A Different View Of Things

[Alan]

Thordaddy with a Q:
So IOW don't tell ya the glass is half full huh,cuz I see progress and I want to talk about it and recognize it ,celebrate it ,and that's all I think Les is doing here.
I doubt many people here DON'T want what you do, please enlighten me how taking a positive tac on this deters or inhibits that happening,cuz if you can show me how ,I'll surely adopt your POV.

I agree with putting a positive spin on everything Ram. I liked everything Les said until this part:

"This means other than the Rams still having a whole lot of work to do they will also have to rely on some help from SF and SEA, as in those two playing at a lower level than they have the last two years."

I just want all the teams in our division to be dominant with the Rams being king of the hill.

 

[blackbart]

The Cardinals had the fifth best record in the NFC playing in the toughest division in recent memory. They would have beaten any of the teams that lost in the NFC playoffs so far IMO. If they were in the NFCLeast they would have won 13 games this year.

Thanks Les

 

[CGI_Ram]

I read posts where guys are saying stuff like: "If we were in a different division we'd have won the division and have been in the playoffs." That might be true but would we be a better team? Would we have any chance of winning or even getting into the SB? I don't want to achieve things that mean nothing. I aspire to greatness for our team. The 1999 Rams were champions because we were the best.

I want that again.

I find this hard to argue against...I mean the goal isn't to make the playoffs. It's to win a Super Bowl.

The only thing I'll add is; not always the best team wins. So, you got to get in the playoffs to roll the dice.

 

[Pancake]

Les has made some really good and intelligent points in this thread.

Clearly someone has hacked his account. :stirthepot:

 

[Alan]

VCRam pointing out the obvious:
Les has made some really good and intelligent points in this thread.

Clearly someone has hacked his account. :stirthepot:

Management is already on it Pancake. :lol:

 

[LesBaker]

Les has made some really good and intelligent points in this thread.

Clearly someone has hacked his account. :stirthepot:

Hahaha 'cake the Bulger Sniffer that was excellent.

 

[LosAngelesRams]

I agree with putting a positive spin on everything Ram. I liked everything Les said until this part:

"This means other than the Rams still having a whole lot of work to do they will also have to rely on some help from SF and SEA, as in those two playing at a lower level than they have the last two years."

I just want all the teams in our division to be dominant with the Rams being king of the hill.

Shit Alan you're on a roll, 2nd like in 1 min?

Your bringing that fire today :bigup:

 

[Alan]

That was just an ember that flew out of my pipe when I started coughing. You can hardly even notice it among the other burns in my jeans.

 

[OnceARam]

Well that was uplifting !
I think Les makes a valid point, being.... we play for a league championship,that we have to play within a disproportionately difficult division is an indicator our record is skewed by that factor .IMO there is nothing defeatist about recognizing that it indicates a reason to be positive about what factors produced those numbers instead of just looking at the numbers.
In a league where you played everyone in your conference once it stands to reason this team WOULD have finished with a much better record .
God only knows how many Super Bowls have been between the champion of an inferior conference and the champ of a superior one and the game resulted in a blowout.
To recognize that the top four teams of one conference could easily be the champion of another conference is not defeatist it's just objective evaluation,hope that perspective strikes a chord with you and inspires a little more hope.

That's a good point Thor' (I'm not calling you daddy). And I didn't mean to come down hard on Les or any other true Ram fan.

The truth is he brings up a very good point. We are not a point where we are competitive within our division. That said, the team is playing HARD for Fisher. So the problem is not with our coaching. At least not at the high level.

Here's one more thing to consider though; perhaps we should become a ground and pound team with a running, intuitive QB - like San Fran and Seattle?

Another, opposite, view would be that SF and SEA have benefited because they are not paying the QB position. On both those teams they are only spending 1-2 million on the QB. This enables them to pick up expensive FA (like Boldin in SF and all of that DL help in SEA). This is ultimately a competitive advantage. One that the Rams do not have - at this point.

 

[blackbart]

[quote="OnceARam, post: 249293, member: 516" The truth is he brings up a very good point. We are not a point where we are competitive within our division. [/quote]

5-2-1 with Bradford at QB in our division the last 2 years sounds pretty competitive to me and KC was a play away from beating Seattle at home his first start.

 

[OnceARam]

[quote="OnceARam, post: 249293, member: 516" The truth is he brings up a very good point. We are not a point where we are competitive within our division.

5-2-1 with Bradford at QB in our division the last 2 years sounds pretty competitive to me and KC was a play away from beating Seattle at home his first start.[/quote]

Those are good looking stats. But they don't pass the eye-test. Those teams are playoff teams. We're not. Simple as that.

We have a lot of work to do.

 

[Thordaddy]

[quote="OnceARam, post: 249293, member: 516" The truth is he brings up a very good point. We are not a point where we are competitive within our division.

5-2-1 with Bradford at QB in our division the last 2 years sounds pretty competitive to me and KC was a play away from beating Seattle at home his first start.[/quote]
I think you make a point that is impossible to argue against,though some will try .

