WOW....this team is falling apart

[RamWraith]

I have not questioned this team in a long time and have very much supported them through some of the dark hours the last couple of years. But I am beginning to wonder what the hell is going on.

Today just might go down in Rams history as the single most devastating day of the current franchise. There were so many people that persecuted Martz's way of thinking and some of the bone head things he did. But I don't ever remember players being suspended for drug use, or skipping meetings. People were judgmental about his tactics, well what about the current regime? Cuts that make no sense and signing that even make less. At least Martz was able to tell the public why he did something.

Now I am reading that there are 1,300 tickets left for a sellout against the fricking whiners. People this is our division rival. Did Martz ever not have a sell-out? At least that team was fun to watch and there was always a chance to win.

I am starting to doubt this entire franchise, starting with the oval office. Linehan and Haslett have broken down any hope for the near future and now capped strapped us for years with might be broken down players and what appears to be marginal gamers.

Please tell me there is hope. That things are moving forward and we are not dipping back to the 80's. Tell me all is not lost. We are making decisions that are in the franchise best interest. Where has the trust gone??

[BigGameMN]

Your objection is sustained.

[RealRam]

Please tell me there is hope. -- RamWraith

Hang in there Wraith! I hear you. All these happenings -- Wrotten suspended, Hedgecock released, Owens signed (not to mention Pace lost for the year) -- leave little room for trust and confidence.

But ... I'm thinking that Linehan and Co. are, as we speak, going through a crash course in crisis management and that things will "not worsen", i.e., worse case scenario. It's Tuesday evening and the Rams coaches must be -- they HAVE to be -- working up a monster plan for this Sunday's game Vs. Friskies, albeit with the inclusion of some simple, strange or new plays with the current changes already changing some gears.

More McMichael, more Jax, more OL protection. More deep passes.

All the above. I for one was upset with Madison being released. But let's see if Owens can come in and justify the move. Brian Leonard may be more involved from here on too.

Again, I assure you there is hope. If I may convince myself. :\

[Fat Pang]

Come on Wraith, deep breaths.

One game down, fifteen more to go.

[r8rh8rmike]

It does seem like the sky is falling, but it's not. Not yet. We beat the whiners and we're right back on track.

[evil disco man]

No matter what, just blame it all on Mike Martz, it's a lot easier that way.

If he didn't call so many darned timeouts, Pace wouldn't be out for the season. If he didn't blow so many challenges, Claude Wroten would have stayed clean. If he would've thrown to the tight end more instead of using all those fancy 4-WR sets, we wouldn't need to sign so many TEs now. If it weren't for Martz ignoring the defense, our players could tackle better. See? I feel better now.

Oh yeah, almost forgot - Steve Bellisari! Seriously, what the hell?

:l

-jake-

[Rambos]

At least Martz was able to tell the public why he did something.

Yeah I must have missed why he drafted Trung in the first round.

Why he screwed over Warner.

Why he did not give Marshal the ball in the SB loss.

Did Martz ever not have a sell-out?

Martz was handed a great team, but he sure did not leave one when he left.

capped strapped us for years with might be broken down players

I guess this is big O. We had to sign him, long term.

Wroten I am so pissed, I'm not sure what he used, I guess well see what the staff does with him. If its pot, he might be gone.

Please tell me there is hope. That things are moving forward and we are not dipping back to the 80's

Every team goes through the ups and downs. I still think we are on are way back.

We have some great young players we will get it rolling. I like Martz as a coach, IMO we just let to many guys get out the door on the D and we never replaced one under Martz. Time to rebuild this D. year two of what may take 3-4 years. We still need SS and FS. Young guys like AC,Tino,Spoon, Hill,Bartell and Wade on here.

All we need is to beat the Whinners and we will all feel better

[SavageRam]

Originally Posted by Rambos

All we need is to beat the Whinners and we will all feel better

So true.

No matter how bad it may appear now, a win cures all ills.

[MoonJoe]

Well if it's anything like the 90's we still have 3-4 four games until we start singing the old fight song..."Wait till next year!!"....

