Mad respect for this guy, btw. One of the best personalities in the media in my opinion:

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Rams' Case Keenum was "seeing ghosts" in season-opening flop


GREG BEACHAM (AP Sports Writer)•Sep 15, 2016, 1:04 PM



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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Case Keenum (17) is tackled by San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman (53) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Sept. 12, 2016. The 49ers won 28-0. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) -- Case Keenum waited five years to begin an NFL season as a starting quarterback. When he finally got the chance with the Los Angeles Rams, his first start was haunting.

''I think that I was seeing ghosts,'' Keenum said Wednesday. ''I was seeing things that weren't there. I wasn't trusting myself and my abilities. I tried too hard.''

And now Keenum's job status is increasingly tenuous after just one week.

The Rams can't wait much longer to cure the profound offensive ineptitude of their opening 28-0 loss to San Francisco. Their official homecoming game against the Seattle Seahawks looms Sunday, and Keenum likely must improve sharply and quickly to persuade the Rams not to play No. 1 pick Jared Goff immediately.

Keenum's 17-for-35 performance for 130 yards and two interceptions was just one faulty part of a creaky Los Angeles offense that produced 10 punts and a turnover on downs.

With the 49ers loading up their run defense while daring Keenum and his receivers to beat them, the Rams were the only NFL team that couldn't score a point on opening weekend, and they couldn't even get in the red zone. The Rams went 3 for 15 on third downs, with Keenum repeatedly throwing to receivers who weren't far enough downfield to move the sticks.

''Case, he made some plays, and then missed some opportunities,'' coach Jeff Fisher said. ''But every game you watch, quarterbacks are missing opportunities. We have to just make sure we take advantage of those opportunities when they're there.''

Keenum believes the solution to the Rams' problems centers on confidence - specifically his own.

''Just trust what you see and let it fly,'' Keenum said. ''That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to trust ... my protection, my mechanics, my rules, my footwork, and trust what I see. Trust the guys out there.''

Kenny Britt had four catches for 67 yards - more receiving yardage than all of his teammates combined. Even Britt realizes the Rams can't rely on the passing game to win.

''We have to do what we do best: Run the ball and run it well,'' Britt said. ''That will loosen it up on the outside, and we can take a couple of shots downfield and take that eighth man out of the box.''

The results weren't exactly a surprise after the Rams finished 32nd in the NFL in total offense and passing offense last season, and then didn't anything in the offseason beyond rookies Tyler Higbee, who started at tight end, and Goff. Fisher said he still hasn't decided whether Goff will move up to become the backup quarterback Sunday.

Fisher said the Rams' new play-caller, offensive coordinator Rob Boras, emerged from the game frustrated with himself. The Rams continually failed to create running room for Todd Gurley, and that problem is only likely to get worse against Seattle's vaunted defense, which limited Miami to 10 points in its defense-dominated opener.

Gurley didn't participate in the Rams' brief workout Wednesday after carrying the ball 17 times for 47 yards in the opener. The Rams barely used Gurley in the preseason to keep him healthy, but his fresh legs weren't much good against a San Francisco defense that smothered him, particularly between the tackles.

Britt attributed many of the Rams' problems to opening-night jitters. After eight months of uncertainty and moving, the regular season's arrival might have caught the Rams thinking too much instead of playing instinctive football.

''That will change up this week,'' Britt said. ''You realize it's only the first game, and everybody is always overexcited when you come into the first game. You don't want to overthink stuff. You don't want to miss stuff. You don't want to see one thing and then miss the next thing, so I know things will calm down for all of us.''

---

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

I have been hearing about this guy for a while, although he has only been the HC at Houston for 2 years. Dude has his little school beating good schools from the Big Boy Conferences. He is 14-1 as Head Coach, and his team's performance may push it's way into a "Power Conference", in which case his boss (UO), will give him $5 million bonus. He's young and he's relevant, and gets out a lot from his squad of players vs supposed superior football programs. Sounds attractive to me as a possible HC for the Rams.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...0acea4-751e-11e6-be4f-3f42f2e5a49e_story.html

LA Rams Film Room Review: Week One At San Francisco 49ers

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2016/9...film-room-review-week-one-san-francisco-49ers

"Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is outsmarting himself."

There is a Jeff Fisher approval poll at the bottom of the linked article if anyone would like to ask Jeff Fisher "WTF was that?"

For the first time in the decade, Buck & Aikman will be commentating for us. The last time these two commentated for us was in 2008 against the New York Giants, week 2 (coincidentally) when Holt was playing his last year with us, Bulger was still under center, and Linehan was our HC.

