What's the biggest factor that separates the "winners" from the "losers"?

[Adi]

Consistency, motivation and discipline Our team is one of the Most talented in the whole league, very young but the talent is there. They need to be put in situations to win and that starts with coaching.

 

[12intheBox]

Coaching - not close.

 

[Ajb44]

Coaching. The patriots can win with anyone on the field

 

[snackdaddy]

Know who you are and what your identity is. Establish that identity and perfect it. Execute it on game day. Other than that, the only other thing I can think of is to score more than the opposition.

 

[-X-]

the only other thing I can think of is to score more than the opposition.

 

[Faceplant]

Talent & maturity.....

 

[99Balloons]

Losers doubt.

Winners believe.

That's what separate the losers and winners. And I think the Rams offensively are trending up as their WR corp starts to believe and visualizes they will win the close contested balls for 1st downs and TDs.

Now with the Rams defense, they are starting to doubt themselves because of injuries to their starting CB, DE and DT and thinking that they're short-handed. But when they believe that the next man up is just as good as the starter and that they've made it in the professional NFL, the Rams defense can step up and represent. Guys like Lamrarcus Joyner playing hurt with a broken toe exemplifies that nothing will stop him from playing to his best ability and leave it all on the field for a hard-earned victory. When they believe in making key big plays at the right moment, confidence and belief in winning is contagious to the entire group.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Disciplined coaching. Fisher is too lax. You always get that, "Well I know you tried hard, but I'd like to see you get better vibe" from him. Instead he needs to demand excellence.

I haven't seen as much of it lately, but taking on players with questionable character is a bad policy in my book. Sure they may have just been immature and will eventually grow up but their rookie contract is only 4-5 years. So by the time they grow up they may be gone, or a window of opportunity may have closed for the team. Most guys making bad decisions and getting the bad character flag are selfish. Selfishness is not part of a disciplined team.


Always being the youngest team doesn't help either.

 

[RAMblin Man]

Coaching and Culture. You need a staff with clear vision (that doesn't suck) and the ability to communicate it to players. You need a locker-room where everyone feels accountable to the team. That's when teams start to overachieve. Teams that start to overachieve attract talent so they can pick and choose the right guys for the system instead of the right system for a random set of guys.

 

[…..]

Q: What's the biggest factor that separates the "winners" from the "losers"?

A: Our locker room door.





:rimshot:

 

[shaunpinney]

Plain and simple - it's scoring more points than the opposition, or rather STOPPING the opposition scoring.

You either need to force your opposition to punt, or preferably, force a pick 6. It kills momentum of opposing O's.

And, yes scapegoating, answer coming up, it's a combination of things.

1. Coaching (or rather customising for the opposition)
2. On-field execution
3. Discipline (not giving away free yards)
4. Talent (having a player of elite talent can give you that "edge")
5. and a bit of luck with the refs (consistency in decisions)

 

[-X-]

Losers doubt.

Winners believe

And chicks dig scars.

 

[Selassie I]

At the NFL level it's the players.

 

[12intheBox]

At the NFL level it's the players.

I think it's less and less the players and more and more the coaches the higher you go in football. In high school, superior talent can just run over you on a 24 dive all day long. A coach could literally call the same play over and over - even against a superior coaching mind on the other side and still dominate.

In college, coaching and recruiting are considered two different facets of the college game and there are good arguments on both side over which is more important. What we do see somewhat often in college is teams with lesser talent win because of scheme. It's. It's not enough just to show up and be more atheletic anymore.

In the pros, coaching is a much bigger part of the big picture. Personnel packages, matchups, spacing - it's a game of tight windows. There is very little running by someone or running over someone or manhandling your opponent - it's a game of leverage and the position and designs the coach puts you into often dictates that leverage.

Part of it is that the difference between the best players and the worst players is much smaller in the NFL than in college and in college than in high school. The other part is the complexity involved - both lead to a major premium in coaching.

 

[Ellard80]

At the NFL all players are rare talents.

It's about mental toughness and handling pressure.

There is no doubt in my mind that coaching has the biggest impact on the NFL than all other of big name pro sports.

 

[Selassie I]

I think it's less and less the players and more and more the coaches the higher you go in football. In high school, superior talent can just run over you on a 24 dive all day long. A coach could literally call the same play over and over - even against a superior coaching mind on the other side and still dominate.

