Pathetic.
by Ryan Van Bibber on Nov 23, 2008 3:18 PM CST
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PrintI have a few thoughts, but I need to collect myself and think them through without the explicatives. This is an all ages site after all.
I guess the question of how we got to this point is irrelevant. The missteps of this franchise are well documented, with no shortage of comment. Couple of things, and then I recommend you go out and salvage your Sunday. Richie Incognito not only owes us all an apology, he and his teammates owe us plenty of lost time.
We all know that Green is not the answer. For all the quick passes he made that Bulger hasn't been able to, there were the complete misfires. How many times did you ask yourself who exactly he was throwing to? Unfortunately, I think he might have been throwing to the Bears, what with the 4 INTs and all. If Green's in a Rams uniform next year, it's a sure sign that any efforts to improve this franchise are nothing more than lip service, a complete lie. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Bulger. There's no happy solution with the ball and chain of a contract he has. (Let's not get revisionist here either, he played well through 2006). However, Haslett would be wise to use his injury today as an excuse to sit him and let the QB recover physically and mentally. If he's playing next year, at least he'll start the season in one piece. I would have liked to see more Brock Berlin, since we're watching the theatre of the absurd.
To me, it all starts and ends with the line, both offense and defense. With Pace out - and he's been average at best in his twilight - this is nothing more than a collection of spare parts. The only ones really playing at a caliber of a starting lineman are, as much as it pains me to say it, Richie Incognito and Alex Barron, about 75% of the time. And those guys are average at best; on a line with real pros around them, they'd be fine. If the Rams fail to address the line this offseason, get ready for more of the same. They need a tackle and a center. They also need to remind Jacob Bell just exactly why they gave him a contract in the first place. Even with those steps, it's only a start, but a positive one that would have some impact.
On the other side of the ball, nothing we haven't said before. The Rams need a big body NT to stuff runs and tie up blockers, freeing up DT Adam Carriker from being a complete bust and allowing the DEs to do what they get paid for instead of cleaning up for the Rams weak middle. A true blue middle linebacker also needs to be on the list Billy Devaney sends to the North Pole this year, maybe more than one.
The Rams needs are so many and so pressing, it's purely academic as to where they need to start. Don't forget, as much as we need linemen and linebackers, we also need a QB and warm bodies for the secondary. However, if they go all in to address the o-line and the middle of the defense, they'll be miles ahead of where they are now. Miles. If they can get those pieces in place, the team can tread water, play competitive football and win some games. From there, the makeover can continue, but it has to start in those two places.
The Rams have been struggling to find an identity since the decline of the Martz Era. In a league dominated by tough, grinding teams, the Rams still struggle, carrying the ghosts of their precision roots.
Okay, poll time. Notice I left off the scores, because there's oh so much more than that when determining which is the worst Rams game of the season. Vote with your heart and your head. Did I miss one? Let's hear about which one and why you think it's the worst Rams game.
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my vote
I voted for today’s game…every week seems to be a new low. You wonder how a team can come out and play like that after being humiliated the week before, and they do. Therein lies my reasoning.
by Ryan Van Bibber on Nov 23, 2008 3:20 PM CST reply actions
They will next week when Berlin starts.
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
I do like
how Haslett doesn’t sugar coat things for the fans and media. He treats us like we’re adults. Most coaches tell us what we see isn’t really what happened. They lie and talk in circles. Hey, I live in Chicago and hear one of the masters (Lovie Smith) do it every single week.
So, thank you Coach Haslett for giving it to me straight. Even though your offensive guard and your running back don’t get it, you do. The fans understand enough about what is going on and we really don’t appreciate being lied to and told our opinion doesn’t matter.
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
Play the Kids
I’m originally a Chicagoan, but now am a Rams season ticket holder living in Southern Illinois. The only thing I can see left for this season is to play the kids. Let the bench players start and evaluate what talent we have in real game situations. We know that there are so many problems in the current starting lineup. When we have a good assessment of the bench, then the intelligent drafting can begin.
And Jim Haslet needs to be shown the door. I really, really hope he’s not given the head coaching job. His defense is as tight as a rusty bucket — and he had a losing record in New Orleans too. Not head coaching material!
Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...
