I hope, I hope, I hope...

[DCH]

...that the Rams are PISSED about their performance in DC. I hope they come out with fire and passion and play like they are a team that wants to win, rather than one that expects to win (matching against the Steelers should help in that regard).

More than anything, I hope the focused, disciplined, fiery team from the Seattle game shows up, not the disinterested, self-important mess that stumbled out onto FedEx Field this past Sunday.

Dr Jekyll, paging Dr Jekyll to the Ed.

 

[Ram_Rally]

We will see Sunday. Unfortunately they could play their hearts out in week 3 and simply lose to a better team. That's what made the skins game (and all games like it) so important.

 

[fearsomefour]

Weeks three through five they could easily play their butts off and lose to a better team. The Cardinals are clearly the class of the division at this time. Things can change. My "goal" for the team with the tough early schedule was to be 2-3 going into the bye. The four games after the bye all represent good opportunities for wins. 2-3 and even 3-2 are still possible for this team. The funny thing is, with the Rams 1-1 I don't feel any less confident that they will be 2-3 or 3-2 after 5 games.
The Rams certainly will have to run the ball with some effectiveness the next three weeks because I think all three teams are capable of putting up 30+ points if given endless opportunities.
The two plays that just killed me from Sunday where Tru's dropped pic....if memory serves the Redskins ended up punting on that possession. However he would have picked it about the Rams 40 and some room for a return. A decent return and the Rams could have added a field goal without have to do much. The other was on the 3 and 13 and idiot Westbrook jumps off side. No situational awareness at all. That turns it into a 3rd and 8, 10 yard pass, first down....Redskins continue the drive to score. The Redskins were just better on Sunday. Ok, that happens.
The Rams need to pound the ball vs Pittsburgh on Sunday.

 

[PA Ram]

This will be a VERY tough game to win.

It just seems like a bad match-up. The Steelers have so many ways to attack this defense and Big Ben is not going to be easy to get to or take down. I hope the Rams are working on 2 pt. conversions because the Steelers seem to love going for them. It'll be interesting if Gurley plays because no one knows what to expect there.

Hopefully the Rams can get to Ben because he throws a beautiful long ball to some gifted receivers. Lots of options. They will need to get to him fast.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I hope every week of every season. I am always looking for some sign that this team has turned the corner and are ready to become a playoff team that can show up every game and play well whether they win or lose. The Skins game would be easier to take if the Rams looked good but we saw all of the old problems, like dropped passes and some new ones, like Foles inaccuracy. Then the defense gives up too many yards on the ground and once again have to hear that they will fix that, when that is a recurring problem at the start of every season. I thought this was the year they take that step........I hope it is.

 

[Yamahopper]

The opponent doesn't really matter. It's the Rams getting getting their stuff wired down tight and figuring out what they can and can't do.
Every team comes into the season with a preconceived plan of attack that seldom if ever works.

 

[LACHAMP46]

As professionals, they should have a different motivator....I mean, if it takes getting your ass whipped to inspire you, what do you use when you win? I admire teams like the Pats & Packers....Yeah, I said it....They come out, week to week, ready to compete. All good teams do...

 

[-X-]

As professionals, they should have a different motivator....I mean, if it takes getting your ass whipped to inspire you, what do you use when you win? I admire teams like the Pats & Packers....Yeah, I said it....They come out, week to week, ready to compete. All good teams do...

So did the 99-01 St Louis Rams.

Know what the commonalities are between those teams and the recent packers/***riots teams?

 

[DCH]

So did the 99-01 St Louis Rams.

Know what the commonalities are between those teams and the recent packers/***riots teams?

Besides success? A hard-assed head coach. Yeah, Vermiel chilled out a little bit after his players nearly rioted over the nastiness of camp, but Dickie V was a "players coach" who still beat the hell out of his guys with monster practices, camps, etc. Belichick, similarly, demands excellence and perfection out of his players with repetition and intensity. Can't say if Sherman is similar, as I don't really know thing 1 about his coaching style.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Know what the commonalities are between those teams and the recent packers/***riots teams?

SB type teams? "Franchise" QB's? O-Line cohesion? You have me interested??? What?!?!

 

[Moostache]

1-4 feels very likely at the moment. That Washington game was the totality of the Rams margin for error to make the playoffs...they needed the win to avoid being 1-4 and essentially out of contention before the last leaves fall (again).