My thoughts: I was critical of Buck's commentary back then for being lackluster in showing any emotions. Many fans still despise him for that disgusting act by Randy Moss years back as well as the lack of passion for commentating the 2008 Super Bowl, especially during that Tyree catch. Fast forward to 2010, he was on the verge of losing his job as a commentator. Since getting help, he's improved exponentially and I believe his commentary in recent years does an excellent job representing primetime football on FOX; there's been more passion in his tone when big plays occur and I definitely can appreciate improvement from someone who's been rather monotone before. Haven't made much observations on Aikman but I would say his color commentary is good too, keeping the Cowboy homer to a dull roar.

If I recall also, he also burned Stan K hard prior to moving to LA, I look forward to hearing those angry rants; if you're going to talk about this subtopic, please do not derail this into an LA vs StL thread, feel free to lock this topic mods if it gets out of hand. Other than that, your thoughts, comments, favorite NFL commentators?

Head Coach Jeff Fisher, 9/14

(Opening remarks)
“You’ve heard of the 24-hour rule. If you haven’t, and you’re new to this, I’ll explain to you what it is. We basically have this philosophy, and everybody does, that you get 24 hours to get this thing over with, and corrected, and done. In this case, I gave them a 22-hour rule, because we got a short week. We’re just wrapping up with the players now at 5:00 p.m. We’re correcting things and looking at tape, and see what happens, and then we go on; we have to move on. Everybody is sleep deprived, but that’s a part of the Monday Night game. So, the coaches have already got a good start on our next opponent. I did ask the players, just to take an extra half hour…so maybe it’s an 22.5-hour (rule), and go back and reflect; make sure that we did everything possible that we possibly could do last week. That’s about preparation, and everything. Players are resilient, they bounce back. They’re excited about this challenge this coming weekend.

“As far as the game is concerned, you don’t win games converting 3-of-15 on third down, You don’t win games with 10 penalties, seven on defense. Not rushing the football, not scoring points, giving up too many big plays. There were some really good things in the game. Great, tremendous efforts, tremendous plays, in all three phases. Let me remind you, this is not a preseason game. This is a regular season game, and we didn’t do enough to win the game. So, you learn from it and you move on. From an injury standpoint, we came through it healthy, which is encouraging. Everybody is in good shape.

(On what disappointed him the most about last night’s game)
“It was the constant inability to get back into the game. We had opportunities. When we were third-and-3, we called a timeout, avoided the delay of game, got the first down, and then we get the penalty. We get (RB) Todd (Gurley) has the penalty. So now, we’re back out 15 yards, and we throw the interception. We had opportunities to get back in the game; we just never capitalized on it.”

(On his thoughts regarding last night not looking like a Jeff Fisher coached team)
“We didn’t. We expected to go in there and compete, and win the football game. I didn’t expect to go in there and get beat 28-0. Yes, you have to go back and look at it. Offensively, we couldn’t make plays. It’s a combination of bad decisions at the quarterback position, and drops at the receiver position. When you look at games like this, what happens is…I’ll take, for example, the offensive line. You’ve got five guys up there that are going to grade out really well, in a loss, but each one of them had a mistake. If you add those five mistakes in critical situations, that costs you a third-down conversion, that costs you an opportunity to score. We had mistakes; we had too many mistakes at different positions at different times, it added up.”

(On if he’s concerned about the decision-making of his leaders, in regards to the Gurley and DT Aaron Donald penalties)
“That’s a great point. We addressed it today. Todd was a little frustrated when he flipped the ball past the official and it landed in the hands of an opponent. Sometimes that’s called, and that’s not called. The learning experience from that is just give it to him, put it on the ground. When they scored their final touchdown, their tight end spiked the ball right in front of three of our defensive players; that was not called. So, that in itself is also a learning experience for our guys. Now with respect to Aaron, Aaron was playing really hard, and there was some chirping going on in that little scrum. He shouldn’t have done it, but he kind of pushed (WR Quinton Patton) 11 away, who I am fond of, I think he’s a really good player, I’ve known him since he was about this big, he played at Nashville. So, the helmet comes off; so now things start. The officiating department got involved. One of the officials put his hands on Aaron, and Aaron, just didn’t know him, he just slapped hands down, so that’s what he was ejected for. The helmet coming off was a result of the ejection, which I disagree with. The helmet doesn’t come off if he’s not ejected. He does have a 15-yard penalty, which is not acceptable. When you have time to look at it and be realistic, that’s how those things play out. But, we addressed it. These are two captains that had significant penalties in this game, and we just can’t have that.”

(On if anything stood out about the inability to run the ball consistently yesterday)
“Well they didn’t let us – they weren’t going to let us – their whole defense was setup to that. We had, probably, a half-dozen runs that were close to getting unblocked to the safety with Todd, it’s just that close. Their commitment was to stop the run and then try to get us to make the plays outside. But we wanted to stay with the run because it’s the run game that helps you get the plays outside.”

