A few thoughts.
Like many have said, this team simply cannot overcome penalties very easily (at least they haven't since Fisher took over).
So, while there may be no correlation between wins and penalties (the most popular citings being Seattle and New England), that completely ignores the make up of those teams vs. the Rams. I believe there is a correlation between wins and penalties when it comes to the Rams. I've said it before and I'll say it again.. I could give a rats ass about how other teams cope with penalties. I care about how the Rams cope... and they don't... so, penalties do matter when it comes to the Rams.
I mused last week about Fisher's style... being a "player's coach" and all... the glowing words from his players. I wondered if that is effective... I wondered if the players fear him much.
In "AZ suffers through SD "D" W/6 Sacks in 1st Half" thread,
@azcards wrote: "Haha I hear ya. The 1st round o-line rookie that the Cards drafted got beat pretty bad on a play tonight,
got an earful from arians."
I dunno... but I can't think of too many times when a player has come back to the bench after giving up a sack or committing a very untimely penalty and seeing Fisher let him have it. Like I said in my musings last week, there's more than one way to motivate players. But I'll suggest that fear is a tool in the box that Jeff Fisher doesn't seem to use much.
In fact, we've gone 7-8-1, 7-9 and 6-10 and I haven't seen much change in his coaching style or demeanor at all. The dfinition of insanity may apply here? I dunno.
If sloppy execution and lack of discipline were important to Fisher, we'd see changes being made. Tough choices being made... yes, even benchings. Think about how much he put up with when it came to Ray-Ray before finally taking definitive action.
My guess is it will be more of the same... until I see changes in how Jeff Fisher approaches every aspect of his team... from mini-camps... to TC... to consequences for repeatedly sloopy play and lack of discipline, I can't imagine the players are going to just "see the light" on their own.
I hope I'm wrong.