If you want to hold the Katrina season against him
then sure he had a losing record in New Orleans. But no one could have won that year with the Saints. They went 3-13 playing zero home games while dealing with everything that was going on in New Orleans. Personally, I throw that season out. And if you do, he had a 42-38 record.
But its funny you consider a former NFL Head Coach of the Year to be someone who is not head coaching material.
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
42-38 is hardly a success
No counting the tough luck season, he’s just barely over .500. The more obvious objection is that in the 3 or so seasons he’s been the defensive coordinator he’s built the most porous defense the Rams have ever had. If he can’t do what he was originally hired to do, should be be promoted to head coach? I think not.
Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...
Would you like to hire Bill Belichick?
He was 36-44 as a head coach with the Browns. Or Mike Shanahan? He was 8-10 with the Raiders. Or maybe you’re a Dick Vermeil guy. He was after all the greatest coach who ever walked the sidelines for the St. Louis Rams. Except that he was 22-26 as the Rams head coach. (thank God for that 13-3 season……)
As far as Haslett’s defense. I’ll admit, it’s not been real good, but I’ll point out a couple of things. Adam Carriker is not a run stuffing defensive lineman, but he’s playing there because management has failed to give him a legit D-Lineman (notice the other d-lineman is La’Roi Glover? Not good either). Also, Will Witherspoon is not a middle line backer. Actually he’s a damn good outside linebacker but has to play Mike because once again management has failed to draft or sign a middle linebacker.
At some point, he has to have players that can actually play before I start to call him out about the defense. And if it wasn’t painfully obvious who was calling the shots after Linehan cut Fakhir Brown (a hand-picked Haslett guy), then I don’t know what to say.
Look. I’m not saying he’s the next Bill Belichick or even close to it. I just recognize that he hasn’t exactly been handed a full deck to work with (and that’s an exaggeration) and he hasn’t been shy about calling guys out who shit the bed every Sunday. Plus, the deck he has been given is so tainted, it would take a miracle worker to motivate them. They’re bad in all phases of the game and I don’t think a lot of them care and Scott Linehan and Jay Zygmunt are solely to blame. Changes have been made in the front office and I hope to see improvements starting with next year’s draft. Should Haslett be a part of that? I’m not sure, but I’m not exactly sold on what else is out there. Do you have any ideas who the head coach should be? And please don’t say anyone but Haslett, because if you feel that way I’d suggest we should re-hire Scott Linehan.
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
Fresh Face
Your points are well taken. But as DC Haslett had a say in the defensive hand that was dealt to him. As far as the players are concerned, they are not responding to his leadership. He’s part of the regime that didn’t work. Given the condition of the team it will be hard to get an umemployed yet proven head coach to take the job — who would want it? I fully supported Scott Linehan. I though he was a fresh face with good ideas. I would think someone like that will be the only option for the next head coach. Ron Rivera was passed up when Linehan was hired, but he comes to mind for me.
Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...
The Rams have hired 2 fresh faces since they came to St. Louis
Rich Brooks and Scott Linehan. How’d that work out for ya?
As for Haslett having a hand in the personnel, why wasn’t his opinion listened to when Linehan cut Fakir Brown? Seems Haslett never wanted to get rid of him since, as soon as he took over, the team went right back to Brown to re-sign him.
And for the record, I supported Linehan too simply because he was the head coach. I never supported the hiring and my support fell apart about mid-way through last season.
But, I don’t think you can give a coach a disaster of a lineup and expect a miracle after a handful of games. If they want to give him a serious shot, he should be able to assemble his own coaching staff (remember, this is still the Linehan/Zygmunt coaching staff) and the time to prepare during the off-season. If not, then the team wasn’t sold on keeping him anyway (but, from their original statements, it seems they were).
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
worst game
I’m voting for the 49ers game last week. Consider:
- They are by far the worst opponent on the list.
- We are their lone win in the last four weeks.
- We lined up our best against their best (minus only Jackson and McMichael) and fell behind 35-3 in the first half.
- Losing this game was probably the nail in Haslett’s coffin here, making him a lame duck. From here on out, he has no legs to stand on in the locker room. His fiery talk is only being heard in the post-game press conferences.
