Can Fisher Get the Rams to 11+ Wins? ever?

[Ramlock]

I would love to see Fisher let the OC take control of the Offensive side of the ball, give him a bit more freedom and the same goes for the QB - I know he's the HC, but I just feel sometimes that he's too controlling and smothering for the offense to handle

I know that this is a widely held fan position, that Fisher is too controlling of the offense.

I am not inclined to believe that.

Fisher says he wants to score more points. I believe him.

 

[RamWoodie]

I know that this is a widely held fan position, that Fisher is too controlling of the offense.

I am not inclined to believe that.

Fisher says he wants to score more points. I believe him.

He's not going to get more points unless he gets plays in there that suit what his WRs do best. At this point I see plenty of plays designed for Austin and Cook...but not many designed for Quick and Britt.

My conclusion is Quick and Britt are being wasted in this offense,

 

[shaunpinney]

I know that this is a widely held fan position, that Fisher is too controlling of the offense.

I am not inclined to believe that.

Fisher says he wants to score more points. I believe him.

Of course he wants to score more points, that doesn't make him not-controlling. I'm just going from what I feel, and I know he hates the quick no-huddle stuff where the QB has a lot of control, Sam used to do do this well...

 

[blue4]

Before the off-season I'd have said yes. After, my answer has been less enthusiastic almost by the week.

I've had issues with the OL for awhile and I'm trying to stop beating that dead horse.

Outside of RBs I'm not sure they evaluate talent well on offense.

At Tennessee I thought his problems were owner related. But he's been given a free hand by a hands off owner and the teams look the same. Three years is a developing program. Four is a program stuck in neutral.

Good news is there is still plenty of time to turn it around this year.
Historically speaking, the rest of the year will probably look like the first part. But maybe losing to a paper tiger like Minnesota, and losing the way we lost looking like chumps on offense, will light a fire under these people. We really looked awful on offense.

 

[Athos]

I would like to believe yes.

But frankly.....our offense has remained stagnant or worse. And I just see no hope of it ever improving and it never improving means never gonna sniff double digit wins. Unless our D has a year in which it leads a majority of the D metrics....including defensive scores.

2015 - 30th in scoring - 19.1
2014 - 21st in scoring - 20.3
2013 - 21st in scoring - 21.8
2012 - 25th in scoring - 18.1
2011 - 32nd - 12.1
2010 - 26th - 18.1
2009 - 32nd - 10.9

In the last 7 years, we've averaged 17.2 pts a game. We got better by 3 pts after Fishers first year, then's it's been a gradual decrease back to 2012 levels...all while having a superior D than we had in 2012, certainly better offensive pieces in general than in 2012.......etc.

In that same span, in just our division.

HAGS:

2009 - 25th - 17.5
2010 - 23rd - 19.4
2011 - 23rd - 20.1
2012 - 9th - 25.8
2013 - 9th - 26.1
2014 - 10th - 24.6
2015 - 24th - 20.9


ZONA:

2009 - 14th - 23.4
2010 - 27th - 18.1
2011 - 24th - 19.5
2012 - 31st - 15.6
2013 - 16th - 23.7
2014 - 24th - 19.4
2015 0 2nd - 32.9

Both teams in that time span have developed or shown improving defenses, or vastly improving Ds. The Hags increased scoring output by 8.6pts from lowest, 2009, to highest, 2013. And had a 3 year span averaging 25.5 pts. No coincidence those years saw playoff runs.

Zona has been somewhat like us on offense, but at least they've hit 23/game on 3 separate occasions. But really. It all starts with QB. Wussell is a bad passer, but he fits the designed system in Seattle and they WORKED that O to play to his STRENGTHS. They're doing the same thing in ZONA with Palmer by spreading you out and attacking you everywhere.

Meanwhile.......

Fisher and his Offensive minds keep trying to put square pegs in round holes. They didn't want to give Bradford a chance to utilize his strengths by fitting a system to what he was good at. A quicker tempo. Faster reads. Quicker routes. Shot gun.

Now we have Foles........who I'm not sure is in the right system now either. When your QB can't make reads and ignores half the field and doesn't take advantage of the round and pound you wanted....you got problems.

So you have to adapt. Get a QB with some mobility to take the heat off a poor O-line or a slow developing one.

Go get a QB who can progress through reads fast. Get the ball out fast. Foles holds it. A long ass time.

It starts with QB. Everything else becomes somewhat secondary. Even if the play calling has been mundane and way too repetitive.

 

[drasconis]

I know that this is a widely held fan position, that Fisher is too controlling of the offense.

I am not inclined to believe that.

Fisher says he wants to score more points. I believe him.

I think EVERY coach will tell you they want to score more points....and of course they mean it. The question is what they are willing to do to do that.

