for him.
-Big ups to the D on all the turnovers. Lot of fumbles today.
PS: Sad thing is we have POTENTIAL to stop the run, as we've seen against JAX & SF this year, namely MINNY in 2012, but the inconsistencies we have maintaining gaps, fighting off blocks, and tackling lead to gashes.
To me we needed to come into this game and beat the tar out of the Jags for me to regain my confidence in this team, and sincerely believe they can turn this season around. We needed to be clicking on all cylinders in all 3 phases of the game. We needed to get an early lead on the Jags and keep our foot on the gas. The problem is, I didn't see that.
Instead I saw many things some coaches have call "minor issues that will be corrected" continue to become trends and habits for our football team. Were there some bright spots in this 34-20 win? Sure, there had to be considering the score. But if you look beyond some of the obvious "stats" there were some of these trends that I painfully had to see continue. Here are my Cons and Pros (so many Cons I want them to go first).
CONS:
-Special Teams penalties: I don't need to elaborate much, but I ask: HOW CAN YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE THE SAME EXACT MISTAKE WEEK AFTER WEEK FOR 5 STRAIGHT WEEKS? Coach Fish said after the ATL game in regards to penalties something along the lines of "he'll make the players an offer they simply can't refuse." What was that offer? Salary bonuses for whoever can rack up the most ST penalties? The frustrating thing is that the situation ISN'T changing and its the SAME 22-23 year old guys making the SAME infringements (Armstrong, Bates, etc.) At some point I'd take those guys out and I'd elect to have a less physically talented, but smarter veteran bunch so we aren't having a penalty almost EVERY time. How many times have we seen Tavon make an electrifying play only to have it called back?
And what was with our team trying so hard to outsmart the Jags with the punt, that they failed to block a guy coming straight up the middle (who blocked the punt)? ST is a mess and idk if I should blame Fassel for scheming or Fisher for sticking with the guys who make the same boneheaded plays.
-Oline: had their moments. Particularly in the run game. Although I've been a Stacy fan since before we drafted him, I think our success on the ground had less to do with him and more with our opponent. Just look at what DRich was able to muster compared to what has the past 2 weeks. I was particularly concerned by the olines inability to consistently pass protect for Sam. This isn't a great front 7, yet there were times the pocket quickly collapsed around Sam. He wasn't hit nearly as much in this game as in weeks past, and it showed with the game he turned in, but he was pressured and hit more than he should have been.
-Tackling: I still see too many inconsistencies with this young team when attempting to tackle. I get that turnovers can be game altering, but there is a time and a place. Stew's strip was the perfect example of the right situation: one defender is already tackling the player while the other defender has a chance for a turnover. Too often though I see players who's natural way of tackling seems to be the forearm, shoulder, or strip tackle; none of which consistently bring down the elite or even good players in the NFL. The particular play that I'm thinking of was the simple run (or was it a catch) that was going for a healthy 6-10 yard gain and turned into Jones-Drew's long of the day because 2 defenders simply threw their bodies at MJD thinking he'd come down. Tackling is also about leverage: the lower man in a collision usually prevails.
-Coaching: The decision to carry only 4 CBs was one I never agreed with. I'd much rather carry 5 CBs than 5 Ss. Why? Because the most Ss you ever see on the field is 3. You consistently see 3 CBs on the field in this league with the 4th rotating in for certain situations. This led to McLeod consistently being our nickel with Finn out. Forced us to use Matt Digiorno most of the game, who reminds me of Dahl.
How about Shotty? So damn predictable. How will we ever become an explosive offense if we only take one shot beyond 30 yards in the game? The sequence that really had me peeved was on the 80 or 90 yard drive, we fortunately scored 7 on (on 3rd down). We run the ball down their throats for the better part of the drive and its what gets us down to the 5, and what do we do? We proceed to throw the ball 3 straight times. Anyone wonder why SJ had such low TD totals his final years in STL. It wasn't because he was a bad short yardage back, it was because when the Rams got the ball inside the 5, they wanted to get cute and try to outsmart the other team.
Didn't like the Harkey 3rd and 1 play, even though it worked. And to add: you know your LG spot is a mess when Fish is doing the same LG rotation he had in week 17, TC, & preseason in week 5.
-Catching: we have a real problem with our youngsters on catching the football. TA usually can make up for his drops, but it doesn't erase them. Harkey had a bad one too.
-I'd just like to add. Although we scored 34. I think we should have scored points offensively in the 1st and 3rd quarters, when we didn't. This game was WAY closer than it should have been in the 3rd and 4th quarters after it looked like the Rams had gained some real momentum heading into the half. Had they carried it into the 3rd this could have been a true blowout. We also benefited from playing, who I'm certain now, the WORST STARTING QB in the NFL. Idk about the outcome if Henne started the game.
PROS:
-Sam had a pretty solid day. Loved the look off and throw on the Pettis TD. Thought he really threded the needle on a few plays. Loved his movement going 2 his left and extending the play on his throw to Quick. I do wish he'd could find a way to limited batted passes; some say a pump fake, but you don't always have enough time. I think generally speaking he'd have less batted passes if he wasn't passing 5-10 yards every time. Which is not always his fault. Sure, he may be guilty of checking down too quickly at times, but he also doesn't have open WRs most of the time and his OL isn't good enough too hold their blocks to allow for a better (downfield) option than a checkdown.
-Stacy. Man I love this kid. This is what I saw on tape from Vandy. I was questoning why we didn't see him with the 1st team O more later in the preseason to see what he could really do. I also thought with this whole "committee" approach we'd see more than just DRich for 25 carries and RB2 for 1 or 2, by week 5. Today was a good mix of Stacy and DRich. Stacy, like MJD and Ray Rice is so short that he's hard to find behind his OL and then once you do find him you have less to grab onto, but what you do grab onto is very compact and strong. I LOVED some of his runs where he twisted and turned his body and drove the pile with his leg drive for 5 more yards than expected. Also, I think his frame is better built for pass pro (than any RB we have), and he had a good rep at Vandy for his skills.
-JL yet again, was solid. Good in coverage and in the run game. That pick was too easy for him.
-Big ups to the D on all the turnovers. Lot of fumbles today.
PS: Sad thing is we have POTENTIAL to stop the run, as we've seen against JAX & SF this year, namely MINNY in 2012, but the inconsistencies we have maintaining gaps, fighting off blocks, and tackling lead to gashes.
