My Positive Thread

[tanus]

Well, we are all very bummed about last night, but let's look at the positives from this year. Let's all compile a list...

For all the crap Martz takes for bad drafts, let's look at our 2 recent drafts...

Jimmy Kennedy -- I like this guy, but I'll admit the jurt is still out on him. However, he really did show a lot this year.

Pisa Tinoisamoa -- Our only LB worth a damn, besides Polley on occassion. Chiller might develop into a good backup still.

Kevin Curtis -- Unbelievable last couple of games. An amazing 3rd round pick.

Shaun McDonald -- Quick and agile WR. Plus has potential as a punt returner. Can't argue about him being a 4th round pick.

Steven Jackson -- Still has a lot to learn, but tremenous potential. Excellent 24th overall pick.

Anthony Hargrove -- Might have been able to get him later in the draft, but he clearly is going to be a major player for the RAMS for many years to come. Just look at that play against Walter Jones against the Seahawks in the playoffs this year. Amazing.

I think we all can agree that we did pretty damn well with these picks.


Marc Bulger -- The Quiet Warrior. He really had an amazing year with all of the injuries to the OL. It's pretty obvious that we made the right decision for our QB.

Scott Tercero -- Showed a lot of potential and had some good games. Should develop into a solid lineman.

Blaine Saipaia -- Had a couple of rough games, but also held up pretty well in the RT position. I think he will become a good lineman as well.

Larry Turner -- For a 7th round pick, he did a servicable job. Hopefully, he can continue to develop.


Heart -- This team showed a termendous amount of heart this year. Honestly, going from 6-8 to playing in the second round of the playoffs is awesome. This goes to show that this team truly believes in Mike Martz and what he does as a head coach.


For the most part guys, this was a transitional year for us. A lot of breaks didn't go our way either. I don't even want to re-count the number of dropped interceptions by our D throughout the year, especially the one by Antuan Edwards last night that could have totally changed the game, who knows. Extremely doubtful though with Marmie's schemes, but you never know.

One thing is for sure though. The future of RAMS football looks very good. I'm going to enjoy the rest of the playoffs and prepare for the draft. I think 2005 is going to be a good year for the RAMS. 2004 was just our year guys. Thats the way it goes, but I think we found out a lot about our team that will show next year.

[moklerman]

Heart -- This team showed a termendous amount of heart this year. Honestly, going from 6-8 to playing in the second round of the playoffs is awesome. This goes to show that this team truly believes in Mike Martz and what he does as a head coach.

Generally speaking, I would agree with this thought but I have to wonder after last night. I mean, after getting spanked in the first meeting of the year, the Rams did even worse in the second meeting. If the Rams weren't in the worst division in football they wouldn't have even been given the chance to embarass themselves.

Anyone know their history? Benjamin Franklin had a technique in helping him make a tough decision. Whenever he had to make a choice on something and he just couldn't figure out which direction to take, he'd draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper and list all the "pro's" on one side of the decision and all the "con's" on the other. Or something to that effect, anyway. Once he had finished the list(s), whichever side was longer was the right decision to make. Maybe we should do that with Martz?

[moklerman]

Okay, I guess I'll start the lists. Please add to whichever list if I forget something important.

Pro's:
1. Knows how to design a good passing game.
2. He's aggressive and makes the Rams unpredictable/entertaining.
3. A lot of the players seem to enjoy playing for him.
...I'm running out of positives.


Anyone want to add to the Pro's or start the Con's? I'm actually stumped at 3! I know there's more but I can't come up with them.

[RamDez]

Originally Posted by moklerman

Generally speaking, I would agree with this thought but I have to wonder after last night. I mean, after getting spanked in the first meeting of the year, the Rams did even worse in the second meeting. If the Rams weren't in the worst division in football they wouldn't have even been given the chance to embarass themselves.

Anyone know their history? Benjamin Franklin had a technique in helping him make a tough decision. Whenever he had to make a choice on something and he just couldn't figure out which direction to take, he'd draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper and list all the "pro's" on one side of the decision and all the "con's" on the other. Or something to that effect, anyway. Once he had finished the list(s), whichever side was longer was the right decision to make. Maybe we should do that with Martz?