 

[blackbart]

5-2-1 with Bradford at QB in our division the last 2 years sounds pretty competitive to me and KC was a play away from beating Seattle at home his first start.

Those are good looking stats. But they don't pass the eye-test. Those teams are playoff teams. We're not. Simple as that.

We have a lot of work to do.[/quote]
With Bradford starting those teams are 2-2-1 against the Rams over the last two years. There is no eye test figuring in to the playoff teams it is all about wins and losses and with Bradford the Rams are a much better team than with KC. Those teams WERE playoff teams this year and the Rams had Clemens start 9 games. Next year with Bradford for a full year the Rams are just as good as either of them.

 

[OnceARam]

Those are good looking stats. But they don't pass the eye-test. Those teams are playoff teams. We're not. Simple as that.

We have a lot of work to do.

With Bradford starting those teams are 2-2-1 against the Rams over the last two years. There is no eye test figuring in to the playoff teams it is all about wins and losses and with Bradford the Rams are a much better team than with KC. Those teams WERE playoff teams this year and the Rams had Clemens start 9 games. Next year with Bradford for a full year the Rams are just as good as either of them.[/quote]

IF that's true why haven't we signed Bradford to a long-term deal? Especially now that he's been hurt and would cost less?

 

[blackbart]

With Bradford starting those teams are 2-2-1 against the Rams over the last two years. There is no eye test figuring in to the playoff teams it is all about wins and losses and with Bradford the Rams are a much better team than with KC. Those teams WERE playoff teams this year and the Rams had Clemens start 9 games. Next year with Bradford for a full year the Rams are just as good as either of them.

IF that's true why haven't we signed Bradford to a long-term deal? Especially now that he's been hurt and would cost less?[/quote]
I read something today that said Bradford did not want a new deal right now which seems a little weird to me. However, the Rams and Bradford;s agent were in negotiations last year for an extension before the injury. If he had not be hurt it would probably already be done.

 

[Alan]

OnceARam back witha math problem:
IF that's true why haven't we signed Bradford to a long-term deal? Especially now that he's been hurt and would cost less?

Being better than Clemens is setting a low bar. I think he's going to be pretty good but how good? Manning money good or Alex Smith money good. I think Sam, his agent and the Rams want more time to quantify that.

Sam has a chance to make another killing if he has a good year in 2014.

 

[OnceARam]

Being better than Clemens is setting a low bar. I think he's going to be pretty good but how good? Manning money good or Alex Smith money good. I think Sam, his agent and the Rams want more time to quantify that.

Sam has a chance to make another killing if he has a good year in 2014.

True. Sam would be in a Flacco type situation if he has a good 2014.

 

[jap]

I read posts where guys are saying stuff like: "If we were in a different division we'd have won the division and have been in the playoffs." That might be true but would we be a better team? Would we have any chance of winning or even getting into the SB? I don't want to achieve things that mean nothing. I aspire to greatness for our team. The 1999 Rams were champions because we were the best.

I want that again.

Hell, yeah! I want teams terrified to play us. GSOT opponents used to try to get under our skin with that "finesse team" crap. However, the fact that they threw out their normal game plans and played for maximal points demonstrated clearly who was getting inside of who's heads. :sly:

 

[RamFan503]

I think it's pretty clear we were not on SF's or Seattle's level in 2013 but that can and often does change in a hurry. We played both of those teams very tough in 2012 and beat the NFC rep (in reality) both times we played them. A couple more players and there is no reason we can't turn that corner. I don't think QB would be the smartest acquisition right now. Even if you don't think Sam is the guy, a rookie QB would be very unlikely to be the difference maker. Neither Wilson nor Kap are what make their teams contenders except for the fact that their contracts allow for a lot more flexibility under the cap.

We need to move on and help the parts we have to succeed. Protect the QB and lock down the opposing receivers so that our D-line can get there more often and we will be a force to reckon with.

 

[Thordaddy]

I think it's pretty clear we were not on SF's or Seattle's level in 2013 but that can and often does change in a hurry. We played both of those teams very tough in 2012 and beat the NFC rep (in reality) both times we played them. A couple more players and there is no reason we can't turn that corner. I don't think QB would be the smartest acquisition right now. Even if you don't think Sam is the guy, a rookie QB would be very unlikely to be the difference maker. Neither Wilson nor Kap are what make their teams contenders except for the fact that their contracts allow for a lot more flexibility under the cap.

We need to move on and help the parts we have to succeed. Protect the QB and lock down the opposing receivers so that our D-line can get there more often and we will be a force to reckon with.

The rest of our team was shy of measuring up but our starting QB was better and if we'd had him IMO we would have been very close,I don't think either of those teams would have beaten US with us playing Clemens and them playing their backup and if they had it would have been very close, so the 5-2-1 stat is very telling ,I'll hang my hat on it.
We can't forget how good Sam is just because naysayers want to,he would have made a profound difference.