Let's boil this down to a simple question...

[AvengerRam]

Are the Rams better or worse than they were 12 months ago?

By way of refreshing your memory, 12 months ago today, the Rams were 5-7, having lost 24-9 to Washington at home. They would ultimately finish the season 6-10 after losses to Minnesota, Philadelphia and San Francisco, before winning the finale against Dallas.

[RAMarkable]

I voted "Pretty much the same." Unfortunately the Rams look (and smell) a lot like they did last year. The real question is: Will Linehan progress as a HC and learn from his mistakes this year, or is this what we can expect from him throughout his tenure?

WHAT SAY YE?

[Rambos]

Better off

It all start at the top of the organization and our FO was a mess at this time last year period. Little is under contract; Tino is under contract for the long term. When was the last time we seen the FO get contracts done mid season.

We added Spoon and Hill both are going to be for a few years.
Cog was a non-factor last year, starting for us out of position and should improve with time, nice to have a guy that can play multiple positions. Setterstrom has shown signs he may develop into a productive O-line men, we where in need of a youth movement. The donut bro’s won’t be here for much longer.

Special teams are improved shows we have a deeper roster.

Marc has become a better QB, by not turning it over as much. SJ is clearly the man and is playing like, he is now an all purposed back, running and catching the ball out of the backfield.

Our record aside, this off-season we will continue to add talent to both side of the ball.

[laram0]

Last season we had injuries to key players (Bruce,Holt,Bulger) combined with the Mike Martz health issues. This season our injuries have been to key players on the O-line and LB. The injuries of 2005 and MM issue were more catastrophic in my opinion. Despite the personnel we've brought on Will Witherspoon, La'roi Glover, Corey Chavous, Fahkir Brown and the promising rookies we are 5-7 again, 2 years in a row, I voted pretty much the same.

[RealRam]

Agggh! I voted "Better" but admit I did not think it well before clicking on the button. No, no. All things considered, we are -- at this point -- and sadly, Pretty much the same.

Excellent question / poll. Too bad it must address our team's shortcomings. But it is important to view and analyze them.

:\

[RAMFANRAIDERHATER]

It's a simple question, but unfortunately, it's not a simple answer.

I voted "better". Not because I think we're playing better football at this point, but because I think the organization is better off today, and shows more promise than it did 12 months ago. I think we have a better collection of players and coaches at this point in time.

Let's break it down, ignoring for a moment, the identical 5-7 records. Ignore them because comparing records this year against last is apples to oranges. Different time, different opponents, different circumstances. Just ask yourself these questions;

Is Linehan an improvement as HC over Martz? Well, that honestly can't be answered in 12 games. You'll have to give Linehan the same time MM had to make a fair comparision. So let's say for arguments sake.....pretty much the same.

Is Haslett an improvement over Marmie? No brainer. His track record alone indicates we're better off with him.

Did we improve the O-line depth and starters from last year? Better off.

Are we better off with S.Jackson identified and utilized as our number one guy, over an ailing, aging MF? Better off.

Is our recieving corp better than last year? Because it is the same guys, but with one more year experience together with Bulger, you have to say we're better.

Is our D-line better off this year? I'd say, at this point, it is pretty much the same. The additions have not panned out to be any better than the guys they replaced.

Is the D backfield better than the unit last year? Well, our DB's are still very mediocre, but Hill gives us some youth to build a better unit in the near future. So I'd say we're better. Safeties? Better.

Special teams? Better. Punter? Better.

All-in-all, you have to say this unit is equipped with better players over last year's group. It hasn't translated to more wins, but as I said, it's apples-to-oranges if you try to compare the two teams based on wins alone. I'll put my manufacturing hat on for a moment and say that we don't have enough data points to accurately evaluate this team. Not enough "trend analysis", to come to any viable conclusion. Let's see how the rest of the year pan's out, who we add/subract from the mix, and see how the next couple of years go. I'll give Linehan at least three years to show me he can run this thing.

[bruce4life]

with a new coach and a new system everybody on this web site knew that this wasn't going to be a good year at all. A new coach usually never results in winning the first year. A couple of rare instances like eric mangini and payton this year but rarely ever...

[Varg6]

Agggh! I voted "Better" but admit I did not think it well before clicking on the button. No, no. All things considered, we are -- at this point -- and sadly, Pretty much the same.

Excellent question / poll. Too bad it must address our team's shortcomings. But it is important to view and analyze them.

:\

Agreed, I haven't seen any improvements whatsoever in regard to much at all. Things may have gotten better staff wise, but the players are slumping more? I don't know, but everything that gets better (or we thought got better) negates itself when something else turns out wrong.

[sprtsmac]

I started to say "pretty much the same" but then I started thinking about the offense. That caused to put worse as I was thinking the offense was worse. But then I recalled that Fitz was starting for us at this point last year so really the offense isn't worse, just boring which makes it look worse. So I guess overall the team is pretty much the same. However, I do agree with people's comments about the FO being better and there are aspects of this team that I do see getting better; at least I hope they get better.

[thoey]

I think we are better if for the only reason that we are trying to change. Last year at this time we were just trying to get to the off season.

[r8rh8rmike]

Although on the suface things look about the same, I believe the potential for success is better this year. I liked the moves we made under Linehan and Haslett with free agency and the draft, and if we can do as well next off-season I've got to think we'll be in good shape, provided we don't have to endure another year of devastating injuries.

While it's still a question mark as to what exactly Linehan and Haslett can accomplish, I don't think either has had a legitimate opportunity to succeed this year with a marginal team that has been comprimised by too many players missing too many games.

[Fat Pang]

I think they're better on the whole and I would hope that they would finish one game better than last years record. I just think that they have a more solid look about them then last year and that the problems that we have look a little less widespread than last year.

[maineram]

I'd have to say better. Last year, in my opinion, we were stuck in a quagmire, this year we're trying to get back onto the path that's on the hill above the quagmire.


Front office mess - better

Coaching mess - better

Offense - still finding it's way with the new system

Defense - still sucks but with better looking pieces

Special teams - better

Depth - better

Disappointing season again though

Maineram - :l

[Country]

I say better only because their appear to be more hope then this time last year.

Coach: He might be new and finding his way but he is better then the Martz fiasco.

QB: The Same

RB: Jackson is becoming a dominant force in the league and is showing the passion that will make hima leader on the team.

WR: The Same

TE: Better, Klopfinstien is starting to make an impact.

OL: Worse but with hope, Injuries have killed the unit but they have not been as terrible as everyone thinks, but their is hope with youth like Cogs and Setterstrom getting serious reps.

DL: Worse, their horrible

LB: Better, they are better but they get no help and at leadt teh defense has a true leader in Spoon.

DB: The CBs are much better with Brown and Hill but the S are terrible Chavous is a bust and Qtogwe is struggling.

[ImJohnWayne]

in short? worse.

But better in the long run because we may have stopped the bleeding and finally begun rebuilding before things got too bad. I.E. 95-99.