Even though today sucked something fierce, last week was what killed the heart of this team. We’re just watching vultures pick at the corpse at this point.
"Attaway to stomp 'em. Stomp the piss out of 'em. Stomp 'em when they're down. Kick 'em and stomp 'em. Attaway to go boys. Pound that old Budweiser into you and go get them tomorrow." -- Joe Schultz
I also voted San Francisco for the same reasons.
As for him being a lame duck and having no voice in the locker room. Well, is it possible management doesn’t expect him to have a voice in this locker room? Maybe, with the people that are now calling the shots (as well as Rosenbloom) that look at the locker room and not expecting him to reach this sorry group and want to watch how he handles himself. Bill Parcells couldn’t win with this group. Hard to think that anyone with half a brain would expect Haslett to do it.
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
3k is about 90%
Just got a house, working on internet… I should be able to post this week on reaction through the net, how a Rams fan who can’t watch games, can’t interact with other fans, and can’t even watch Sportscenter sees the Rams. Here’s a hint: they suck.
Also, I’ll bring back the 3k preview series and an update on the draft prospects. By Saturday, I should have internet and Sunday ticket to watch the Rams this weekend. I’m not sure that’s a good thing…
Jay Zygmunt, fire yourself.
So, we should refer to you as 2,700 for the time being?
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
The Arizona game was worst game, because it killed any hopes of getting to the playoffs.
We would have been 1 game out of first had we won.
I have witnessed time and time again.
They were ALL pretty bad
but I’ll vote for the Arizona game, if for no other reason than they lost to the Cardinals…I grew up in St. Louis and my parents had season tickets to the Big Red, so I have seen my share of bad St. Louis football…I won’t get into the jerking around that Bidwill and the region got into in the mid to late 80’s over a new stadium (there was plenty of blame to go around on both sides) but it left a bad taste in my mouth when they left in 1988, so MY Big Game every year is when the Cardinals return to St Louis…for this or ANY Ram team to give less than maximum effort for a game against Bidwill makes the steam come out of my ears…props to Warner and all he has done since leaving, but if the Rams had won that game, or even played credibly, I think the mood here would be a lot better, if not the record…but here we have it…four straight blowouts, hopelessly down at the half in all cases, with no end in sight.
I didn’t think a team could be this bad…I can excuse lack of talent, but lack of effort is something else…no Cardinal team I saw was ever this horrrible…some of those Hollway or Wilkenson teams were quite hopeless, but nothing like this, not ever close.
I have a hard time holding players accountable for not getting up to play the Cardinals because of the history
You’d probably have a hard time finding a handful of players who knew the Rams used to play in Los Angeles let alone finding guys who knew the Cardinals played in St. Louis. That was 20 years ago. A lot of our players weren’t even in kindergarten yet. And I’d be surprised if you could find more than 7 guys on the team who even recognizes the name Bill Bidwell.
(for the record, I would guess Marc Bulger, Trent Green, Orlando Pace, Torry Holt, La’Roi Glover, Josh Brown, and Dante Hall)
btw, I almost put Incognito and Barron on that list for a laugh……
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
I'm not saying it's rational, T.B.,
It’s just how I feel personally…it’s definitely a bit too much on the emo side…I hate the Cardinals, so I want the Rams to beat them…that’s what I meant
As for the players, I resolved a long time ago that they play so long as the paychecks come, history has nothing to do with it …it’s just another game on the schedule to them, or for this particular group, another game to be down my 3-4 TD’s at the half.
HA!
At least you recognize the irrationality! And for me, I don’t mind the Cards so much. I remember the move (I was 12 or 13) but I can’t say I cared too much one way or the other. I guess I had bigger fish to fry at the time? But as of now,I guess my hatred goes to the 49ers, the Seahawks and the Bears (I live in the Chicago burbs).
But, I guess fandom in itself is irrational so who am I to judge?
Our country reeks of trees. Our yaks are really large. And they smell like rotting beef carcasses. And we have to clean up after them. And our saddle sores are the best. We proudly wear women's clothing. While searing sand blows up our skirts.
And the buzzards, they soar overhead. And poisonous snakes will devour us whole. Our bones will bleach in the sun. And we will probably go to hell. And that is our great reward. For be-ing the-uh Ro-yal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
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