St. Louis Rams Mid-Season Grade
by Ryan Van Bibber on Nov 10, 2011 10:00 AM CST
in 2011 NFL regular season
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PrintWell, this should be a fairly easy one. At 1-7, it's safe to say that the St. Louis Rams have underperformed. Actually, underperformed is inaccurate. The Rams have been huge disappointment, unable to play anywhere near expectations. As for the reasons why, nobody really knows. We hear things, we can pinpoint problems on the field, but a 1-7 record points to a systemic failure.
There are a handful of things we can point to that have been major factors in the Rams' failure this season.
- Preparation - It should be pretty clear that the lockout had a significant impact on the team. Nowhere has this been more obvious than on offense. Quarterback Sam Bradford was asked to step in and learn a new offense in just his second year in the NFL, as well as pick up the additional duty of making his own reads and protection calls. That's not an easy task. Throw in the fact that the team made a huge mistake, in my opinion, in not hiring a quarterbacks coach, leaving McDaniels to work with Bradford and the rest of the offense (and keep in mind that the other position coaches were new to the offensive scheme too, just like the players). The defense struggled with a lack of preparation too, though many of us didn't think they would.
- Injuries - I don't wonder if the rash of injuries didn't have a little something to do with the lack of preparation. Whatever it was, key injuries hit the team pretty hard. The loss of Steven Jackson for a period early in the season hurt more than I think we acknowledge. No Danny Amendola certainly hurt Bradford too. That said, good teams have to overcome injuries. The Rams' cornerback play has significantly improved after looking awfully rough for a time there without Ron Bartell and Bradley Fletcher.
- Schedule - You want to be a good team, you have to play good teams. The schedule is not excuse, in my mind, so much as it is a compounding factor. Poor preparation and the injuries made these matchups even more difficult than they already would have been.
- Talent Acquisition - Once again, the Rams failed to address key needs at the beginning of the season. They finally added a running back behind Steven Jackson, and Cadillac Williams has been acceptable, except for some really dumb plays. Jerious Norwood has been a bust. It's too bad. Neither player brings enough to the table anymore to present a real threat to defenses. Without Steven Jackson, they were inadequate solutions. With Steven Jackson, they don't offer any kind of second dimension to the offense. At wide receiver, the Rams did not do enough to bring in the kind of weapons they needed, only getting Brandon Lloyd after it was too late to matter. The Mike Sims-Walker addition was another free agent bust. When the Rams lost Jerome Murphy in training camp, they needed to bring in another corner, one of the more established veterans out there, especially since both Ron Bartell and Bradley Fletcher have lengthy injury histories. We can talk about late-round draft busts all we want, but the free agent record has been mixed, at best.
- Coaching - There's no bigger issue plaguing this team. You can blame the lack of talent, the injuries and all those other things, but the bottom line is that the Rams should have been playing better than they have through the first part of this season. The lack of execution and mental lapses from this team are just too hard to overlook. That's a leadership issue. Steve Spagnuolo and his assistants are the ones with the ultimate responsibility for making sure players are playing at their best. That's simply not happening, and it will now most likely cost some people their jobs.
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F
This grade reflects The FO and HC: Talent evaluations, draft selections, and leadership. All funnell down to the field of play. IMO the emphasis on character has been a much greater priority than talent. Successful teams have the ability to manage various personalities. Pro football players are just wired a little differently than most. They have to be. It would be great if players do not come with baggage; but some of the more talented ones do unfortunately. The ability to manage those type of personalities can be worth its weight in gold.
Very good point
But… I actually like the idea of building a team with good character. I know it’s a bit of a pipe dream but it would mean a lot if we had guys like Merlin Olsen, Isaac Bruce, or hell, even more guys like Steven Jackson. And I do believe a lot of the guys we have (with the exception of Jason Smith) are “coachable”.
Now, thats not to say your point isn’t well taken. An occasional bad apple can also be Coached up to be a respectable player. And if our staff was even close to being able to accomplish something like that, I’d say bring ‘em on. But they’re not. They most likely have this "4 pillar " thing in place cause they’re a bunch of passive fags who’d rather not deal with the issues.