(On if he has made a decision regarding whether QB Sean Mannion or QB Jared Goff will be the backup on Sunday)
“No I haven’t, I will. And there’s that chance, too (that Goff is the backup). He’s pushing along; this whole experience for Jared was good – not good for our team, but good for him to see all this. We’ll decide later in the week.”

(On if he was aware that DE Robert Quinn and WR Kenny Britt were going to raise their fists during the National Anthem)
“I was not aware of that and I still haven’t seen it and I haven’t addressed it with them yet. But they have the right, they totally have the right and I get the issue. I think what we’ve done and what the organizational philosophy, with respect to the anthem, is well-known. They have the right to do that. I think there’s a difference between what they did and sitting down or kneeling down or sitting on the bench and things like that. But they have that right and I respect that.”

(On the kind of game he thought offensive coordinator Rob Boras called and if they were trying to get the ball up the field more)
“As a head coach, as coordinators, we all second-guess ourselves after it’s all said and done. Rob was not happy with himself, but a lot of it was dictated by what the defense was doing and by what we were trying to do. We wanted to get the run-game going, we needed to get the run-game going. We felt that, even at halftime being down two scores, we felt (that) we just needed to take balance in this game and make some plays and get some points and we’ll find a way to win this. As I mentioned to you in the past, Rob did an outstanding job calling plays the last four or five weeks (of last season) when I put him in a difficult position – he’s a good playcaller, we just didn’t execute for him.”

(On if he has to massage egos or if the team was down on themselves today)
“There’s the actual sense of disappointment and frustration, but you have got to push that out, you have got to eliminate that and come back ready to work. Our challenge, which we talked to them about, was we’re on a short week already, so we’re back tomorrow. And today we’re trying to recover, so tomorrow’s going to be a mental day and we have to get everybody back in the swing of things, physically. Yeah, we talked about it. Players are different than coaches – my job is to go back down the hall and get the coaches going because losses linger much longer with coaches than they do players. Players wake up in the morning and go ‘Oh, shoot, who are we playing this week?’ But, you also have to go into detail, like we said, about what happened.”

(On starting G Cody Wichmann at right guard and the rotation during the game)
“Yeah, our plan going in was to let them both play – Cody and ‘J.B.’ (G Jamon Brown). We’ll probably settle into one or the other by the end of the week. But you’re very observant, they both played and they both had a moment, but they also both did some really good things there. In addition to that, I was really pleased with (T) Rob (Havenstein) – once he settled down after the first quarter, it was really good to have Rob back at the right tackle spot.”

(On Seattle Head Coach Pete Carroll coming back to the Los Angeles Coliseum after coaching at USC for a number of years and if addresses the type of reception he expects Carroll to get)
“I would like to think that we would have a significant home-field advantage there. From a personal standpoint, I’m excited – this is our home opener here. We’re disappointed what happened last night, but as the week goes on, the enthusiasm and excitement is going to grow. As far as Pete is concerned, I could see the emotions that Pete is going to go through. He and I have been doing this a long time, this is about our teams competing and finding a way to win the game. I’m sure he’ll have an emotional moment. I may bring him into my office – which was his old office – and let him see it.”

(On how to not allow a defeat like this to define the team)
“It’s pretty simple, if you beat them down all week because we got beat, you have really little chance of having success the next week. You have to learn from it and move on. It’s, again, what I said earlier – they’re resilient, they come back. Everybody is either 1-0 or 0-1 right now, our focus is on Week 2 and that’s what gives you a chance. It’s a good group, they’re disappointed, they’re disappointed in each other but they’re together. The defense understands that they’re going to need the offense and the offense understands that they’re going to need the defense and special teams will balance it out. They’re together right now and they’re ready to compete this week and get ready.”

(On what advice he will give the team about shutting down the outside noise that will be talked about for the rest of the week and focus on the upcoming game)
“Well that’s okay, it’s talked about in every NFL city. Teams are winning and hey, they’re going to the playoffs. Teams lose and they’re not going to the playoffs – it’s doom and gloom. You don’t get caught up with that, you just focus on what you’re doing – turn to each other and have fun and prepare.”

(On if there’s a little bit of advantage to playing a team that you have had recent success against after just suffering a loss)
“I don’t know if there’s an advantage or not. My job, as the head coach, and our jobs as a staff is to get them ready to play and respect this opponent because they’re highly-talented. I think Miami is a good football team and for them to hang in there and find a way, even with (Seahawks QB) Russell’s (Wilson) ankle situation, to find a way to win that game is impressive. We’re just going to prepare. We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us; we respect them, they respect us. I love watching them play – the Seahawks – because they play hard, Pete does a great job and fortunately, we’ve had some success against them.”

