What needs to happen (likely not this year)

[Mackeyser]

unfortunately would be tuff to make some of the changes some want to do. I don't believe Fowler has much trade value to be honest. IMO he has sucked this year. He hurt us more on the field than he helped. A team would be crazy to give him s big contract if he continues to play at this level. Why can't we scheme around our Oline? SF had both tackles out and they managed to adjust. We lost our LG and we fall apart.

Part of it is where the injuries are. Also, their guys stepped up and had good games. Their game plan had Jimmy G getting rid of the ball quickly to nullify our rush and they had better interior protection than we did.

Our interior protection was crap, so they went to 7 step drops only to have one or both of the DEs meeting Goff at the bottom of his drop and he'd have nowhere to step up to.

Part of the difference is that they took what the defense gave them and kept pounding the ball even if it wasn't the source of most of their success.

We keep abandoning the run to our demise.

 

[Mackeyser]

We still have a lot of players who played in the Super Bowl last year.. so yeah not quite time to give up.

We're missing some key players from last year, most notably Saffold and the issues aren't with players (except the interior OL), but much more so with scheme and play calling.

I still have hopes we can turn it around. That said, I'm clear on what has to happen in order to turn it around.

I'm just laying that out and voicing my doubts that it can happen prior to the off-season.

We'll see. We do have the leadership that if it's possible to do it, it can be done.

Trust me, I'm still leary from my deal in 2016... if we were going to definitely lose, I'd say so.

Right now, I think the issues are known and that can be a good thing insofar as you can maybe fix it if you know the problem.

 

[thirteen28]

I agree.

They were well below averages today and Grabapole is not a factor; Shanny is smart enough not to let Jimmy get them beat with his two turnovers today.

Shanny adjusted to cover up the shortcomings of his O today, and was able to get away with it because our O played so incredibly bad. But the 49ers won't be able to do so if they get into a shootout where Grabapole has to start dropping back to pass and pushing the ball down the field. If our O would have been like it was most of last year, they would have been in trouble.

 

[Angry Ram]

Every situation is different.

Cowboys and Eagles have significant injuries and Chiefs had some tough games that they were competitive in.

Our situation is different.

No, it's not.

Todd Gurley, Clay Matthews, Aqib Talib were out. Three starters right there. John Johnson, Joe Noteboom left the game. I would consider those "significant".

The team was competitive in 2/3 losses. The Ws were there. Last year the ball bounced in the Rams' favor, this year not so much. Shit happens.

The team will bounce back. Enough with the negativity. Where were you after the first 3 weeks?

 

[Mackeyser]

As always it depends. If a contender has a starting DE go down without solid depth, then that could change the valuation.

Still have hopes we don't have to go that route.

 

[MadGoat]

1) Letting Saffold go clearly was a mistake. If we could swap Saffold for Fowler (who I really like), we're in an entirely different situation.

Saffold has been horrible for the Titans. Having even more money tied up in an aging, struggling offensive linemen seems like a horrible idea.

Even if Fowler broke his leg next week the Rams would be better off than having paid out big, long-term money to Saffold.

 

[Mackeyser]

No, it's not.

Todd Gurley, Clay Matthews, Aqib Talib were out. Three starters right there. John Johnson, Joe Noteboom left the game. I would consider those "significant".

The team was competitive in 2/3 losses. The Ws were there. Last year the ball bounced in the Rams' favor, this year not so much. Shit happens.

The team will bounce back. Enough with the negativity. Where were you after the first 3 weeks?

I've been here. Saw some things after the last loss and rather than say what I'd seen, I left it alone and hoped the team had addressed them in some way. As I recall, when folks are being positive here, they don't much like being told about structural problems, even as they are real and will affect future outcomes. But I'd hoped they'd address these structural issues in some capacity.

They didn't.

I can root for our team AND notice when things are broken at the same time.

Some can just cheerlead and pollyanna it up. I'm not that way, anymore. I miss Dave a lot just for this reason. He was relentlessly positive.

I still root for them and still have hopes that they curb stomp the rest of their schedule. That doesn't mean that I don't see things which concern me.

There may be people saying "our team sucks". I don't think that.

I think we have difficult, but not impossible things to correct. If we do, we can resume our winning ways. If we don't, we won't win...at all... due to the nature of the things needing correction.

I can be MUCH more specific, but I don't think anyone including me is in the mood for that and I really don't plan on talking about anything this week, so...

 

[Mackeyser]

Saffold has been horrible for the Titans. Having even more money tied up in an aging, struggling offensive linemen seems like a horrible idea.

Even if Fowler broke his leg next week the Rams would be netter off than having paid out big, long-term money to Saffold.

I don't know what blocking scheme they are running. We know about Saffold that he needs to be surrounded by other vets or he tries to do too much and struggles.

This may be a case of Saffold being a $11M+/year player with the Rams and not even half that anywhere else, but we couldn't afford that, so... it's either be underpaid to be the best LG in the game for the Rams or get paid and go back to being mediocre.

It's hard to fault a guy for getting paid, even as much as I wished he'd stayed.

That rhymed... sorry.