[Truth]

I feel you RW. I've been a Rams fan for over 40 yrs. I've seen this kind of thing happen time and time again with this franchise. I'm getting the same old bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with picking up other teams discards just because Linnehan has worked with them before. The fan base is already very restless (no sellout for a Whiners game). We've had a taste of success. We've paid a lot of money to maintain the talent level on our offense. We expect to see a quality product on the field. Do we expect to win every game? No. Do we expect to win the SB every year? No. Do we even expect to win the division every year? No. We do however expect a competitive team on a regular basis. We expect our teams FO and coaching staff to seriously address weaknesses on BOTH sides of the ball. We expect our team to make every effort to put a winning team on the field more times than not.

It's not like I expect a return to the 1999 team. I just want to see a well run, managed, prepared, and competitive team on the field from week to week. It's embarrassing (not to mention unacceptable) to have as much offensive talent as we have and only manage 13 points. I also find it hard to watch defensive players miss assignments and tackles on almost every play.

Dang, I'm venting again. Sorry.

[Ram Dragoon]

Falling apart--how about IMPLODED.

Without question some serious weaknesses are revealed. Just wonder if the Hawks, Cardnals, and ***** noticed its good to rush the ball right or left of center? Bet they have.

Ever since the end of the Martz era, the Rams have been investing in defensive players (save of course all those TEs) and yet I am left wondering where is the pay off for so much effort spend on defense? Personally I don't think its a lack of talent. Just to make it to the NFL means your the elite of ELITE players. What is missing on defense is attitude and lack of leadership. If you want a Rams Defense, get a Ray Lewis--someone who can inspire.

It might be to early to be demanding someones head like the head coaches, Linehand, but I am wonder who planned this game. Who it was that descided not to play S. Jackson during pre-season. And who is responsible for the overall structure of the Rams.

Martz may not have had the leadership qualities of a good head coach--but if I recall right even under Vermil there was grumpings over the workouts during their Superbowl year. No matter what one feels about Martz at least he could find an opponents weakness and game plan for it. The fear of the madman Martz had opposing teams always guessing. The Martz question will likely answered this year in Detroit.

[Truth]

Originally Posted by Ram Dragoon

If you want a Rams Defense, get a Ray Lewis--someone who can inspire.

You're right. We had that. We let London Fletcher go to Buffalo. Dre Bly went to Detroit and so on, and so on. We focused on the offense for a long time and just tried to patch together a defense. We've acquired plenty of defensive players. We just haven't acquired that much defensive talent, or we've acquired players past they're prime.

[mikhal5569]

Wow Wraith, do you think your over reacting enough? What in the hell is this " cashed strapped for years to come with broken down players crap stuff?" Linehan and his staff may have made some really bad game day decisions but I don't see any outlandish signings that will come back to bite us back in the rear in the long term. For an example, Orlando Pace who has had two season ending injuries in the past two years and would cost a eight million salary cap hit to release? I will agree that all the play callings and releases have been more than questionable. But like it or not right now we have to keep the faith and hope like hell that Linehan can at least keep the ship a float until the end of the year. All is not lost. The Rams future is NOT lost. I won't be one of the one who gives up and cries foull until ALL is lost. SUCK IT UP!

[helorm341]

Wow, I wouldn't have expected a "the sky is falling" post from you.

First off, these are grown men who make their own decisions. Wroten is just stupid, but it sounds like Brown didn't really take drugs, just missed a test. Do you think martz gave better anti-drug speeches? Give me a break.

Hedgecock has been pretty useless in his career with the Rams. He would of been invovled in what, 25 downs this season? Maybe we're moving Leonard over to FB and Pittman at #2 back, which would make sense to me to have a change of pace back for Jackson.

The TE thing is stupid, the ONLY thing I can think of is that we're going to be trading Klop or Byrd, package them for a DT or OT maybe? I wouldn't be surprised if this is what happens.

I know the TE thing looks stupid, but I have to believe they have some sort of a plan, if they're just bringing in a TE for the hell of it then I will really wonder WTF is going on at Rams park.

[r8rh8rmike]

Originally Posted by Ram Dragoon

Falling apart--how about IMPLODED.

So after 1 game we're done? Maybe we should wait a few games before we panic.