Seahawks sign DE Cliff Avrill

[paceram]

Apparently, the Seahawks made another big move by signing DE Cliff Avrill. Both the Seahawks and the 49's are making moves to make them better next season and hopefully the Rams will make a few more moves to help keep pace with them or even possibly narrow the gap.

 

[Speeps]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

 

[Barrison]

You know why there going all out for weapons? Last year made them scared of us! :hehe:

 

[CGI_Ram]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

Agree.

Ignore them. Do what you need to do for this team within the boundaries of your "principals for team building".

 

[Username]

Mother




Fucker

 

[jap]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

The Rams fans may be panicking, but I'm confident Fish & Co. are cool. :ww:

 

[Angry Ram]

Meh.

Patrick Kerney. TJ Houzmanzaslfwhatever. Sidney Rice. Jason Jones.

W/es.

 

[…..]

Our time will come.

Operate within the confines of our limitations, make the best of what we can currently do and stay the course.

Keep in mind we did not lose to anyone that everyone keeps talking about. :cheese:

 

[rams24/7]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAA1xgTTw9w[/youtube]

 

[nighttrain]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

Agree.

Ignore them. Do what you need to do for this team within the boundaries of your "principals for team building".

agreed
train

 

[jrry32]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

Agree.

Ignore them. Do what you need to do for this team within the boundaries of your "principals for team building".

Exactly. Don't let your rivals dictate what you're going to do. After a few solid doses of Tavon Austin, they'll be cowering in the corner anyways.(how many times do I have to say Tavon Austin before it ensures that the Rams draft him? :ww: )

 

[jap]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

Agree.

Ignore them. Do what you need to do for this team within the boundaries of your "principals for team building".

Exactly. Don't let your rivals dictate what you're going to do. After a few solid doses of Tavon Austin, they'll be cowering in the corner anyways.(how many times do I have to say Tavon Austin before it ensures that the Rams draft him? :ww: )

Apparently, Tavon is emerging as the antidote for all the Rams' NFC West problems. Our (hopefully) soon-to-be-own little big man. :ww:

 

[Thordaddy]

The Rams need to stay the course! Don't panic at moves the Seahawks and the 49ers are making.

Agree.

Ignore them. Do what you need to do for this team within the boundaries of your "principals for team building".

Exactly. Don't let your rivals dictate what you're going to do. After a few solid doses of Tavon Austin, they'll be cowering in the corner anyways.(how many times do I have to say Tavon Austin before it ensures that the Rams draft him? :ww: )

Have you tried spinning the holy wheels?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMSasuTSDfs[/youtube]

I I want Tavon

 

[BadCompany]

Anybody else starting to think we made too big a leap last year?

Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled with the way things turned out. Too long in the wilderness and all that. But I think if you were to corner Jeff Fisher and Les Snead in a dark alley just as the world was about to end they would probably tell you they were aiming for 5 to 7 wins this year and that's about it... but "beating" the 49ers twice (we did, really), and the Seahawks once kind of ramped up expectations. As in, "they're Super Bowl Contenders... we beat them... we must be Super Bowl Contenders too!" Or at least close to it.

But their first round pick, Brockers, was described as a "project", as in "he'll need a couple of years" and two of their second round picks barely saw the field (Quick and Pead). If the goal was to have them ready for this season they're doing a good job of disguising it.

So I can't help but wonder if Fisher and Snead's real goal is not this upcoming season, but 2014? Weren't we lining ourselves up to have a lot of cap space then? The young guns like Pead, Quick and Givens would be coming into their prime, the defense should (will?) be one of the best in the league by then, and all those extra picks will be supplying cheap and energetic talent. I wonder if Fisher and Snead thought they would win 6 games last year, losing to the Big Boys in SF and Seattle, continue to improve this year to 8-9 wins, giving the contenders fits, and gelling for a long playoff run in 2014, just as the current top contenders start to fade under the pressure of age and cap hits?

Would it be a bad thing then, if we stayed at the same level this year, or even - gasp! - took a small step backwards? I don't want them to blow the plan overpaying for mediocre free agents this year and screwing things up for next year, just because we knocked out Alex Smith and we're a couple of bad penalties away from total victory. Stay the course, manage the expectations, and keep in mind that a decade of mismanagement can't, and shouldn't, be fixed in one off-season.

 

[jrry32]

Anybody else starting to think we made too big a leap last year?

Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled with the way things turned out. Too long in the wilderness and all that. But I think if you were to corner Jeff Fisher and Les Snead in a dark alley just as the world was about to end they would probably tell you they were aiming for 5 to 7 wins this year and that's about it... but "beating" the 49ers twice (we did, really), and the Seahawks once kind of ramped up expectations. As in, "they're Super Bowl Contenders... we beat them... we must be Super Bowl Contenders too!" Or at least close to it.

If they're "aiming" for 5 to 7 wins, they should be replaced. They better be "aiming" for a Super Bowl win. Whether or not it is realistically attainable. I'm not saying sell out in FA and make stupid moves to make a SB run but I am saying that setting your sights low does no good for anyone.