I hope we win 6 straight starting this Sunday but ... I'm asking your honest opinion.
If we start off 0-4 do you think Kroenke pulls the plug on Fisher and fires him instantly?
I don't see how he could keep his job at 0-4 in year five.

Or what about the bye week? We will have played 7 games.
What Win-Loss record do you feel it would take to fire Fisher at the bye week?

I'm thinking 2-5 would make it happen.

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for some QB school or training program? Which QB did he think the Rams should have taken #1? And was Fisher the only thing that kept Weinke from having Goff ready for week 1? Was Goff forced on Weinke?

I was really in hopes that Weinke was hired to make up for Fishers short comings as far as getting a QB ready to start his NFL career, but if that was the case why didnt he tell Fisher the best way to get him ready for the NFL was to give him as many preseason reps with the 1s as possible?

First post here. Rams fan for 45 years located near Toronto. I was sorry to see the Rams leaves St. Louis but going back to LA was about the best possible outcome.

Like every one else, incredibly bummed out by the horrible first game. Some things I can take in stride but some things I can't. I've been a Fisher supporter throughout but that game convinced me that perhaps his time is up. I can't see him being let go however.

I don't worry about Todd Gurley's mediocre night. His numbers would be better if the passing game was remotely working and if they could have kept the score close. In a close game he can just keep pounding the ball and eventually dominate a tired defense. In theory anyway.

The one specific TD play that I mention though is the 49'ers 3rd TD. The ball was caught right at the goal line. It seemed quite clear that the receiver's knee was down before he rotated his body to put the ball over the goal line. I was screaming for Fisher to challenge. Is there something obvious here I am missing as to why they wouldn't? At 14-0 the game was still viable. At 21-0 it was over.

The lack of vertical passing is very disturbing. Did they even take one shot down the field in any of the four exhibition games? I hope Pharoh Cooper can contribute here at some point.

On the bright side, GRob had no false starts and there were no injuries. Let's hope we can keep up our magic against Seattle.

Thank you.

Keenum is basically the starter because he has a better grasp of the offense from a mental stand point. But does that out weigh the physical limitations he has as far as throwing the ball? Both Mannion and Goff have far superior arms than Keenum. I mean how far behind can they be at grasping that amateur offense the Rams trotted out Monday night? Are you telling me the 49er defense learned the Rams offense more thoroughly and in less time than the Rams 2 backup QB's have been able too? I find that hard to believe.

The only upside to starting Keenum over the other two is that Mannion or Goff won't get injured. Honestly I'd rather have one of the other guys make some mental mistakes but offset that by making some good throws.
Throws Keenum will never be able to make no mater how well he knows the offense. I see zero advantage starting Keenum if the O the rams plan on running is like what we saw on Monday.

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2016/9...-coach-jeff-fisher-forced-to-draft-jared-goff

On the Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM Radio yesterday, former NFL and USC star WR Keyshawn Johnson said that according to his “outside and inside people”, Los Angles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher was “forced” to draft 2016 NFL Draft #1 overall pick Jared Goff (key quote starts at 38:57 mark):

Johnson: Well, I think [Jared Goff’s benching] is about everybody. I think it’s the people that have to get Jared Goff prepared. I think it’s about the individuals that made the decision to draft him, whether it was Kevin Demoff or whether it was Les Snead with a little bit of help from Jeff Fisher.

From my outside people and the inside people that I know with the Rams, that wasn’t the choice that Jeff Fisher really wanted. I think he was basically forced to draft Jared Goff.

Smith: Who did he want?

Johnson: I think he wanted more players. I think he wanted more players because he felt that he could be more competitive with more players, but they felt they needed to make a splash moving into Los Angeles and drafting a quarterback.

Look. I don’t care what anybody say, and I say this all the time. I’ve seen Jared Goff for three years. Three years out here in the Pac-12. I like him. He’s a nice kid, but he wouldn’t have been my #1 overall pick. He just wouldn’t have been. He doesn’t give me...

This isn’t Andrew Luck or Cam Newton we’re talking about. You don’t move up to take this type of guy.


The evaluation of Goff? That’s secondary.

Consider the charge Johnson is making here. That the Rams forced their head coach, who has been reportedly in charge of personnel decisions since being hired in 2012, to trade up to the #1 overall spot to draft a quarterback not on the merits of his football capability, but to “make a splash” following the relocation of the franchise from St. Louis to Los Angeles.

That’s a damning accusation. It suggests that the Rams aren’t sincerely trying to field the best football team possible. It reinforces the suggestion I’ve made that the Rams don’t prioritize winning, but does so in much more deleterious fashion.

What Johnson is suggesting is that not only do the Rams not prioritize winning, but they’re actively subverting their chances at winning to “make a splash,” to sell fans on style over substance.

