By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Monday, Nov. 20 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In one of the most disturbing afternoons of Rams football
we've seen for many years, a sinking, stinking team took us back to 1998, and
the days of hopeless and humiliating futility.
In a disgraceful 15-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Rams officially
brought down the curtain, padlocked the doors, dimmed the lights, and closed
the show. For the longest time, even when they lost games, we always could
count on the Rams to provide a few thrills on offense. From 1999 until coach
Mike Martz got sick in 2005, the Rams lost some games they should have won, and
Martz drove critics wacko with his play-calling, use of timeouts and replay
challenges.
But the Martz Rams were never dull. They never put us to sleep or otherwise
numbed our senses. We always showed up at a stadium fairly confident that we'd
see aggression and attitude on offense, and a collection of fearless talent
that could flip a switch and make the lights blink. Even on the worst days,
Martz's extreme, psycho Rams were entertaining and compelling. They could be
maddening and frustrating but never gave us many reasons to look the other way
or find something else on TV.
That's over. The monotony of rookie coach Scott Linehan's first season reached
a hideous and depressing low on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. On offense
the Rams (4-6) slowed to a crawl, then tucked themselves into a ball to absorb
a relentless beating. There was no personality, no heart, no fight, no pride
and no comeback. They surrendered early, and submitted to the will of the
Carolina defense, squeaking out a measly 111 yards on 49 plays.
On defense, the Rams gave up 242 yards on the ground, as the Panthers set a
franchise record for most rushing yards in a game. But even with the usual
looseness against the run, the Rams defense made enough stops to keep the game
within reach. The Panthers led only 10-0 deep into the third quarter, but
Linehan's offense remained comatose.
"We weren't ready to play as a team," Linehan said. "There was really no spark,
there wasn't enough energy out there as a team. And again, it's getting the
team ready to play, and I'm going to work very hard doing that."
How can that be? At 4-5, the Rams were still in the NFC playoff hunt. Carolina
was one of the teams they had to beat, and three home games were on the
schedule after this stop in Carolina. So where was the emotion, the edge, the
desire to compete?
"I don't know," Linehan said. "If I had the answer we wouldn't be talking about
it right now. I'm going to find the answer. I don't have a good enough answer
to justify what happened."
Wow.
Only 10 games into his first season, stuck in a five-game losing streak, and
Linehan already is out of answers?
For his sake, I hope Linehan isn't losing his team. His players were uninspired
and didn't play hard. And after the game a few miffed veterans privately rolled
their eyes when informed of the coach's postgame analysis. And like many Rams
fans watching at home, players had the same question: Where was running back
Steven Jackson, and why did Linehan do the Panthers a favor by making No. 39
disappear?
Linehan appeared to be so overmatched that for the first time I wondered if
owner Georgia Frontiere and team executives John Shaw and Jay Zygmunt made a
mistake in hiring him. Shaw said he wanted an offensive-minded head coach to
maintain the high-octane performance level. Sorry, but it isn't working. The
offense is worse under Linehan.
On a day when the Panthers had a jail-break spree through the Rams' offensive
line, mugging
Marc Bulger for seven sacks, Linehan ignored Jackson and reality
by calling pass plays. Here's the excuse: Carolina brought a safety into the
box to stop the run. So what? That's a staple of any defense; you just don't
give up on the ground game.
Linehan, who repeatedly pledged that his offense would run the ball, be
balanced and take a sane approach, had a cataclysmic play-calling meltdown.
Linehan ordered up 41 pass plays and eight runs, and this one-dimensional
strategy left Bulger with no protection. Jackson was given only seven carries.
Linehan failed to adjust by plugging in more runs, or by setting up Bulger on
quick, three-step drops to elude the pass rush. It made no sense.
At least when Martz went nuclear on the pass and got his quarterbacks kicked
and tossed around like rag dolls, the Rams had something to show for the pain
and suffering. The Rams would put up yards and points, and generate excitement.
But when Linehan fed Bulger to the Panthers, the Rams got nothing out of it
except the shame of their first shutout since 1998.
What we saw Sunday in Charlotte was truly unsettling:
Martz Madness without a point.