St. Louis Rams: Walking That Fine Line...

Losses are bad enough, but blow-out defeats in a team's home stadium rock a fan base to their very core... Made worse by the "shock" factor - Rams fans having set their sights well beyond a next game up mentality - the team is now scrambling to salvage their 2015 season...

Some weeks ago, I labeled this current five game stretch for the St. Louis Rams as a key evaluation point, and rightly so. It began in Week 7 with the Browns, then the following week with San Francisco. Both were wins, and the Rams seemed on their way. Then came defeats against Minnesota and Chicago. "2 'n 2" in this examination - of just who this St. Louis team is - doesn't bode well for many, and sinking below the .500 win/loss percentage for the 2015 season so far doesn't help either. With a struggling Baltimore Ravens team up next for St. Louis, it's no longer about vision of post season play. It's simply turned into a battle of survival for a roster chocked full of talent that's suffering from a severe identity crisis...

I'm an unrelenting, un-swerving Rams fan. My readers know this, and it's actually why I've waited so long to write about the game this past weekend. I knew I had to wait for the screaming, moaning, groaning, - and a lot more screaming - to die down just a tad; wailing about firing Jeff Fisher hit new heights, and we've seen Nick Foles fall from his starting quarterback job. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. is on the hottest of seats right now, and I honestly believe he'd have been fired after the Chicago Bears fiasco if there was ANYONE to guide the offense through the rest of the season from within the coaching staff. Regardless of where the Rams end up in the win/loss record, wholesale coaching changes on the offensive side of the ball are virtually guaranteed for 2016.

I'm a Jeff Fisher fan. No, this last game didn't change that, so don't even try to make a case for his being fired. While I'm definitely disappointed in his seeming lack of expertise when it comes to his offense, he's the kind of coach I'd want to play for, and so would you. But that isn't enough, is it? "Liking" him as a person doesn't get a team to the Super Bowl, much less prevent debacles like this past Sunday against Chicago. Even though I began this season believing the Rams would get blown out at least once during the 2015 season, the level of sheer "badness"  St. Louis showed Sunday had me cringing so bad that I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle. (Yes, there's a "cringe-muscle", but I'm not really sure exactly where it is in the human body? I do know it makes you kind of lean to one side, twitch, lose sleep, and it seems to replace the need to add fiber to your diet?)

Based on the "5 game stretch" so far, here's what I've gleaned:

The need for an experienced offensive coordinator is beyond HUGE for the Rams...

I like the fact Fisher gives his coaches chances to grow. He's done it his entire coaching life, and I think it goes back to when he worked for Buddy Ryan in Philadelphia. "Paying it forward" is great, but Fisher may want to edge off this a bit. I think Frank Cignetti Jr. is a knowledgeable football guy, but he's in over his head as a first year NFL offensive coordinator. He MAY be better next season, but I don't think he'll get the chance. The sad thing about Cignetti's offense is that it's borderline college in its approach to the game. I also think his "simplifying" Brian Schottenheimer's offense was a REALLY bad idea. I mean, it was a bad offense to begin with, so simply reducing verbiage, and editing the playbook down was never going to be more than "less bad", right?

Offensive skill players in the draft are a must...

I'm finally on the #1 wide receiver bandwagon with the rest of you, but with one caveat: A quarterback with the ability to throw to him should factor in somewhere too... I love Nick Foles' passion for the game. He really does have the skill set to succeed in the NFL, but if the Rams are going to stick with Foles, they need to design an offense to fit him. Bringing anyone in to learn "our system..." is borderline moronic. It's a bad system (see the previous paragraph), so why, o' why, o' why would you want anyone to learn it, then expect it to work on game day in the NFL? I keep hearing "he's getting more comfortable with our system..." So, you're saying he's getting worse than before he arrived? Got It! Um, you see the problem here?

Flush the ignorance talk O' Thirteenth Man...

I can't see what's around the corner in life, and neither can you. The idea positive thoughts about anything, - that's yet to transpire - should be framed by doubts built over what's been done in the past is defeatist at best, and sad in the very least. At times, what I see is what I hope will be. Intellect is based on our own level of information gathered, not someone else's. Love, hate, doubt or believe all you want, but telling me what I have hopes for in the future is ignorant - especially when the observation is based on post-event hindsight - is overstepping. My St. Louis Rams are my St. Louis Rams. I will see, be and dream what I want. I'm part of the "12th Man" world. The Thirteenth Man is the one who can always find flaws, and that's just not who I am...

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The 2015 NFL season is far from over. While I'd like to forget this past Sunday ever happened, it did and it's done. Time to move on!