JF clearly wants a low risk O, would rather be safe than sorry and let his D and ST hopefully win games for him.
JF also clearly is controlling of the O, there is a reason they don't open it up at all (more no huddle), there is a reason several possible coordinators refused to even interview for the job and we HAD to go with a guy from the inside.

Yes JF wants more points, but he won't risk turnovers to get it and he wants to control ToP, he pretty much handcuffs us to a the O we have. Now it isn't all on him that the O isn't working or producing, but JF has never had a cutting edge O or much of a high powered one - it isn't his style.

 

[Athos]

Yes JF wants more points, but he won't risk turnovers to get it and he wants to control ToP, he pretty much handcuffs us to a the O we have. Now it isn't all on him that the O isn't working or producing, but JF has never had a cutting edge O or much of a high powered one - it isn't his style.

Pitiful part is, we still hardly win TOP.

GB and the Whiners are the only times we've won TOP. And we "stomped" the Whiners but possessed the ball for 3 more minutes.

"Stomped" the BrownBags, but lost the TOP by 10 minutes.

That's just awful. Fisher just doesn't know offense outside of the RB. And it's frustrating. I wish he'd just keep his mitts off shit he doesn't have a clue about.

 

[tragic891]

Sadly, the short answer is that 11 wins now looks extremely doubtful. It would require winning 7 of the next 8 games.

You tell me. Does that seem likely to you?

Moreover, our O shortcomings are scarcely identified, much less addressed.

Our QB is looking real iffy.
Our OL was abused by the Vikes.
Our TE's and WR's (other than Austin) look like window dressing.
We don't see, much less throw to open receivers.
We have one of the highest drop rates in the league.
We may have the best RB in the league and yet can't consistently give him holes when it's needed.
We scored a whopping 3 points vs Vikes in the 2nd half in a game with playoff implications.

Am I missing anything?

I can't put into words the depth of my frustration and disgust...

We have a SB caliber D and ST unit, and a Pop Warner passing O.

Reminds me of that famous Casey Stengel line while managing the expansion Mets. "Can't anybody here play this game"?

Exactly this pathetic offense WILL NOT get the job done.
11 wins THIS year will not happen.

I haven't looked up any stats, but from just watching the games it seemed to me Foles actually had better protection after the buy than he had before the bye. Yet, he still can't make plays. A lot of 3 and outs. A lot of kicks. We seem to start the game with a 3 and out and start the second half with 3 and out almost every time. Its like he can't see things he should downfield. I hope he gets better at it, but I fear the Nick Foles we see now is the Nick Foles we're going to have. He is who he is. About as good as its going to get.

Nick Foles has been stinking it up along with the rest of the St.Louis Rams offense
most recently it has been mainly Nick Foles
If it isnt Tood Gurley or Tavon Austin it WILL NOT work.

As I recall, Wells didn't seem to have much in the way of injury issues as far as missing games, until he joined the Rams.

Either way, while the OLine strategy may have been a risk, they couldn't fill all holes at once. Earlier draft choices on OLinemen probably would have cost them defenders who are playing a role in making the defense pretty good today, thus shifting the deficiency and thus complaints I guess.

And sorry, but we must not be watching the same games because with the exception of the Packers game, while the protection hasn't consistently been good (and no QB enjoys such luxury), Foles has had time to make plays but simply has not. He's locking in on one (maybe two targets at best) and missing guys that have been open. His accuracy has been questionable at best. And the WRs who beat defenders deep typically have to wait for his downfield floater to finally get to them. And OMG, has he thrown someone open or hit a timing route yet?

I'm hoping for improvement for all on offense, but the real key is Foles. It's just the nature of the position.

Exactly...
By NFL Standards Nick Foles has had enough time to throw
He just slums it up.

 

[Rmfnlt]

I've often stated that Fisher was an excellent choice to bring this team back to some form of respectability and make them competitive. But a good body of work and history strongly suggests Fisher isn't what this team needs to get them to the next level.

Agree with "one game at a time" and all...

But, looking "big picture"? I agree with this wholeheartedly:

I've often stated that Fisher was an excellent choice to bring this team back to some form of respectability and make them competitive. But a good body of work and history strongly suggests Fisher isn't what this team needs to get them to the next level.

 

[Rams43]

With regard to the OP's question, I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news is that we have a playoff caliber team in many areas...

Run D
Passing D
Scoring D
Red zone D
A ST unit that is good to verrrrry good in all 4 categories.
A damned respectable running game is emerging.

Now for the only bad news...

Our passing O is in the toilet. If anything, it is regressing.

So here's more bad news...

Where is the evidence over the course of 20 years that Fisher teams excel at developing QB's and WR's?