In college, coaching and recruiting are considered two different facets of the college game and there are good arguments on both side over which is more important. What we do see somewhat often in college is teams with lesser talent win because of scheme. It's. It's not enough just to show up and be more atheletic anymore.

In the pros, coaching is a much bigger part of the big picture. Personnel packages, matchups, spacing - it's a game of tight windows. There is very little running by someone or running over someone or manhandling your opponent - it's a game of leverage and the position and designs the coach puts you into often dictates that leverage.

Part of it is that the difference between the best players and the worst players is much smaller in the NFL than in college and in college than in high school. The other part is the complexity involved - both lead to a major premium in coaching.

Try and look at it this way...

College coaches can change a program almost instantly... look at what Harblah did at Michigan almost as soon as he got there. He had the same players as the last staff really.

There was an old saying by an old time Southern college coach (can't remember for sure who it was). He said something like this "I can take your players and beat mine, and then I can take mine and beat yours." He said it in a much more Southern slang though.

Coaching can make much more of an impact immediately at levels below the NFL. There's just no denying that.


Name the last NFL coach who came in and instantly turned the players he inherited into Champs. That just doesn't happen.

Not saying that coaching isn't important... but it's much more impactful at the lower levels of almost any sport.

No coach is going to go into Cleveland (Cheater included) and take that current roster to the playoffs. But our boi Harblah went in and turned Michigan roster into an immediate contender.

 

[12intheBox]

Try and look at it this way...

College coaches can change a program almost instantly... look at what Harblah did at Michigan almost as soon as he got there. He had the same players as the last staff really.

There was an old saying by an old time Southern college coach (can't remember for sure who it was). He said something like this "I can take your players and beat mine, and then I can take mine and beat yours." He said it in a much more Southern slang though.

Coaching can make much more of an impact immediately at levels below the NFL. There's just no denying that.


Name the last NFL coach who came in and instantly turned the players he inherited into Champs. That just doesn't happen.

Not saying that coaching isn't important... but it's much more impactful at the lower levels of almost any sport.

No coach is going to go into Cleveland (Cheater included) and take that current roster to the playoffs. But our boi Harblah went in and turned Michigan roster into an immediate contender.

Lets use the same coach. Harbaugh joined the 49ers in the 2011 season. In 2010 they went 6-10 and hadn't had a winning season since 2002. The 2011 9ers went 13-3.

Generally, though, it does take a bit longer for a coach to get an NFL team turned around because the systems are so complex - they can't usually be fully installed in one offseason - same reason that rookies typically take some time - there is just too much information to absorb.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Winning attitude/culture.

IMO its Discipline.

Talented, high football IQ players, that are committed to winning.

success plan.

Consistency.

motivation

Know who you are and what your identity is.

Talent

Disciplined coaching.

Culture.

mental toughness and handling pressure.

Most of what everyone wrote can be tied to one thing: Coaching.
A good coach:
* Creates a winning attitude and culture
* Demands discipline from his players
* Develops successful plans
* Motivates his players
* Creates a team identity
* Demands mental toughness
* Demands consistency in the performance of his players

So, coaching has a ton to do with success IMO. But, IMO, there is a caveat:
There has to be an effective front office that acquires/drafts talented, intelligent, motivated, disciplined players.

If the FO does that, the coaches have a real good chance of success.

If they don't? I don't care who the coaches are, they'll struggle. There have been plenty of examples of coaches that did very well with one team, moved on and faltered.

Why? Because in most cases, the foundation wasn't there that second go 'round.

With ths possible exception of Bellichick (can't stand the guy but have to respect what he gets out of a team no matter the circumstances), coaching will only take you so far.

Get a FO who works in harmony with the coaching staff on the types of players they want... and what the scheme will be and you have success most times.

I think Snead and Fisher value certain attributes in players that may not be successful. So, while they are in harmony, the song is still out of key.

They really rely on physical talent... don't seem too concerned about intelligence, discipline, attitude, etc.

 

[Selassie I]

The greatest coach ever is NOT going to lead a group of 53 average NFL players and win the Super Bowl.

Not.

Gonna.

Happen.


Players win Championships.