Moklerman,

Not knocking you but I read this to be a place to put Positive posts ............

[moklerman]

So where are all these positive comments? I won't stand in someone's way if they want to post positive remarks. I can't help but notice that there aren't too many forthcoming.

Come on everyone, let's talk about all the positives. The fact that so much prodding and digging is needed to find those positives is somewhat telling.

I still haven't got any help on my Ben Franklin test. I purposely have left off the negatives to try and give the positve side a fast start. I would have listed more there myself but I literally ran out. Dez, you can add some positives to the list if you want. Unless you'd rather just talk about me. I have to warn you though, I'm one of the leading experts on that subject.

[txramsfan]

Positives:

Marc Bulger
Kevin Curtis and Shaun McDonald
Ryan Pickett and Jimmy Kennedy

uhhh....that's about it.

[HUbison]

First off, Tanus thanks for this thread. The truth is there are a lot of positive things going on with this team. There are problem areas, but they're not insurmountable, and they can be corrected in one offseason. This team is young, even the O-line....maybe not the starters, but there is youth behind them that can be developed. The D is a bunch of kids, and that's a good thing. With proper coaching (read: fire Marmie), they can be a productive defense. And let's not forget, a productive defense is all we need. With our offensive potential, we don't need a top-3 defense, a top-10 defense will do just fine, and I think we have the personnel on the defensive field to do just that. Our question will lie in our personnel on the defensive sideline and booth.

If we make the right changes, additions, & deletions in the offseason, next year can be a double digit victory season.

[theodus69]

The positives actually will come between now and next season. Hopefully they come. Someone said Bulger might have broken his thumb. any truth to that? I know he got rather beat up Sat!If they can fill the holes of missing Talent , next year looks great,If they can't, Don't expect 8-8 to get us in next year! :ramlogo:

[tanus]

We all seem to forget how battered our OL was for the entire season. How many times have we said it all starts in the trenches? Well, if thats the case, we were pretty far behind with our OL. At least we found 3 OL prospects that now have some game experience in Scott Tercero, Larry Turner, and Blaine Saipaia. Everyone says, get Bulger an OL, which would be nice, but when we go through 11 different starting linemen throughout the year (if you include Wohlabaugh and Turley), its pretty tough.

If there is one thing to look at as a positive for the OL group from the Atlanta game is that when Martz was able to go with his original game plan (first half), the OL held up pretty well and 17 points is a respectable number. Now, once the game got out of hand, we were forced to pass all the time, their DL just dominated us, which happens when they are a better unit and you lose the edge of unpredictability.

Me, I'm just thankful that this team never quit and I got to watch my team play two extra weeks this year. I'm hoping I'll get to watch my team play more extra weeks next year as well with one of those weeks being in February.

[HUbison]

Originally Posted by theodus69

Don't expect 8-8 to get us in next year! :ramlogo:

Actually, I think it could. Not that I want another 8-8, but there is nothing that would lead us to believe the other three teams will be any better. The Seahawks are about to go through a facelift due to all of their free agency. Let's just say, there are a whole lot of lockers at Qwest that have been cleared out for good. The niners will be the "same old niners" (anyone else enjoying that? I know I am.). And the cards will be better, but not yet approaching .500, maybe 6-10. So yea, I think we can win with another 8-8. We need to be better, but so does everyone else.

[AvengerRam]

Positives...


1. Bulger now settled in as unquestioned starter on the cusp of stardom.
2. Jackson looks ready to be the new feature back.
3. Finally have found the depth at WR that was lacking after Hakim and Proehl left.
4. Jimmy Kennedy finally showing his potential and the toughness to play through pain after foot injury.
5. Tony Hargrove and Bryce Fisher (who will hopefully be re-signed) more than adequately replaced Grant Wistrom.
6. Pisa Tinoisamoa developing into defensive leader.
7. Butler and Fisher did solid, if unspectacular, jobs at the starting CB spots.
8. Antuan Edwards (another player that needs to be re-signed) settled down FS spot after Aeneas' injury.