(Be advised, that last statement was strictly irate sarcasm).
Don't Get Me Wrong
I am not saying load the team up with sociopaths; it’s just that I would like positional skill to be the priority when evaluating talent. I get your point: A kid could be the most gifted player on earth; yet he will never be of any value to the team if he cannot regulate his actions on the field and off.
Talent....
If the Rams FO and every other team in the NFL consider themselves experts in evaluating talent…. How does talent like Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Marques Colston, Arian Foster, Marc Bulger, Antonio Gates, Wes Welker, James Harrison, and in the past, Warren Moon get drafted in the late rounds or not drafted at all? Love how these “football talent experts” think they know enough about football players coming out of college that they know for a fact they’ll succeed or not. Obviously, enough football folks thought the players I’ve listed were’nt talented enough to play in the NFL at their start. Ha! Wow, were those football folks WRONG!
Injuries
Are something I think almost everybody’s NOT been talking about. We have been building a team, and depth is nice, but we aren’t the Steelers or the Packers yet, who have a first stringer waiting in the wings in every position. Amendola, Bartell, Fletcher, Clayton, Salas, Hoomanawanui, Jerome Murphy….Am I forgetting everyone? With your top receiver from the previous season, and BOTH your starting cornerbacks out, you shouldn’t win even a single game in this league. Just sayin….
THIS year's the year. I hope....
And that's just
IR. ‘cept for Hoom. Bradford, Smith, Jackson, etc. I think it would be easier to write a list of players who haven’t been injured this season.
I gave a C, which I always learned was average. If any other teams who’s not the Steelers or Packers had this rash of injuries, I’d expect them to be doing just a poorly.
THIS year's the year. I hope....
Did you watch the 1st game?
Before the injuries started piling up.
We looked just as shitty then as we do now. As a matter of fact, Ryan brought up a good point.
There is a very good chance that these rash of injuries were brought on by lack of preparation.
F
I can’t watch it on Sundays for a full game anymore. I get so pissed off and I avoid big gaps at a time so I can be calm and enjoyable for my family. Are we seeing a Major League- Indains type of plan that is actually working in running this team out of town. The mistakes are f’ing baffling. Anything that can go wrong, and I mean anything, does in these games this year. My friend from college asked me the other day how bad these guys were because he hasn’t had a chance to watch. I told him, “Remember those Tony Banks teams that made us throw shit around our house? Well they could whip THIS teams ass.” His response, “No way.” Yes. Way.
F for Fantastic!
that’s what I always tell myself after tests..
by Eric Nagel on Nov 10, 2011 11:55 AM CST via mobile reply actions
This team without Steven Jackson? F. This team with Steven Jackson? D.
He’s the only guy who’s busted his ass for this team throughout the season – not just one play every two-three games, or a good game one time this year, but pretty much every down this Offense has played, even when he hasn’t been a part of it. I feel sorry for the guy, knowing he’s never gonna have the opportunity to showcase his talents throughout the playoffs with the Rams.
It hurts and pisses me off year after year after year, seeing how far this team has fallen – as I’ve said in the past, I don’t get it as bad as most of you guys, with me living in the UK and being the only one amongst my friends still into this sport after 26 years. Still hurts though.
by JoolzMF on Nov 10, 2011 12:15 PM CST via mobile reply actions
What 2 trolls gave A's and some people gave C's?
This team is one of the worst 2 in the league, that justifies an F grade.
Beating off the dog is never appropriate when we have company over...... I mean EVER!
I was close to giving them an F, but I'll give them a slight pass due to the ridiculous amount of injuries
Now that’s no excuse at all for how awful we’ve been playing this entire season, just as you pointed out, lack of preparation, accountability, discipline, talent, just about everything has been the reason for this abysmal season. There’s a reason why the experts and fans alike each thought that we’d have a pretty solid season. The fact that we’re sitting at 1-7 right now and long out of the playoff race is evidence that this team has significantly underperformed this entire season.
