Marc Bulger takes criticism for slide in stride

[rayzorram]

It really isn't THAT big of a deal but considering how hard Jackson is fighting for every yard, it sort of reinforces the opinion that Bulger doesn't care all that much.

And I remember PLENTY of articles and complaints about Bulger and Holt falling down to avoid hits. Have no idea where that is coming from.

I think when last checked the difference between Jackson and Bulger fighting for every last yard is approximately 40lbs. If Bulger comes up sliding 3 or 4yards short then maybe we have something to question his intensity but even then because its still early enough in the third quarter i'm not sure I would get on the guys case. Come on it was a yard short. Lets build on the positive things even though we may not have the record many of us RAM fans wanted I still believe Spag will work out and mold this team to be a contender by 2012. GO RAMS

[MauiRam]

Perhaps the essence here for the criticizers is that we were 0-7 at the time, and desperately needed a first down in a tied ball game. Heck, if Marc hadn't chickened out, he'd have made that first down, and we would've won the game!

If we were 7-0 or 5-2 in that situation instead of 0-7, I doubt Marc's "slide" would have generated so much controversy.

Uh-oh, my bad .. we did win .. Yay !!!!!!

[Nick]

If anyone caught the Texans/Colts game today, it sounds like Manning did the exact same thing - slid on a scramble and didn't make the first.

[r8rh8rmike]

If anyone caught the Texans/Colts game today, it sounds like Manning did the exact same thing - slid on a scramble and didn't make the first.

I wonder if that's the headline in Indianapolis?

[RamOfDenmark]

If anyone caught the Texans/Colts game today, it sounds like Manning did the exact same thing - slid on a scramble and didn't make the first.

I wonder if that's the headline in Indianapolis?

Would it really surprise you if no one else in the world noticed? If Bulger passed for 318 yards and a TD, completing 34 of 50 (68%) - with a pretty bad running game totalling only 70 yards to help him, and got us a win I'd personally punch anybody in the face who started to throw him under the bus for such a slide. But that's quite a different situation from what we're looking at.

When players are having tremendous success usually people are willing to forgive them smaller mistakes a lot more readily than when they stink up the joint every week for 3 years. It's pretty simple really.

Like I said previously in this thread and elsewhere I don't even think it was justified to come down on Bulger for that slide - but lay off the crack pipe and stop comparing him to Manning please.

[3STL9]

This is all there it is to it.

That slide is the epitome of Bulger's career right now. C-H-A-L-K-E-D

[Nick]

Like I said previously in this thread and elsewhere I don't even think it was justified to come down on Bulger for that slide - but lay off the crack pipe and stop comparing him to Manning please.

I must have missed where anyone did that.

The point was to illustrate that other quarterbacks in the league - even the guy considered by many to be the best one - come up short on things like this as well, and probably won't have to have their heart or courage questioned in the process by their fan base and local media.

Thankfully, you agree that criticism of Bulger in this matter is unjustified, but I don't get the need to invent the strange claim that anyone was trying to compare Bulger to Manning. Obviously Bulger is not Manning, and no one claimed otherwise. What was being brought up was the specific situation on this one play.

[r8rh8rmike]

The point was to illustrate that other quarterbacks in the league - even the guy considered by many to be the best one - come up short on things like this as well, and probably won't have to have their heart or courage questioned in the process by their fan base and local media.

Exactly. This notion that anyone here is comparing Bulger to Manning is rediculous. What's being compared is how ludacris it is to crucify Bulger for something that all NFL quarterbacks do at one time or another. Nick provided a perfect example.

[theodus69]

It just goes to show when Bulger needs to be the spark.........He is a dud, whatever,he is not a very good QB now and probably never will be again.!we won , great, now let's look to the Future and it isn't P. Manning for us and neither is BULGER!!!! Compare what you like.Bulger plays for us ,we stink and the Colts are undefeated!!

[RamOfDenmark]

Obviously Bulger is not Manning, and no one claimed otherwise. What was being brought up was the specific situation on this one play.

I just don't think you can compare even a situation like that when it's 2 different players on 2 different teams like this. The Colts are undefeated and heading to the playoffs, we were winless, the Colts season is done if Manning goes on IR, our season is already done and Boller is only a little worse than Bulger if he did have to play. The consequences are extremely different for the same situation.

