Special Teams

[moloch41]

Can anyone explain why the kick and punt return coverages for this unit are still below average? I know at first Mad Mike didn't think they were all that important (like defense or turnovers) until he got bashed so badly that they fired Bobby April (who moved to the Bills and had the #1 ranked special teams, I think) and then went to hire someone else who also coached a terrible coverage unit. Now, Linehan comes in and claims it's going to be one of the higher priorities (which it seemed it was because they went out and got some guys that are good ST performers and a new coach), but they are really only marginally better.

Now, I'm not sure where the stats lie, but every time we kick off or punt the ball, I hold my breath. We almost gave up another one last week against the Saints, which might have really changed the momentum of the game. Luckily, someone was able to pull him down from behind and then the defense held. But if that dude breaks the tackle, we might be looking at 0-9.

I really think the punting of Donnie Jones has saved us a lot of heartache or that unit would be far worse. I just can't see how you can put out such bad special teams year after year and not be able to fix it. One would think it a simple task.

[laram0]

Maybe we need to put more starters on the coverage units? The Steelers and Patriots do it.

[RAMFANRAIDERHATER]

Originally Posted by laram0

Maybe we need to put more starters on the coverage units? The Steelers and Patriots do it.

Bingo, we have a winner. In addition, the Rams are not loaded on talent to begin with, from top to bottom. As a team, I'd guess that the Rams are in the bottom third in the league in overall talent. Put that talent on ST's and you have what we always seem to have. Mediocre to bad special teams. We've changed coaches numerous times, including some that have a history as good ST coaches, (April) but they failed here and then went on to continue their success with other teams. So what could the problem be? The only constant is the players that the Rams use. ..which is quite possibly a true indicator of a teams overall talent. We use guys that are #2's and #3's on the depth chart in their respective positions. They're not starters for a reason. They lack the skills in coverage, speed, tackling, strength, or whatever...but they're not the cream of the crop. ...and quite frankly, the latest crop of Ram players is rather......poor? These are the guys we're asking to cover downfield on kickoffs and punts. Just my take.