Magic year......

[Richbert88]

This occured to me while reading the last to first postings, so correct me if I am wrong <silly I even had to say that>:

Wasn't Vermeil in his third season as HC when he hired a guy named Martz to run the offense? We all know what happened. Yeah, Warner was da man, Faulk was a man also and the defense was okay. SB win.

But the similarities seem too strong to ignore with this season.

1. Linehan in his third season, after getting lambasted for the offense production <lack there of>, goes and gets Suanders to run the offense. Sounds identical to DVs situation doesn't it. New and improved schemes.....

&

2. New group of talent at WR <has to be a group, Holt was the man in 99 wasn't he>

There seems to be a definite similarity.

[laram0]

All I can say is that anything is possible.

[Bald_81]

I'm beginning to drown in optimism on here. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Goldenfleece]

Yeah, there are some similarities. We even had a short thread about connections between '08 and '99. That said, I'm sure there are a lot more head coaches who sucked for their first two years and continued to struggle than there are ones who couldn't get it together the first two years and then turned it all around. This isn't like the 3 year rule for fantasy football where young receivers often have a breakout year once they've adjusted to the league.

We'll just have to wait and see how it goes...

[Mooselini]

Sure we have similarities, but we don't have the wide receiver group we had then. Our best receiver is slowing down quickly. All we can do is hope that our young talent can step up.

[skelley]

There's more differences than similarities.........

1st. Dick was a coaching legend. Linehan isn't even close.

2nd. We had far superior talent almost across the board.

3rd. A hell of alot more speed.

4th. Martz was an unproven guy with a new system. Al's O didn't do to well in DC, but has a great rep for his days in KC.

5th. I could go on, but why? Right now Linehan pretty much has banked on health being both his saviour this year and his bane the last 2. We really made no bold moves in the FA market. And for a team that won only 3 games, it seems a bit risky.

Not to mention........I will puke the 1st time I see Ike Bruce in a ***** jersey.

[Dominating D]

Originally Posted by skelley

There's more differences than similarities.........

1st. Dick was a coaching legend. Linehan isn't even close.

2nd. We had far superior talent almost across the board.

3rd. A hell of alot more speed.

4th. Martz was an unproven guy with a new system. Al's O didn't do to well in DC, but has a great rep for his days in KC.

5th. I could go on, but why? Right now Linehan pretty much has banked on health being both his saviour this year and his bane the last 2. We really made no bold moves in the FA market. And for a team that won only 3 games, it seems a bit risky.

Not to mention........I will puke the 1st time I see Ike Bruce in a ***** jersey.

The DC comment is not a fair evaluation. THat offense was awfull and did improve under Saunders. Saunders had 1 year and an unexperience QB in Campbell. When Campbell was sidelined for Collins the Offense exploded.

Superior Talent in 08..... Really, was it the talent or the system? I seem to remember a couple of guys who exploded that year and never return to form.......Carter, Az , and I am sure we can find more if needed.

I believe this years team is way underated. The Rams have probowl potential at just about every unit position on the field ie.... LB, QB, RB, DL...

This team has talent and can compete for the division. The Rams have made an effort to improve the OL and DL. The have talent at WR, RB, and QB. This team if healthy and consistent play on the offensive line will put up points on the board. The biggest question mark will be can the secondary and linbacking play well enough to stop the opposition?

Go Rams

[txramsfan]

Originally Posted by skelley

There's more differences than similarities.........

1st. Dick was a coaching legend. Linehan isn't even close.

2nd. We had far superior talent almost across the board.

3rd. A hell of alot more speed.

4th. Martz was an unproven guy with a new system. Al's O didn't do to well in DC, but has a great rep for his days in KC.

5th. I could go on, but why? Right now Linehan pretty much has banked on health being both his saviour this year and his bane the last 2. We really made no bold moves in the FA market. And for a team that won only 3 games, it seems a bit risky.

Not to mention........I will puke the 1st time I see Ike Bruce in a ***** jersey.

Very good post skelly...you've come a long way in a short time.

[txramsfan]

Originally Posted by Dominating D

The DC comment is not a fair evaluation. THat offense was awfull and did improve under Saunders. Saunders had 1 year and an unexperience QB in Campbell. When Campbell was sidelined for Collins the Offense exploded.

Superior Talent in 08..... Really, was it the talent or the system? I seem to remember a couple of guys who exploded that year and never return to form.......Carter, Az , and I am sure we can find more if needed.

I believe this years team is way underated. The Rams have probowl potential at just about every unit position on the field ie.... LB, QB, RB, DL...

This team has talent and can compete for the division. The Rams have made an effort to improve the OL and DL. The have talent at WR, RB, and QB. This team if healthy and consistent play on the offensive line will put up points on the board. The biggest question mark will be can the secondary and linbacking play well enough to stop the opposition?

Go Rams

That team had more talent. Especially at WR. Proehl, Hakim, Holt, and Bruce are much better than.....Avery, Caldwell, Bennett and Holt. Our O line was much better than it is now and I'll take that defense over what we have now.

[KoaKoi]

Sure, plenty of similarities, they even had yellow horns on their helmets too!