Keep in mind, this is a franchise that posted the worst offense in the NFL by several metrics and kept that offense in tact, save for former leading receiver TE Jared Cook and ex-starting QB Nick Foles. Their entire starting offense for Week 1 of 2016 was comprised of members of the NFL’s worst offense in 2015. Why? Because the Rams didn’t have the draft capital to address the offense in any meaningful way after trading up to get Jared Goff. They’ve tossed in their first-round and third-round picks from the 2017 NFL Draft as well meaning this year’s offense, which started the season by putting up a shutout in San Francisco on Monday, is unlikely to get much substantial capital support through next year’s draft.


It’s one hell of an accusation that I’m eager to see media follow up on.

Johnson is part of a new morning show for ESPNLA 710AM, Los Angeles’ ESPN Radio affiliate, with Jorge Sedano and columnist LZ Granderson debuting a week from today.

http://www.footballzebras.com/2016/09/13/week-2-referee-assignments-2016/

Week 2 referee assignments
by Ben Austro

Sunday, Sept. 18

Seahawks at Rams — Jerome Boger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Boger

Boger served as referee for a game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans during the 2006 season. In the third quarter of the game, Titans' defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth was ejected for stomping on the head of Cowboys offensive lineman Andre Gurode.

Boger also served as referee in 2006 in a Monday Night game where the Chicago Bears defeated the Arizona Cardinals in one of the greatest comebacks in league history.

During a 2011 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and St. Louis Rams, Boger was announcing a holding penalty against Rams' offensive tackle Harvey Dahl, when his open microphone picked up Dahl proclaiming "That's not fucking holding!" The obscenity was not only broadcast to the crowd at the Edward Jones Dome, but to the television audience watching on CBS as well. Dahl was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for his profane rant.

Boger was chosen to be the referee of Super Bowl XLVII, held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on February 3, 2013, only the second African-American to do so behind Mike Carey five years earlier. His selection sparked some controversy: several other NFL officials questioned the leagues' officiating department's grading process, claiming that all of Boger's downgrades during the season were reversed. He was also the alternate referee of Super Bowl XLV, which was held on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas.

Boger's crew was involved in two controversial calls during a St. Louis Rams–San Francisco 49ers game at Levi's Stadium on November 2, 2014. Just before halftime, Rams' return specialist Tavon Austin attempted to run back a missed 55-yard field goal attempt by 49ers' kicker Phil Dawson from out of the end zone, and after crossing the goal line, he was tackled at the 1-yard line by the 49ers' Derek Carrier, and into the end zone for what was nearly a safety.

However, Boger explained: "The ruling on the field was that the ball carrier (Austin) brought the ball out onto the field of play, and that there was contact by the defender (Carrier) that forced him back into the end zone." Near the end of the game, with the 49ers trailing 13–10 and out of timeouts, quarterback Colin Kaepernick attempted a quarterback sneak at the Rams' 1-yard line for a potential game-winning touchdown.

However, Kaepernick fumbled the snap before the football broke the plane of the goal line under a pile of players. Boger ruled that there was nothing on the replay that could change the original ruling on the field, in which the Rams recovered the fumble.

Boger's 2016 NFL officiating crew consists of umpire Rich Hall, head linesman Ed Camp, line judge Dana McKenzie, field judge Eugene Hall, side judge Walt Coleman IV (son of active NFL referee Walt Coleman), and back judge Tony Steratore.

Was on the Rams website, checking out the vids.

One of 'em was...
"Relive it - week one at the 49ers".

Look, obviously the offense played pathetically. We were never going to win that game. But when you look at a few things, I start getting more angry with the defense:

1. TOP - Niners only held a 5 minute advantage; not significant at all in todays NFL. We've seen teams win a game when they've only possessed the ball for 20 minutes, so I refuse to give the defense a pass because of the ineptness of the offense

2. The first half - even if you were inclined to blame the offense for the defensive failures, it becomes harder to do if you just focus on the first half. The Niners scored 14 points and had over 100 yards rushing. Gabbert converted way too many 3rd downs, which brings me to...

3. 3rd down conversions. For the game they were 8-17. That's elite offensive performance there for the Niners. 8-17 would make them one of the best 3rd down converting teams in the NFL. Considering their personnel, our defense played a TERRIBLE game.

4. No sacks. There are no words to even describe this one.

5. Dropped INTs. Joyner with two and Tree with one, which likely scores for us. Ouch.

6.. And most importantly for me - we've invested FAR more into the defense than the offense. Given their performances relative to the talent/resources put into them....the defense was almost more of a disappointment than the offense. I say almost because obviously you can't do worse than not scoring. But many a game has been won or lost 3-0 or 10-7.