But their first round pick, Brockers, was described as a "project", as in "he'll need a couple of years" and two of their second round picks barely saw the field (Quick and Pead). If the goal was to have them ready for this season they're doing a good job of disguising it.

I'd say this is more of a positive than a negative. Brockers proved to be much better than anyone expected and much more ready. Pead and Quick contributed next to nothing and we were fine without them. If they contribute this year, that only helps us.

So I can't help but wonder if Fisher and Snead's real goal is not this upcoming season, but 2014? Weren't we lining ourselves up to have a lot of cap space then? The young guns like Pead, Quick and Givens would be coming into their prime, the defense should (will?) be one of the best in the league by then, and all those extra picks will be supplying cheap and energetic talent. I wonder if Fisher and Snead thought they would win 6 games last year, losing to the Big Boys in SF and Seattle, continue to improve this year to 8-9 wins, giving the contenders fits, and gelling for a long playoff run in 2014, just as the current top contenders start to fade under the pressure of age and cap hits?

The goal is always for the future. Even in 2014, it will be for the future. At the same time, I'm sure they want to win this year and want to aim for the playoffs.

Would it be a bad thing then, if we stayed at the same level this year, or even - gasp! - took a small step backwards? I don't want them to blow the plan overpaying for mediocre free agents this year and screwing things up for next year, just because we knocked out Alex Smith and we're a couple of bad penalties away from total victory. Stay the course, manage the expectations, and keep in mind that a decade of mismanagement can't, and shouldn't, be fixed in one off-season.

They don't seem too interested in overpaying mediocre free agents. They have their sights set on certain players who can help this team win now and in the future. Which is why they aren't going after 30+ year old players like we have in the past.

And yea, I would say it's a bad thing if we took a step back.

As for the knocking out Smith bit, I'm not sure where you're going with that.

It's fine to be realistic but at the same time, setting low expectations out of fear that we can't reach high ones doesn't really do anyone good. I recognize that as Rams fans, this is a defense mechanism against our history of heartbreak but it doesn't actually make losing any better. Lets shoot for the moon and if we come up short, we come up short...but being able to say I told you so if we come up short doesn't really make you feel better.

And I'm not saying that's what you set out to do...I'm just saying that my expectations are playoffs or bust.

 

[ljramsfan]

This signing does not scare me once bit.

I honestly think Avrill is a product of a system. He hasn't got to SB8 yet. :bg:

 

[BadCompany]

I guess my rambling point was that when Fisher and Snead were hired they probably got the job (in part) by presenting a solid three year plan that had the Rams contending for the Super Bowl in 2014 (along with their professionalism, experience, etcetera, etcetera). Yes, the goal is to win the Super Bowl every year, but nobody expects Kansas to win it this year, or heck, next year, and that's where the Rams are essentially coming from. So my reply, in this thread, was just an echo of the "stay the course, who cares what Seattle and SF are doing" mantra others have proposed.

I'm just wondering if last year's "success" is making some want to accelerate the plan, and match SF and Seattle THIS year. I HOPE that isn't the case with Snead and Fisher, and you are right, they haven't showed that yet, but it is a concern of mine.

(The Smith thing was simply a too-cute way of saying that if we had of lost both games to the 49ers last year, and still won 7 or 8 games, the season still would have been a success, but since we beat the 49ers, and beat them up in the process, those wins seem "better" somehow, if that makes sense)

 

[jrry32]

I guess my rambling point was that when Fisher and Snead were hired they probably got the job (in part) by presenting a solid three year plan that had the Rams contending for the Super Bowl in 2014 (along with their professionalism, experience, etcetera, etcetera). Yes, the goal is to win the Super Bowl every year, but nobody expects Kansas to win it this year, or heck, next year, and that's where the Rams are essentially coming from. So my reply, in this thread, was just an echo of the "stay the course, who cares what Seattle and SF are doing" mantra others have proposed.

I'm just wondering if last year's "success" is making some want to accelerate the plan, and match SF and Seattle THIS year. I HOPE that isn't the case with Snead and Fisher, and you are right, they haven't showed that yet, but it is a concern of mine.

(The Smith thing was simply a too-cute way of saying that if we had of lost both games to the 49ers last year, and still won 7 or 8 games, the season still would have been a success, but since we beat the 49ers, and beat them up in the process, those wins seem "better" somehow, if that makes sense)

Ok. On the flip side, we beat SF twice if not for Gibson lining up wrong and a questionable delay of game penalty.

When it comes to those games, there are just too many "ifs".

I don't think they're accelerating the plan. They created higher expectations but that's a good thing. I hope they continue to live up to them. But we shall see.

 

[iced]

Not worried. don't think avril is all that good, especially after reading what a lot of lions fans were saying. I think this is actually a positive for the Rams.

-Terrible against the run
-Product of being next to Suh

If Avril is your top 4-3 pass rusher, you know it's definitely a weak crop