So I think it would be perfectly reasonable to say that Manning made the right call by hitting the deck but that Bulger is a coward for making the same decision in the same situation. I just don't see anything that can be compared - the exact same decision in the same situation can be great or terrible depending on the situation your team is in. If we were 7-0 and Bulger deliberately avoided that hit anybody would be foolish to complain - but when we're 0-7 and fighting for our first win it's different.

This may be more directed at Mike but I read the comment about the media and the comparison to Manning in that situation as an attempt to show that the media/fans have it in for Bulger and are out to get him at all cost - but wouldn't criticize Manning for the same. And my point is that it isn't the same, even if it superficially appears to be - the context is vastly different. So different that it is pointless to compare. There is no hypocrisy here, no one out to get Bulger unfairly - just 2 completely different situations.

But I guess that's enough arguing on this point when we basically agree about the slide itself.

[invisiblehorns314]

Okay Okay, we get it, everybody hates Bulger, he's old, not good, soft, not a leader, the list goes on. But IMO Marc is the toughest player on that team. He goes out there every week behind a sorry ricievers corp, an okay line (no depth). The strongest part on the line is JasonSmith, the rest is... Have any off you seen pics of him after the game? Or have any of u seen that after the play he still gets hit, Steve Savard said that he could understand why he took the slide, even Jim Thomas said the guy looks like he's been hit with bats after a game. Yea, he coulda dove, or padded up and fought for the yard, but he woulda got hit by the same guy the took Randy M out the game with one hit. One of the things I admire the most about him is, EVERY KNOWS, everybody knows that the Rams Offensively are not good, we all know on here about our WR, and our line. We all know about the RBs inability to block. But we still put everything on him. As if he could make the Recievers and the line better. Marc all 3 years hasn't thrown ANYONE under the bus. He didn't say anything when KD missed his block and he got creamed, he didn't say anything when Avery ran the wrong way, and Bulger was picked off. He jus said, "I gotta get the ball out faster", or "I have to recognize the play better" WTF? We have a standup guy at QB with a lot more heart then a lot of other players. But because he threw the Interception, and he was sacked, its all his fault? Come on fans.....put ur hatred aside and look at the bigger picture. I remember on a couple occasions where Holt and Bruce would fall down or step out of bounds to avoid a big hit. Look up the stats, when Bruce and Holt were here, the Rams never ranked top 10 in YAC, and Bruce and Holt never ranked top 10 in Yards after contact. Maybe he's not the problem. Maybe its you...

[MauiRam]

. Maybe he's not the problem. Maybe its you...

Who's you?

[invisiblehorns314]

Idk why I said you..lol. I was meaning to type another sentence after that, and it was supposed to say "Maybe its your bad organization for the past couple years. " I'm thinking I deleted it on accident or something

[r8rh8rmike]

So I think it would be perfectly reasonable to say that Manning made the right call by hitting the deck but that Bulger is a coward for making the same decision in the same situation. I just don't see anything that can be compared - the exact same decision in the same situation can be great or terrible depending on the situation your team is in. If we were 7-0 and Bulger deliberately avoided that hit anybody would be foolish to complain - but when we're 0-7 and fighting for our first win it's different.

Wow, I disagree with this completely. I don't know what Manning's motivation was in slidding, but Bulger said he thought he had the first down, so he slid. Calling him a coward in this situation is way over the top. This is a guy who played nearly an entire season with broken ribs, knowing he was going to get clobbered every other play behind the least effective line in the NFL. Bulger is no coward.

As far as the two sliding plays being different, again, I completely disagree. They were both just one play in a series of many. A single play, good or bad, is not going to determin the outcome of an entire game and should be taken for what it is, a single play, especially when it's in the 3rd quarter.

This may be more directed at Mike but I read the comment about the media and the comparison to Manning in that situation as an attempt to show that the media/fans have it in for Bulger and are out to get him at all cost - but wouldn't criticize Manning for the same. And my point is that it isn't the same, even if it superficially appears to be - the context is vastly different. So different that it is pointless to compare. There is no hypocrisy here, no one out to get Bulger unfairly - just 2 completely different situations.

Well, once again we completely disagree on the two plays being different. They aren't, regardless of context. Do you really think these guys are analyzing the season or their won-loss record when scrambling for a first down with defenders looking to take their heads off?

In regards to my comment alluding to the media, I was making a tongue-in-cheek jab at the rediculous outrage over Bulger's slide that resulted in articles, like the one that started this thread, being written.

[RamsFanThruItAll!!!]

Simple fact is QB's slide so they dont get injured. Wow if he missed it by a yard im sure he didnt do it purposely.