Kind of early to give up on a third round pick. Maybe he is worth a look see.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/...und-rookie-cb-russell?ls=roto:FA:topheadlines

The Rams’ franchise is now worth nearly four times what it was when Kroenke bought a majority share back in 2010.

http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic...n_after_move_to_los_angeles/s1_12680_21826897

Abandon Hope

In this post I will highlighting why there is no light at the end of tunnel for this Rams in the near future. Nothing said here will change even if Rams will 7 or 8 games this year.

Ownership:

It’s a zero sum game either Rams win or not for ownership. They are in business of making money not winning for you- the FAN. As long as they are not embarrassed 28-0 many times, they will settle for 6-10 seasons for the next two years. If their PSLs are selling well at the end of 2017, they will let Fisher coach for another decade. If not, there will be a change early 2018. But nothing in the last 15 years that the ownership has done should trick you into thinking they give a damn about winning or losing on the field.

Coaching:

Going into fifth year, there are more questions than answers. The team is as undisciplined in 5th year as year 1 due to poor coaching. Boras appears outmatched. Looking back, Brain Scotty was the best OC Fisher had with Rams. Gregg Williams gets more credit than what he achieved with Rams. And Fisher will not hire anyone who may outshine him in both football and non-football sense on either offense or defense. Fisher's assistants are not sought after. When they are fired they end up in a lower ranked job or retire. The good assistants almost always never want to work for Fisher. The game has passed him by. He knows he cannot change the narrative of his coaching years or his philosophy of the past 20 years. All he has now, like you and me, is hope. Hope that his team wins somehow. When he tells he knows what he is doing to cameras, what does it say about his inner thoughts? With Carroll, Arians and Kelly in this division, let’s ask ourselves where our coach ranks in this division. By the way, I believe Fisher's contract has been extended but they are not announcing it yet.

Offense:

Wide Receivers, TE: There is no more inept group of receivers than Rams have assembled. Kenny Britt at best a 2nd receiver on most teams. Tavon Austin is just a speed decoy without fluid route running ability. A #3 receiver at his very best and generally should be a #4 receiver. Quick will not make 53 man roster on 25 other teams. No one knows if they can teach rookie WRs to grow up in NFL. TE group is as putrid as WRs and nothing to write about. The talent at this position is almost laughable. It will be prudent to note receiving talent in 2012 was better than 2016.

Running Backs: If real Gurely is the one who averaged 140 yards the first 6 games are so, Rams have their own Adrian Peterson. If real Gurley is one from the last 9 games, oh boy!. But I believe real Gurely is the one who we saw in the first 6 games. Cunningham is a good backup to have. Nothing else matters. Rams are set here for years.

Offensive Line: If Paul Bourdeau is one of NFL's gold standard, then standards should be abolished. What he has done with that group is very tepid. He never raised their level of play. In some ways, Fisher has to be blamed again here. Except for GRob, Bourdeau was given poor talent and was asked to make chicken salad out of it. Still, coaching matters and I don't believe he has risen up to the occasion. We are still waiting on GRob to play to his draft level. Saffold is good but his best days are behind him. Barnes is a warm body that can snap. Havenstein looks below average. Brown looked like pro bowler last year until he was hurt. So not sure where things will end up with him and it is not looking as good.

QuarterBacks: I still hear the giggles from this board when Keenum won 3 of 4 games he started last year. He never had the arm to be a 16 game starter in this league. He is still a good backup to have and has no business starting. What characterstics made him team capitaan in 2016 is beyond me (this could be another of Fisher's six sigma thinking that average fans like me may not understand). Goff is not ready now and hope they don't throw him to wolves this year with poor OL play,disgusting play calls and schemes. The important thing is does Goff have it? I don;t know the answer. In life, nurturing talent makes 99% of talented people successful. Can one believe Fisher's coaches and system will help nurture Goff's talent to enable him to become the next Eli Manning or Carson Palmer if not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? (To my core I believe, Fisher will destroy Goff beyond redemption). Sean Mannion has to play at least 8 games this year to see what they have in him.

Defense: On defense 5 starters are gone (Long, JL, JJ, Ayers, McLeod) and it appears the talent is not just there to replace them both on field and leadership wise.

Defensive Line: They have a top 3 defensive line in the league. Aaron Donald is a future HOF. Worried about Quinn's production of late. My hope was Quinn would be unstoppable with Donald in the lineup. JL and Chris long left leadership void more than talent void on this defense. The other line men are effective to a good extent. I am happy for the talent in this group.

Line Backers: This group needs Ogletree and others to step up. Mark Barron has found his niche. Nothing to write about regarding the talent pipeline for this position group. Coming weeks should answer more questions about this group.

Secondary: TJ is a good talent. If EJ Gaines is not 100% soon, this secondary is toast. Joyner is awful. He should be a backup. Safety play is to be determined.

