Hello, fellow Rams fans and others. I've got a few minutes between drinking the first pot of coffee and taking out my two dogs, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts on here to ask "what next?".
In my home, the Rams aren't just a football team. They are a way of life. When an eight year old girl would rather watch the Rams play a game they will probably lose instead of Hannah Montana, then a father knows he is raising a child right.
So, we have gone from 8-8, to 3-13, to 2-14. We have changed coaching staff more often than some people change their oil. We can't seem to find the answers. But still, on any given Sunday, the Rams can look like the meanest team in the league for 50 or 55 minutes...then somehow, they blow it in the last few minutes of play. When I look back on the Rams teams from the last few years, I remember noticing a slow, steady decline. Sure, there were some bright spots - SJ and Bulger both looked fantastic just two seasons ago, Bartell looked like the miracle man this year, OJ has shined, but overall, the intensity of the entire team has faded. Much of this had to do with injuries - it's hard to keep your runningback in the game and your quarterback upright if your O line isn't blocking anyone. Those rare moments when the O line did mesh provided a chance for a big play, but something seemed to always go wrong. Our WR's had WD-40 on their hands, or a route was run in the wrong direction, or the QB was so gun shy that he just wanted to get rid of the ball before getting hit.
This year, it was different. We had all the pieces of the puzzle, but the guy who was trying to put it together didn't know how they fit together. Four games into the season, he was let go. The entire team seemed to change overnight. The swagger was back. The players no longer looked afraid of contact. We won a game against a better Washington team and stunned the league. One week later, we made Dallas a laughingstock. (Kind of like the Eagles did last night...hahahahahahahaha!!!!) People actually began to notice us!
Of course, we all hoped this was the real Rams, but most of us were careful. We'd been burned before, but those guys in Blue and Gold sure looked like winners!
Reality set in way too soon. We couldn't get a "W" the rest of the season. It sounds strange, but until week 9, we actually had a chance to make the playoffs with a 2-6 record. Of course, we all know how that story ends.
But are the Rams really as bad as Detroit? No. Not even close. Think about it. Most of the last 12 games, we were within reach of a win for at least half of the game. More than once, we were within minutes of a win - then disaster struck. Each game had ONE pivotal moment that I wish we could take back and do over. Yesterday, it was the onside kick being called back - OK, two moments: the lack of coverage on that long run. Yet, the Rams did not give up - not until...
-12-29-2008, 07:28 AM
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