Listen... '99 was an nfl lifetime ago. There's a diff. coach, new system, new field leader (qb), and only a couple guys out of 53 that are still around. And comparing Linny to Vermeil is just plain appaling. Vermeil took the eagles to the SB! and here Linny has only managed to take a dump on the turf! To be blunt, I'll believe the similarities when the team performs like its a winner. The guys in '99 were winners because they acted like it, played like it, and believed it.

You want to talk similarities? Then let's talk about the entire 1990's, and not just the one year in '99.

I'd love to keep stroking myself about the one great year too, but I happened to be a Rams fan in the late 80's and the 90's and there is such a thing as being so crappy that a team won't sniff playoffs for years on end. I remember quite a few years when Rams even had Bettis blasting for 1,000 yard seasons and the team was still lucky to finish 6-10. I see a heck of a lot more similarities of Linny's tenure to those teams, than I do the '99 Rams.

This team can be good and has more potential to make it to the playoffs than nearly every of the Rams teams of the 90's, but the team doesn't act like it and if they don't believe it... it ain't gonna happen. Vermeil made his players believe in themselves and made them feel worthy.

Maybe i've been reading Txramsfan's posts too much, but I just don't see this team to be similar to the '99 team.

But hey, I like your enthusiasm and i hope you get to point to my face and laugh at me in January! heck, you could even throw Linny's smelly dump at me and I'll take it smiling-

Go Rams

[txramsfan]

Well, Culberson could be the next ....dare I say it.....LONDON FLETCHER. This D needs a heart and soul again, and Culberson could be the guy.

Maybe Hill can play like Dre Bly. Maybe Carriker/Ryan could play like Carter. Maybe Bartell could move to safety and bring the wood like Billy Jenkins. Maybe the O line can stay intact and give Bulger time. Maybe Bennett.....better stop right there before monkeys start flying out of an orifice or two.

[Dominating D]

Originally Posted by txramsfan

Well, Culberson could be the next ....dare I say it.....LONDON FLETCHER. This D needs a heart and soul again, and Culberson could be the guy.

Maybe Hill can play like Dre Bly. Maybe Carriker/Ryan could play like Carter. Maybe Bartell could move to safety and bring the wood like Billy Jenkins. Maybe the O line can stay intact and give Bulger time. Maybe Bennett.....better stop right there before monkeys start flying out of an orifice or two.

LOL

Guys the the Rams have enough talent. The question as presented in a previous post can the coaches develop a scheme that the players and leaders can buy into?

If the answer is yes, then the Rams will be big surprise in the NFL. The talent at WR is better than Saunders ever had in KC so that is probably the least of the Rams concern. The Rams have talent with Holt, Avery, and I know some doubt his ability but Bennet, and did I forget to mention that Saunders has a long streak of sending a TE to the probowl?????

Ramspeed.....

[mikhal5569]

Originally Posted by Richbert88

This occured to me while reading the last to first postings, so correct me if I am wrong <silly I even had to say that>:

Wasn't Vermeil in his third season as HC when he hired a guy named Martz to run the offense? We all know what happened. Yeah, Warner was da man, Faulk was a man also and the defense was okay. SB win.

But the similarities seem too strong to ignore with this season.

1. Linehan in his third season, after getting lambasted for the offense production <lack there of>, goes and gets Suanders to run the offense. Sounds identical to DVs situation doesn't it. New and improved schemes.....

&

2. New group of talent at WR <has to be a group, Holt was the man in 99 wasn't he>

There seems to be a definite similarity.

Be careful of what you wish for. A team that rose to greatness without a solid foundation was pretty quick to fall from it.

[skelley]

Originally Posted by Dominating D

The DC comment is not a fair evaluation. THat offense was awfull and did improve under Saunders. Saunders had 1 year and an unexperience QB in Campbell. When Campbell was sidelined for Collins the Offense exploded.

Superior Talent in 08..... Really, was it the talent or the system? I seem to remember a couple of guys who exploded that year and never return to form.......Carter, Az , and I am sure we can find more if needed.

I believe this years team is way underated. The Rams have probowl potential at just about every unit position on the field ie.... LB, QB, RB, DL...



Go Rams

Fair enough on the DC comment.......
But my point was, Martz was an unknown and Al is not.


As for superior talent on this current team......HAHAHAHAHA. Please. This was not only a 3-13 team, it was a very bad 3-13 team. The 99 rams had depth and legit pro bowlers. This team however ONLY has aging pro bowlers and untested question marks. Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to see this team come together and shock the world.......but you can not overlook the fact we were awful last year and did very little to improve ourselves.

[MauiRam]

Originally Posted by skelley

Fair enough on the DC comment.......
But my point was, Martz was an unknown and Al is not.


As for superior talent on this current team......HAHAHAHAHA. Please. This was not only a 3-13 team, it was a very bad 3-13 team. The 99 rams had depth and legit pro bowlers. This team however ONLY has aging pro bowlers and untested question marks. Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to see this team come together and shock the world.......but you can not overlook the fact we were awful last year and did very little to improve ourselves.

Very little ..?? 80% of our starting O-line went down to injury last year .. This year they are all back healthy. No improvement there .. Jacob Bell was a waste of money, our two rookie wideouts stink, and hiring Saunders was clearly a mistake. Chris Long can't help us at all, because everyone knows we should have taken Dorsey. Yep .. we're doomed ...