Special Teams: Special team coaching and players are strength of this staff. If Greg Zurelin can be consistent they have top 5 special teams in the league.

Overall, it is a depressing state of affairs from both micro and macro levels in 2016 than it was in 2012 for several reasons: A NFL level QB (Bradford) was on the team, a lot of draft picks from trade with Washington was available, a new coaching staff came in to be hopeful. In 2016, the same coaching staff may be the worst in league, draft picks were traded away and there appears to be no NFL ready QB available on the team with holes in both defense and offense sides.

To everyone who is behind this coaching staff, I have one question, Why?

Many fans are reluctant to replace either Keenum or Fisher just yet. The old why change the horse in midstream conundrum.

I can understand that line of thinking. I think that strategy is my preference right now, too.

But a part of my brain keeps asking me two questions that are hard to answer.

1) If we were to replace Fisher in mid season, could his replacement do all that much worse than losing 28-0 to an inferior opponent, talent wise? And let's be honest here, that score could have easily been more lopsided. I mean, what temp HC could do worse than leading an unprepared and uninspired team to a humiliating shutout loss on national TV? Nowhere to go but up from there, don't you think?

2) Same question at QB. Could Goff do all that much worse than Keenum on Monday night? We all know the stats. At least Goff or Mannion could present a legitimate threat for an occasional deep throw that the opponent must respect. Just how much worse than zero points with 2 interceptions could it be with either QB, anyway?

We may be at the point of having nothing left to lose here, fellas. Where was the team's pride against the Niners? How much longer before Fisher loses the team? We all saw the frustration of Donald and Gurley. Two normally classy and well behaved elite players that lost it. I can relate. I wanted to throw something through my TV screen, myself.

Anyway...

Just some food for thought. Might stimulate some discussion as we all are licking our wounds.

I am ready to see Goff play, after that embarrassing game Monday night I have already seen enough. I drove around working yesterday and from 9-5 ESPN radio was just slamming our team, " they look worse than the bills and Browns," " set offensive football back 50 years" Why is this happening again? I am ready for Goff, I want to know if he truly has the potential we are hearing about or if he really does deserve to be in street clothes. If he proves to be a bust, our team will struggle for years. I'm truly worried and its only week 2 !

Bonsignore: Case Keenum, Jeff Fisher just the start of Rams' opening night woes

By VINCENT BONSIGNORE / STAFF COLUMNIST

[www.ocregister.com]

SANTA CLARA – Case Keenum took the snap at the end of the Rams’ 28-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, planted a humble knee into the turf at Levi’s Stadium and figuratively screamed: “We give up.”

On an embarrassing night in the Bay Area, it was a fitting, symbolic gesture of the Rams’ ineptness. Sadly, it might have been the only play the Rams perfectly executed from beginning to end.

It was that kind of night in Santa Clara, as the Rams feebly stumbled about offensively in their opening night as the Los Angeles Rams and pretty much surrendered all the positive vibes and momentum of their return to Southern California.

The question is, will it be that kind of season?

This much is certain: The honeymoon is over.

All that heartwarming nostalgia flew right out the window.

If the Rams thought they could float their way through their first season back in L.A. atop a magic carpet ride of sentimentality, reality delivered a vicious right cross.

That’s not going to happen in Los Angeles.

Here is another dose of harsh truth.

It doesn’t get any easier.

The schedule gets tougher, the quality of opponent improves and the travel harsher.

The Rams better get their act together, and in a hurry.

Where to start is the question, because Monday night exposed a litany of issues.

Here are a few observations:

KEENUM GOT EXPOSED

The undrafted quarterback out of Houston has worked hard to play himself into a starting position in the NFL. But as Monday night showed, the Rams might be the only team in the league for which he’d be a starter. Had No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff played better in training camp, Keenum would be right back where he belonged: on the bench as a backup you can trust – somewhat – in short stints as the emergency starter.

Keenum started 16 games over his first four seasons, but never as his team’s opening-day No. 1 and certainly not as a prolonged answer.

He’s essentially keeping the seat warm for Goff, but after looking overwhelmed while throwing for 130 yards and two interceptions on 17-of-35 passing for a putrid 34.2 quarterback rating, his leash just got a whole lot shorter.

Keenum stands barely over 6 feet and has a low release point – which reared its ugly head on a tipped ball that landed in the hands of the 49ers for an interception. He is also limited by a below-average throwing arm, which was exposed when he tried to deliver downfield. On pass attempts 5 yards or longer, Keenum was 5 of 18 for 74 yards and a pair of picks.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher acknowledged afterward he contemplated bringing in backup Sean Mannion, but decided to stick with Keenum.

But if this keeps up?

