Re: Ultimate 2011 Rams O-line Highlights (Bradford's defense
X said:
DR RAM said:
This wasn't about the offensive scheme, or Bradford, or protections. Watch the tape, it is all about players getting beat one on one. Watch Bajema, and Smith, and Brown, and Saffold...that's not ON anyone else.
This.
4 man rush on 5 guys, and sacked in 2 seconds. TE missing a block and blindsided. Now, if we had receivers who could get 5 yards of separation in 2.2 seconds, then none of it would be an issue. :lol:
This was a perfect storm and it included being about the scheme, the protections, the lockout, Bradford, the receivers, and the coordinator. I think it also included player issues such as Brown reporting out of shape with his head not on right, and Saffold losing confidence and freaking out over it. (Saffold also had technique issues against bull rushers, to the point where defenses were gameplanning to exploit it.)
(I will say this about Fisher. We will never see his starters lose confidence like that. If he has any one single gift as a coach, it's cultivating confidence.)
Anyway--just reducing it to 5 guys who suddenly couldn't play is way too reductive and does not match what I saw.
I like Venturi's take better. He saw the issues brewing in the preseason. He said at first he thought the linemen didn't know the protections. Then he realized they did--the book learning was there, but the execution wasn't. It was an issue of timing and being out of sync--executing in real time. They did not have the reps and on top of it the coordinator either never adjusted for that or did a bad job if he did.
The Rams line has looked this way three times in the last several years, and each time it wasn't talent per se but execution and not being coherent yet. The start of 2006 (new system). The start of 2009 (watch the 2009 opening game against Seattle again). The first few games of 2011. In each case, the major culprit was just execution issues from not having gelled yet and thinking (and sometimes thinking wrong) instead of playing.
Then of course in 2011, when they finally got the chance to settle down, the injuries took over.
One thing Fisher said was a dead giveaway. He said he liked Bell in Tennessee and wanted to keep him back then. He said he played better in the 2nd half of 2011. So that means he liked him before, and based on last year, has no problems with the idea of keeping him. But what is the deal with saying he was better in the 2nd half?
The point of raising Fisher's comment is not to think anything particular one way or another about Bell--it's just that in commenting on a Rams lineman, Fisher noticed that there was a difference in how they played earlier and later. The way I see it, in the 2nd half of the season the issues Venturi described improved. Bell picked up his game accordingly. At that point the issue became injuries though.
The one scenario I personally don't want to see is the one where they move Saffold to the right (he doesn't have a Jeff Fisher's Type of Right Tackle profile) and a rookie on the left. You might as well directly ask for a repeat of the 2009 opener.
Another thing that will help? Brian S. is just simply not going to make the kinds of mistakes McDaniels did. He is not a "system at all costs" kinda guy--he is a heavy-duty "adjust to what your players do well" kinda guy.
In terms of putting a vid together, what would really help would be a comparison. Look for as many plays as possible from 2010 where Bradford took more than a 3 step drop or had the ball for 3 seconds or more. They exist. I think you will find they did not have the same issues in 2010. Same players.