This team's on-field effort and play over the last 3 years and 2 weeks echoes that they are exactly what their record says they are - a mediocre to often below-average team, period. Mediocre coaches get mediocre performances. Mediocre teams lose to teams they can and should beat and sometime win against teams far better than themselves. Mediocre teams draft badly, develop players slowly (or not at all) and cut players that could be serviceable only to see them play better elsewhere. I hate New England with a white-hot intensity, but you have to stand in awe of their ability to leverage a QB, a coach and a system to remain at the top of the AFC for 15 years now. They are the same as the 49ers of the 80's and 90's. And the Rams are the same too...but for all the wrong reasons.

We have seen this over and over and over for the last 3+ years. Its no fluke. Its nothing that can be "fixed"...its reality, the Rams organization under Fisher is not the total dumpster fire it was under Linehan and Spagnolo; but, it is also light years away from competitive and essentially adrift with no chance of making course corrections until massive change happens. There is no "system" in place, unless that system is meant to achieve the barest levels of proficiency and then stop all future growth and improvement immediately.

 

[VinnyRam]

The Rams better be doing nothing but practicing "the run" and tight ends blocking... If they plan on Foles dropping back 50 times and getting into a shoutout with Big Ben and Brown and Heath Miller---it will be a long day. They will have to control the ball and clock--limit opportunities for Ben and hope we can capitalize on a mistake or two.

 

[jap]

For the fourth straight year we are the NFL's youngest team, and the hardest thing for young players to get used to is game-to-game professional consistency. This is one of the reasons I want the Gurley Express to start rolling sooner than later as his running can help exert a stabilizing influence over the entire team.

The older Horn fans surely remember Eric Dickerson attacking that LOS and seeing the whole pile surge forward 4-5 yards almost every time. With Gurley getting up to speed, a ton of pressure will be removed from Foles' shoulders, and the opposition's pass rush should be delayed a tad while they ensure Gurley does not have the rock. The defense should spend less time on the field with Gurley helping to control the clock. Foles can mostly manage the game, leading only at times when necessary instead of constantly. A solid running game is a QB's very best friend.

 

[Ramhusker]

For the fourth straight year we are the NFL's youngest team, and the hardest thing for young players to get used to is game-to-game professional consistency. This is one of the reasons I want the Gurley Express to start rolling sooner than later as his running can help exert a stabilizing influence over the entire team.

The older Horn fans surely remember Eric Dickerson attacking that LOS and seeing the whole pile surge forward 4-5 yards almost every time. With Gurley getting up to speed, a ton of pressure will be removed from Foles' shoulders, and the opposition's pass rush should be delayed a tad while they ensure Gurley does not have the rock. The defense should spend less time on the field with Gurley helping to control the clock. Foles can mostly manage the game, leading only at times when necessary instead of constantly. A solid running game is a QB's very best friend.

I agree. I'm high on Gurley but how much can he do at this level without some holes to run through? If this OL doesn't get it together quickly, this is another rebuild year. The D has shown it can rise to the occasion against Seattle at home but that game is done. If they can do it at home period, then we have a chance. But you still, at some point, have to win on the road. If they only play up against the division, we are looking at another 7-9 season.

 

[-X-]

SB type teams? "Franchise" QB's? O-Line cohesion? You have me interested??? What?!?!

Great offensive systems and a SB caliber QB.
Since 2001, we've trotted out 7 different offensive coordinators (with varying systems) and 12 QBs

Since 2001:
The Packers ... 2 QBs with 1 system + slight variants
The Patriots ... 1 QB with one system no matter who the coordinator is.

 

[Prime Time]

Besides success? A hard-assed head coach. Yeah, Vermiel chilled out a little bit after his players nearly rioted over the nastiness of camp, but Dickie V was a "players coach" who still beat the hell out of his guys with monster practices, camps, etc.

The days of hard-assed coaches who beat the hell out of their players at camps and practices is over. The players union took care of that.

 

[FRO]

The season has barely started, but it looks so familiar to the other ones. Win a big game against a tough divisional opponent, then drop a game that should be won and playing poorly in it. Let's hope this is the only hangover game of the year. The inconsistency is maddening. We play to the level of our competition rather than always playing at our highest level.

 

[ram007]

I think Rams end steelers game in first quarter jumping to 21-0 lead making the next 3 quarters boring and unwatachable to a 38-7 win

 

[Ky Ram]

I just wan to smash the Steelers. Then we've beaten two of the elite teams in the NFL and we can scratch that Washington game off as looking ahead to week 3.

 

[Ozoneranger]

Watching Pittsburgh dismantle the Niners in the first half was scary. Rothlesberger, for a big man, moves around the pocket like a cat darting around a freeway.

Two keys and only two- ball control and p;ut unrelenting pressure the qb. Sooner or later, that cat is gonna get hit.

Oh, wait...Bell is back this week.

Chalk this up as a loss, just like the Denver game last year.