 

[MadGoat]

I don't know what blocking scheme they are running. We know about Saffold that he needs to be surrounded by other vets or he tries to do too much and struggles.

This may be a case of Saffold being a $11M+/year player with the Rams and not even half that anywhere else, but we couldn't afford that, so... it's either be underpaid to be the best LG in the game for the Rams or get paid and go back to being mediocre.

It's hard to fault a guy for getting paid, even as much as I wished he'd stayed.

That rhymed... sorry.

Oh man, on that we can definitely agree, I was happy for Saffold getting paid. It helped make up for some of that money the Raiders stole from him.

I just think that contract is going to be painful by next year. He might have even held on for another decent season if he was still next to Whitworth, but I don't think it would justify the future cost.

 

[Angry Ram]

I've been here. Saw some things after the last loss and rather than say what I'd seen, I left it alone and hoped the team had addressed them in some way. As I recall, when folks are being positive here, they don't much like being told about structural problems, even as they are real and will affect future outcomes. But I'd hoped they'd address these structural issues in some capacity.

They didn't.

What I have an issue is the "proclamation" and uber negative mentality. Woe is me. ESPECIALLY after a loss. 5 or 6 wins? C'mon.

I can root for our team AND notice when things are broken at the same time.

Right; so why weren't these types of posts occurring the first three weeks, heck even at 3-1, 3-2? Why weren't there proclamations of only 5 or 6 wins?

Every team has issues, or will get issues. Again, everything has been bouncing the Rams' way the last 2 years, and recently not so much, and all of a sudden there's problems at this a massive scale? Like 5 or 6 wins? Again, c'mon.

Some can just cheerlead and pollyanna it up. I'm not that way, anymore. I miss Dave a lot just for this reason. He was relentlessly positive.

There's that word. Nothing about being "pollyana" (god I hate that word). It's understanding that sometimes it isn't what is wrong with a team, its whether a few plays here or there makes a difference, and in the Rams' case, it's those few plays.

Posts that twist the negative knife because they lose a football game don't make sense to me.

I think we have difficult, but not impossible things to correct. If we do, we can resume our winning ways. If we don't, we won't win...at all... due to the nature of the things needing correction.

Yes, they will win.

 

[Mackeyser]

What I have an issue is the "proclamation" and uber negative mentality. Woe is me. ESPECIALLY after a loss. 5 or 6 wins? C'mon.

Right; so why weren't these types of posts occurring the first three weeks, heck even at 3-1, 3-2? Why weren't there proclamations of only 5 or 6 wins?

Every team has issues, or will get issues. Again, everything has been bouncing the Rams' way the last 2 years, and recently not so much, and all of a sudden there's problems at this a massive scale? Like 5 or 6 wins? Again, c'mon.

There's that word. Nothing about being "pollyana" (god I hate that word). It's understanding that sometimes it isn't what is wrong with a team, its whether a few plays here or there makes a difference, and in the Rams' case, it's those few plays.

Posts that twist the negative knife because they lose a football game don't make sense to me.

Yes, they will win.

Prior to the 2016 season, I laid out EXACTLY why the season was going to be a monumental bust and the negativity from so many folks here was so extreme that I am hesitant to post what I see anymore.

Most folks don't want to know when something is structurally broken. And I don't really care if anyone else sees it, I see that there are elements that are structurally broken. The patterns are so evident that we're seeing them repeat with consistency now. Opposing DCs are using this repetition to get better and better at beating us.

I suspected after the Cleveland game, but didn't have the time to really research it. After the Seattle game, I was pretty sure, but decided that 11 days was too long to bring this up and not have a game coming soon to be more definitive.

I only brought it up now because I'm certain enough with respect to the structures in question to make the point.

This isn't a case of "johnny come lately" negativism. This is me bringing the pattern recognition I have to this forum.

As is typical, the result is someone being mad.

I'm the type of guy that will tell you if your fly is down. It's not because I'd want to embarrass anyone or take pleasure in someone's discomfort but because knowing the problem is key to solving the problem, i.e. you don't know to pull up a downed zipper unless you know it's down.

This is the exact reason I said earlier today that I'd share this and then leave until next Sunday.

And yes, I foresee a 5-6 win season unless something pretty radically changes because the current scheme RELIES on the interior OL holding up against typical defenses... but our interior OL isn't holding up and defenses are attacking the interior OL an being successful.

I also said our ceiling is 9 wins.

If it helps you, I'm still rooting for a 13-3 season. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be screaming at my computer or TV and driving my family for the hills as I do...

Take all this as you will. I see what I see. Others don't. Others genuinely thought Goff in Fisher's offense was the start of an offensive juggernaut... people think we'll win games with tweaks and subtle adjustments.

I don't know what to say to that other than that there is no evidence to support that.

 

[I like Rams]

Time to treat this season like it's preseason. Put in Edward's and Evan, start Bortles. He's mobile and we don't have to put Goff in danger. Hell he might play well and we can use him as trade bait. As much as I don't like feeding guys to wolves, at least he can escape the pocket. Rotate Long and Peters so he gets the experience. Keep feeding Henderson. I would write this in all blue font, but I feel we really need to see if we struck gold on ANY of these last picks that we are all hoping take over next season. I'd hate to see this shit next year.

