Stop blaming the players, this is Jeff Fisher's team
By Palmer L. Alexander III | Posted: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 12:32 pm
http://www.stlamerican.com/sports/s...cle_7e55a376-6219-11e5-baad-47bc55f95de6.html
One of the first things that concerned me about the St. Louis Rams’ first road game of the 2015 season was that there was going to be some sort of hangover after beating Seattle Seahawks in the home opener last week. And not only did the Rams have a hangover, they flat out got their assets kicked by the Washington Redskins, 24-10. In all the years watching and covering this football team, I’ve never seen them get beat so badly.
The Rams got beat this badly because they were reading their own press clippings again. They didn’t take this game too seriously. It’s like they thought all they had to do is show up and the Redskins would just kneel before them.
After beating the Super Bowl runner up, I kept hearing about a new Rams’ T-shirt with the catchphrase “Mob Squad.” Man, they need to stop with the shenanigans. How about a meaningful winning streak? How about achieving .500 football? They always win off the field with these great names and catchphrases, but never on that 100-yard field when it counts.
For all the talk about how Jeff Fisher is such a player’s coach, we’ve have yet to see it in the win column. And for those that say he’s just an average .500 coach, he’s sporting a losing record since he came to St. Louis. His record here is now 21-28-1, and this is his team. He constructed this team, and they’re not consistent. They’re consistently inconsistent.
I was asked a couple weeks ago by Chris Cashman of KOMO TV-4 in Seattle if this is a make-or-break year for Fisher. In my opinion, no. He’s comfortable. He only answers to one person, and that’s Stan Kroenke.
Let’s use a little bit of common sense for a second. You got an NFL coach with over 20 years’ experience coaching at this level. He hires the general manager, and it’s a first-time general manager in Les Snead. Do you think for one second a veteran head coach would hire someone who would someday fire him? Fisher has complete control. He put this roster together in the image he sees fit.
Look at all the running backs, defensive lineman and secondary players he’s brought in since becoming head coach in 2012. He fostered competition at those positions, yet neglected to do the same at important positions such as linebacker, wide receiver, offensive line and, most importantly, quarterback.
Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis needs some healthy competition. He looked absolutely awful in that game against the Redskins. He got sucked up in the wrong gap again and again as the Redskins just ran all over the Rams’ press clipping defense.
And this talk during the preseason about resigning Janoris Jenkins is troubling. As usual, he’s “Shaqtin A Fool” on defense by allowing receivers to run past him untouched like you playing football in 4th hour PE class. Then he got burnt like toast by Redskins receiver Pierre Garcon in the red zone for a touchdown and then lobbied to the ref looking for a push off. If he keeps this up, NBA power forward JaVale McGee is going to get jealous.
Another big mistake Fisher made was signing tight end Jared Cook. He couldn’t get in sync with QB Nick Foles. He had several passes go off his hands. Every time he does catches the ball you are almost in shock that he actually caught the ball. Then he gets flagged for a facemask penalty and was just dreadful when it came to blocking.
After a while, you stop blaming the players. This is Jeff Fisher’s fourth year, and nothing has changed. He doesn’t think it’s him. But, according to the sub-.500 record it’s him.
