After a night to sleep on the St. Louis Rams ninth loss of the season, we should be feeling a little better, or at least a little more accepting of it. Nope, not me. There are no excuses for the debacle that unfolded yesterday. Any callow attempt at excuse making or trying to pinpoint a singular flaw in the Rams' 2011 season demeans fans everywhere.
Let's get right into the headlines and memes for the day.
Bryan Burwell at the Post-Dispatch pins the loss and the season squarely on the shoulders of Steve Spagnuolo. He runs down the failure of nerve that rubbed salt into the whole thing.
And how about that offensive line? You really can blame the injuries here, but it doesn't make the results any less awful. Adam Goldberg stood out at right tackle in recent weeks, but he allowed two big sacks working the left side yesterday. In today's P-D, Goldberg talks about his struggles on the left side. Jason Brown, working at guard, got flagged three times. This bunch figures to get Sam Bradford killed against the 49ers next week.
Aaron Hooks at SB Nation St. Louis calls for the immediate dismissal of Spagnuolo and Devaney.
If they have any hope of staying, they need to release Spagnuolo and Devaney. They need to replace them with people that think differently and work to entertain us. Give us a reason to be passionate. Make us fans again.
Jeff at Rams Gab sums it up thusly:
There is nothing more to say as the Rams wrap up another losing Sunday. The Rams are a terrible franchise with no direction or leadership that will continue to lose games until something drastic changes.
Will at Rams Herd also runs down the list of Spagnuolo's fateful decisions, or lack thereof, including a couple missed opportunities to challenge calls on the field.
However, Steve Spagnuolo did his best to lose his last remaining supporters in the stands with a horrendous series of second half decisions, making the job of second-guessing him all too easy.
Football Outsiders noticed the Rams defense continually getting manhandled.
The Arizona Cardinals were blowing the other team off the line of scrimmage. Of course, the other team was St. Louis, and the Rams have now given up the two biggest single-game rushing totals of the season. But man, Beanie Wells was running through holes the size of elephants.
Patty from the Pigskin Arch feels tortured by this team as well.
I might have to submit to the truth that this team is beyond help right now. You just have to feel for the players that give their best each and every week. Even more sad are the fans who support the Rams. I'm not sure they can withstand another 5 weeks of this punishment.
I'll stand by what I said last night: the Rams are embarrassing.