It's put up or shut up time for these WR's. Someone's going to have to perform or else they'll all be hitting the street. ESPECIALLY YOU ALEXANDER
+1
im sickened by this teams performance, but the injuries have just killed us. i cant give an f for injuries that are out of their control, but i can give a d for the lack of execution all around
by unleash-the-beast#39 on Nov 10, 2011 1:14 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
oh no, they get an A for injuries, they're good at that.
Beating off the dog is never appropriate when we have company over...... I mean EVER!
This is what I would like to see out of our FO
mid-season rookie grades that actually pan out for the most part, not “Well, we have 3 players, the top 3 picks still playing….and one of them hasn’t done shit…..uhm 2 of them aren’t producing well….uhm, quinn does well when he does play!”
Fuck the FO.
Beating off the dog is never appropriate when we have company over...... I mean EVER!
+100000000
they are happy they dont have one rookie starting except kendricks and he is terribly awful reminds me of mcmicheal when he played for us.
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
I give the TEAM a D (minus minus minus)...
The equivalent of a 59.9999999999999995, which rounds up to a “D”.
Offense:
Bradford, C to a B. Giving credit for HIS skills, what would the stats (and maybe scores) look like if even half of the “drops” and “throws through the hands, which equal a bad pass”, were caught by the WR corps.
OL, D—-. Too many penalties. Barely gets off hook with “poor” pass protection, but some of that could be due to WRs unable to get open in any semblance of time.
RB, B, could be C. SJax does most of the “grade inflating”, Caddy seems to be a failure (highlighted by his “lateral” in the GIants game), Norwood might not be getting the chance to shine or fail.
WR, F. Too many drops, not enough catches, not enough separation, not enough anything. Epic fail. TEs join the WRs on epic fail.
Defense: Hard to accurately grade, give up too many big plays, possibly as a result of being on the field too much. Still, if they COULD get more 3 and outs, then the offense might just win a field position game. Therefore, D.
Coaching, Front Office -Zero. Yep, 0. Bad FA acquisitions, bad coaching, bad calls, no depth, etc. Sorry, someone’s not doing their job(s). From the litany of bad calls by Spags, to the lack of talent and depth – I don’t care that we “lost” our 2 starting CBs, the “nickel” and “dime” backs need to be better than the “quarter” backs in a good defense (and it seems that our current starting CBs wouldn’t even make it as a “quarter” on the Pats or Pack…), same with our #3 and #4 receivers – DX is a #2 receiver, but highly limited in plays, I could see using a #1 sparadically (as a #3), but he only “counts” as a #4 due to lack of play time.
As I said, Team, just a hair above being a complete failure. Certain aspects of the team bring down any chance of this squad being even remotely average…
There have been bright spots, like Long and Steven (who both deserves As), as well
as Al Harris holding the fort down even though he shouldn’t be on the field if we didn’t have injuries to everybody. But everybody else gets an F. When you have 1 win after coming into the season as the favorite to get to the postseason, you get an F. Especially when this team is probably as talented as the 49ers when it comes to individual players.
I will give the Rams the same grade as
Gov. Perry scored in the debate last night. INCOMPLETE
This team is soft...F-
I have no idea what our head coach talks about when he talks about all of the fight in this team. I havent seen any fight since the rams snuck a bunch of LSU players on the field to play against the Saints.
I Absolutly will not Blame the Coaching
but I will not give them a free pass either. Earlier If i remember right In the First play of the Season Hand off Jackson …TD. Everybody included me was thinking back to thedays Of the Greatest Show on Turf. I t was just a Tease Steven got hurt ,Nose dive and reality set in. Combination of injuries, recievers not catching, REfs back to their shitty bad calls and Josh’s complicated system along with self confindence like they had in the preseason
really you wont blame a coach
that lets his o line make the same penaltys 3 times every game. anybody who has played or coached knows its his fault for not taking care of it.
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
how the hell do fans
that see what we are seeing week after week still defend this team. dont you guys want to win in 2 or 3 years. winning next year WONT happen , get over it you that want to keep spags so we have a shot. with spags we will win 2 games because no way the players dont quit on him half way threw next year if it even takes that long. better to wipe the shit from our behind and start fresh or we can leave it there and get a wierd spags full of billy shit infection that will take anther year to get rid of. fire them before its too late.
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
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