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"The best laid schemes o' mice an’ men, Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]" - Robert Burns
Throughout the course of the week, NFL coaching staff’s develop game plans in hopes of leading their team to victory on game day. They know who they are. They’d like to think they know the opponent. And the game plan aims to utilize the strength[s] of their team, while capitalizing on the weakness[es] of the opponent.
But, as Robert Burns put so eloquently, even the most carefully prepared plans can go wrong.
And in those instances, coaches are provided with a very brief period during the game where they’re allowed to tweak things, in hopes of righting the ship: "the halftime adjustment." With only twelve minutes between the end of the first half, and kickoff of the second, that time - which includes walking to and fro, bathroom breaks, tending to injuries, etc - dwindles away quickly. Coaches, especially those not in the scoreboard’s favor, must work quickly.
And they are adjustments. Clearly there’s not enough time for the staff to devise a new game plan. Variations of the original plan are made in an effort to fix what’s broke, or to implement a few new plays that may prove effective...or maybe discard some that aren’t rendering results. They may reevaluate match-ups to create mismatches. There’s a lot that can be done. There’s just not much time to do it.
And before the team heads back out onto the field, the head coach steps up in front of the group and attempts to rally the troops with an inspirational speech.
Something like this...
And in the St. Louis Rams’ locker room it’s Jeff Fisher - not Al Pacino - who’s giving that speech. Since 2012, when Fisher took over as head coach, the Rams have played a total of 53 games. They’ve gone into the locker room at halftime trailing their opponent in 26 of those games [49%].
Let’s have a closer look at the games they’ve trailed in with 30 minutes gone in each game, dating back to 2012...
2012
Week
|
Opponent
|
Halftime Score
|
Result
|
Final Score
|
2
|
21-16
|
Win
|
31-28
|
|
3
|
at Bears
|
10-3
|
Loss
|
23-6
|
6
|
at Dolphins
|
10-6
|
Loss
|
17-14
|
7
|
10-6
|
Loss
|
30-20
|
|
8
|
28-7
|
Loss
|
45-7
|
|
11
|
13-7
|
Loss
|
27-13
|
|
12
|
at Cardinals
|
17-14
|
Win
|
31-17
|
13
|
7-0
|
Win
|
16-13
|
|
14
|
at Bills
|
6-0
|
Win
|
15-12
|
15
|
30-7
|
Loss
|
36-22
|
|
Trailed In 10 Games. Lost 6 [60%]
|
2013
Week
|
Opponent
|
Halftime Score
|
Result
|
Final Score
|
2
|
at Falcons
|
24-3
|
Loss
|
31-24
|
3
|
at Cowboys
|
17-0
|
Loss
|
31-7
|
4
|
49ers
|
14-3
|
Loss
|
35-11
|
7
|
at Panthers
|
17-5
|
Loss
|
30-15
|
8
|
7-3
|
Loss
|
14-9
|
|
13
|
at 49ers
|
13-3
|
Loss
|
23-13
|
14
|
at Cardinals
|
14-3
|
Loss
|
30-10
|
17
|
at Seahawks
|
13-0
|
Loss
|
27-9
|
Trailed In 8 . Lost 8 [100%]
|
2014
Week
|
Opponent
|
Halftime Score
|
Result
|
Final Score
|
1
|
Vikings
|
13-0
|
Loss
|
34-6
|
5
|
at Eagles
|
20-7
|
Loss
|
34-28
|
8
|
at Chiefs
|
10-7
|
Loss
|
34-7
|
15
|
Cardinals
|
6-3
|
Loss
|
12-6
|
16
|
20-13
|
Loss
|
37-27
|
|
Trailed In 5 . Lost 5 [100%]
|
2015
Week
|
Opponent
|
Halftime Score
|
Result
|
Final Score
|
2
|
at Redskins
|
17-0
|
Loss
|
24-10
|
3
|
9-3
|
Loss
|
12-6
|
|
5
|
at Packers
|
14-10
|
Loss
|
24-10
|
Trailed In 3 . Lost 3 [100%]
|