 

[Mackeyser]

Time to treat this season like it's preseason. Put in Edward's and Evan, start Bortles. He's mobile and we don't have to put Goff in danger. Hell he might play well and we can use him as trade bait. As much as I don't like feeding guys to wolves, at least he can escape the pocket. Rotate Long and Peters so he gets the experience. Keep feeding Henderson. I would write this in all blue font, but I feel we really need to see if we struck gold on ANY of these last picks that we are all hoping take over next season. I'd hate to see this shit next year.

Edwards has serious potential.

I'm not gonna let one fumble sour me on Henderson. He's a fantastic change of pace back.

Rapp is gonna be a stud.

Natrez Patrick is gonna be in Pro Bowls. He's that good. If they'd just put him next to Littleton, I think we'd be MUCH more stout in the middle.

Long is coming along nicely, but we haven't seen him as much because NRC has been such a sure tackler and Rapp has been so good as well.

The good news is that we have some really good young talent coming along nicely.

If our issues were more spread out, we likely wouldn't have the severity of the issues we have, but when the schematic issues you have focus the defense's attacks on the very section you're weakest, that's double trouble.

All this bodes well for our future, but the transition is a lot rougher than anyone thought it would be in the preseason...

 

[I like Rams]

Edwards has serious potential.

I'm not gonna let one fumble sour me on Henderson. He's a fantastic change of pace back.

Rapp is gonna be a stud.

Natrez Patrick is gonna be in Pro Bowls. He's that good. If they'd just put him next to Littleton, I think we'd be MUCH more stout in the middle.

Long is coming along nicely, but we haven't seen him as much because NRC has been such a sure tackler and Rapp has been so good as well.

The good news is that we have some really good young talent coming along nicely.

If our issues were more spread out, we likely wouldn't have the severity of the issues we have, but when the schematic issues you have focus the defense's attacks on the very section you're weakest, that's double trouble.

All this bodes well for our future, but the transition is a lot rougher than anyone thought it would be in the preseason...

Potential and proven are not one and the same, unfortunately. We need to see what Edward's and Evan's can do against real talent otherwise we're going in blind next season like we were this season with Boom and Allen.

NRC is our best cb, so I don't see Long taking his position. Plus NRC signed an extension last season. Long needs to learn Talibs or Peters position.

Not worried so much about Patrick or Rapp. Would like to see OBO and Patrick swap back and forth while Matthew's is out.

 

[Mackeyser]

I just wanna see Patrick get more playing time.

I agree. I wouldn't mind if they gave Talib some breathers and got Long some more snaps.

Whatever they gotta do with the OL, they should do. Trade? move guys? work on technique? Pray?

Santeria???

I dunno, but they need to make it happen

 

[Da-Rock]

I am a little taken back by all those who are staying positive and getting upset with those who say its over.

Everyone of the those 3 first wins showed signs of serious issues. After every win many said, "Its okay, they will fix it." Well, they didn't fix a single one.

In fact the Rams have been like my millennial children and just "talk". Talk, talk, talk.....talk. "its a learning experience that we will get better at." Really Fisher....I mean McVay!

I posted about what we all thought was more important to a winning team. I and a couple others mentioned Offensive line being critical to good teams and with a bad one it won't matter how good your QB and RB are.

I would say roughly 80% said QB. I was really shaking my head at the time, but hey....everyone has their opinion.

Now I see the majority are now stating the Oline is critical. From week one our Oline has been a source of weakness. The defense, RBs, and QB play all came later. Oline! O freakin Line!

 

[Riverumbbq]

Time to treat this season like it's preseason. Put in Edward's and Evan, start Bortles. He's mobile and we don't have to put Goff in danger. Hell he might play well and we can use him as trade bait. As much as I don't like feeding guys to wolves, at least he can escape the pocket. Rotate Long and Peters so he gets the experience. Keep feeding Henderson. I would write this in all blue font, but I feel we really need to see if we struck gold on ANY of these last picks that we are all hoping take over next season. I'd hate to see this shit next year.

The problem with this is what may happen in the locker room when displaced starters are forced to the bench. I'd rather trade guys like Peters, Brockers, Fowler & Talib if we can find someone in need, but just sitting them in place of rookies is a recipe for disaster imo.
If Noteboom is to miss multiple games, it will be interesting to see who the Rams call up though. Even more interesting if they raid another teams practice squad. jmo.

 

[Mackeyser]

Agree.

Season isn't over, but we can't expect different results unless they do something different and for the last 4 games they haven't and the results show. Two games decided by a missed FG and two blow outs.

I'm really rooting for change.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I just wanna see Patrick get more playing time.

I agree. I wouldn't mind if they gave Talib some breathers and got Long some more snaps.

Whatever they gotta do with the OL, they should do. Trade? move guys? work on technique? Pray?

Santeria???

I dunno, but they need to make it happen

View: https://media.giphy.com/media/3orifaJPcVMBqmNa00/giphy.gif