Memento
Your (Somewhat) Friendly Neighborhood Authoress.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2010
- Messages
- 18,770
- Name
- Jemma
Something smells wrong here. Sloman didn't beat out the other kickers with his magnificent 53% when the other two were 77%. I've been stewing on this all night not wanting to accept the fact that the fix was in. I think Sloman was a Kroenke pick, i.e. the son of a friend, or some such thing. When it was obvious he wasn't going to make the team he told Snead and McVay this kid is the kicker. For him to miss that many there have to be issues with his mechanics. There is no way Snead or McVay would do this and sabotage their team, but Kroenke sure would. It wouldn't surprise me if he's done this with his team in the UK.
The smart thing would have been to keep Lirim or Mac and sign Sloman to the PS as a developmental player. But to sign a kicker who went 53% in TC just isn't done unless there is big time pressure from the owner. The other players have to be just as surprised as all of us. DaSilva tried to make the lame excuse that he made the two simulated game-winning kicks so that validated his "winning the spot". What he fails to mention is that so did the other two kickers which is typical of DaSilva's half-ass reporting.
This could get ugly because the poor kid has to know he didn't beat out the other two. What kind of pressure will that put on him? Stop and think about it. For a rookie kicker, 70% would be hugely successful. But at this level, a vet kicker should be above 80%. That's why most teams don't play rookie kickers if they have any choice.
Last year Greg was about 72% on his FGs and it got him fired. He tried 31 FGs so if that remains constant this year for Sloman he's going to be lining up for between 30 - 35 FG attempts. If he attempts 30 FG he has to make 21 to be at 70%. If Sloman goes 60% on 30 attempts that's simply making a paltry 18 FG. How many games does that cost them? IMO this means the Rams need to outscore everyone by a huge percentage to make any of Sloman's eventual misses inconsequential.
All of a sudden the weakest part of the team isn't the O-line it's the kicker. Stop and remember that the Rams only made the SB because of a reliable kicker. If Sloman can't kick above 70% this team may not take the division despite having a true contending roster everywhere except at kicker.
Um...that's conspiracy theorist level - and not the legit conspiracy theorist.
Why would Kroenke spend millions upon millions of dollars on a stadium in L.A., spend to the cap every year, and basically do all of those things...just to throw it all away? Kroenke had nothing to do with Sloman being drafted or winning this competition: Sloman did by working hard every day, week, month, and year he's been a kicker.
Also, whatever you're smoking, I want some. Zuerlein, as others have plainly stated, started his rookie year onward. He holds the rookie record for longest kick in a Rams uniform, as well as an NFL rookie record of being the first to have a 55+ yard field goal and 60+ yard field goal in the same game. How does he do that if he's not starting his rookie year on?
I just...I rarely agree with you on anything, and this goes far beyond disagreement: this is a fucking grudge against Sloman, for whatever reason.