“Well, I’ll adjust,” Fisher said, “But I don’t expect it to continue.”

Give Keenum credit for accepting responsibility.

“Well, I’m not happy. It’s not something that I’ll go out and think about, but this team deserves better plays from its quarterback and I intend on doing that,” Keenum said.

But it’s hard to have hope he’ll get significantly better anytime soon.

SHORTAGE OF LINEBACKERS

The Rams released veteran starting outside linebacker Akeem Ayers in a money move, and while they hoped to bring him back on a reworked contract, the Buffalo Bills beat them to the punch. The Rams shrugged it off, believing they could get by against the 49ers’ spread offense by operating out of base nickel and dime packages in which only two linebackers were on the field.

That proved to be a big mistake, as the 49ers continually exposed the Rams’ lack of strength in the middle of the field with big-chunk power runs and scrambles by quarterback Blaine Gabbert. On many plays, Rams cornerbacks got overwhelmed at the point of attack by bigger blockers.

Up next is the Seattle Seahawks, who pose a big-time power running threat.

Something has to give at linebacker – and barring adding a newcomer, the Rams must turn to youngsters such as Cory Littleton and Josh Forrest. That doesn’t bode well against the Seahawks.

AUSTIN HAS TO DO BETTER

The Rams rewarded Tavon Austin with a four-year contract extension at $42 million, and spent the entire offseason devising and implementing new ways to get Austin the ball.

Give them credit for following through on the plan, as Austin was targeted a reasonable 12 times Monday night.

The problem is, Austin made little use of the chances, catching four balls for a meager 13 yards and rushing one time for 2 yards.

Austin dropped a few catchable passes, Keenum missed on a few targets, and when the ball was secured, Austin did little with it.

As one of the Rams’ few playmakers, it’s up to Austin to figure out better ways to do more with the opportunities. The 12-target ratio is more than enough. Now Austin needs to back it up with production.

“We’re going to go back to work this week and I guarantee we won’t look like this again.” Austin said.

PENALTIES REMAIN AN ISSUE

The Rams were the ninth-most penalized team last year and vowed to make improvements. If you caught any of training camp, many Tuesday practices ended with wind sprints as Fisher tried to discipline the previous games’ infractions.

A lot of good it did.

The Rams reverted to their old mistakes against the 49ers, getting flagged an excruciating 10 times for 102 yards. In doing so, they sabotaged potential scoring drives and aided touchdown drives by San Francisco.

HORRIBLE START FOR FISHER

Fisher is on the last year of his contract, and while there was talk this offseason about a contract extension, nothing came to fruition. At this point, the Rams might want to let this season play out a little longer before giving him more years and money.

The Rams looked overwhelmed and unprepared Monday behind an offense that couldn’t move the ball and a defense that was bit on the backside by some curious personnel decisions.

They also looked undisciplined with the 10 penalties – culminating in Aaron Donald getting thrown out of the game after pushing off the helmet of a 49ers player.

That goes straight to the head coach, and it’s obvious Fisher didn’t have his team mentally or physically ready to play.

Worse, he went “there” after the game by pointing to the team’s move from St. Louis as a possible excuse for the bad performance.

In fact, he actually threw in an extra “move” by saying the Rams have moved four times over the past eight months, when in reality it’s been three: St. Louis to Oxnard for OTAs, then to Irvine for training camp and onto Thousand Oaks as their home base.

After pretty much resisting the move as a potential crutch through the entire offseason, Fisher conveniently reached for it on opening night.

And that’s unacceptable.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...be-rams-backup-this-week?campaign=Twitter_atn

i became a Ram fan in the 60's and agonized EVERY loss over the years but was no more disappointed than MNF. Even the stolen loss to the Pats in the SB and the heart wrenching loss to Carolina in the playoffs doesn't compare. The coaching staff collectively sh*t a brick. The players were overwhelmed by an inferior team. I can't imagine how these players could trust the coaches after such an embarrassing lack of performance. The entire game it seemed like Chip Kelly KNEW every play call and was prepared while the Rams were dumbfounded.

But I've seen Fisher and Williams outsmart their competition in the past. Yes, they laid a Brontosaurus egg against a dumpster fire team. But I believe they took this game for granted while saving bullets for the Hawks. This happened the first game under the spotlight. Nearly EVERY team lays an egg from time to time...it's inevitable .

But three things are about to happen. 1. The players will rise up with the pride and talent they have. 2. The coaches will admit their ridiculous gameplan and adjust accordingly, and 3. The team grow through the year into something we can be proud of again.

I realize I sound Pollyanna but too much work has been done for this game to be all we will see. The season just started. Beat the Hawks and the whole nature of the season changes. Call me a hopeless romantic but this might be just the kick in the groin that propels this team to what it needs to be.