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Yes, the Rams were so bad that we -- both people who are still fans -- ought to all start planning our 2009 draft day, nearly 9 months from now. For once, Bennie wrote a column that had the right attitude, though its two columns above one that says the Rams could have a good season. Anyway, you all know my usual drill...
The Good
-Randy McMichael. Honestly, he was the only guy who showed up to play yesterday. He made nice catches, good runs (he almost broke one), and did a fine job of blocking when asked to do so.
-Trent Green. He didn't get a concussion...that's gotta be good, right?
-Orlando Pace wasn't the Orlando Pace of five years ago, but it was good to see that he was back in action and effective. I don't think I saw him get beat many times and it only really mattered once, if my memory serves me. If the Rams have any hope at all this season to win a couple of games, this guy has to be healthy.
-Donnie Jones is a stud. Simply put, the guy is just a great punter.
-Coverage units. Yeah yeah, they got nailed for the big 60 yard return but that was on their 8th coverage of the day and on the one time when Jones outkicked the coverage a little too much. Take that away, and they only gave up 52 yards in 8 other kicks. That's a dramatic improvement over the past. Its also the only positive I could squeeze out of this turd, so just roll with it.
-I wouldn't have guessed it, but James Hall lead the team with 8 tackles. I can't remember the last time our defensive line had someone lead the team in tackles. Good job James.
The Bad
-Our linebackers only had 10 solo tackles between them (including backups). Even though the defensive line generally did a good job of tying up blockers (about the only thing they did well), the backers couldn't get the job done and when a runner got past the line he always got into the secondary. Meanwhile, they proved that no one in the unit can cover a tight end (I ought to just save these posts sometimes and re-use the old material).
-Carricker and Long. Both played hard and truly competed. Both did a good job of tying up blockers in run situations, which they should be doing in our base defense. Long even got a couple of tackles, both of which were for a loss. But...neither dominated his individual match-ups and made any plays happen. We've invested so heavily in the defensive line that we need these guys to step up and make some plays. I'm hopeful that as Long gets experience and Carricker gets closer to being fully healthy will see more from these guys.
-Ron Bartell got torched twice, but was generally pretty good the rest of the game. If he could ever work out the inconsistency, he'd be a pretty decent CB.
The Ugly
-Tye Hill is a bust. I've tried to be patient with the kid, cutting him slack two years ago for being a rookie and last year because of the injury. But he gave up two huge plays yesterday and was just rocked on the second one. Rotoworld is already reporting that he'll lose his starting slot; since he's too small for the slot, I expect he'll soon be our fourth CB. Bust.
-Chavous is done. If the guy can't even be in the right spot and take the right angle (on the 90 yard pass play), what good is he? He clearly no longer has the athleticism, so if the so-called leader can't be in the right spot then its time to sit him down. I'm ready for Todd Johnson. For Haslett to continue pretending that they have full faith in him is simply riduculous. Actually, its beyond ridiculous. Seriously, why didn't he pick up the FOURTH FUCKING STRING RECEIVER WHO WAS RUNNING WIDE OPEN IN THE SECONDARY????
-Here is how bad this team is -- we've invested a bunch of high picks in the defensive line, made a trade, and signed our "best" player to a huge contract...and we still can't generate a pass rush. We're losing ground in the areas we're drafting in, even while the rest of the team is falling apart.
-I'm ready to bench Alex Barron too. Seriously, fuck him. He's a chump and he obviously doesn't care. If he cared, he'd figure a way to stand still. Stop jumping dumbass! They need to fine him, make him run laps, kick him in the nuts....something. What a waste of talent this guy is.
-I'm none too pleased with the rest of the offensive line either. The team failed to go out and get a center, even though they were clearly anxious about it. Incognito is a hot head who should've been flagged for a personal foul yesterday and, for whatever reason, doesn't use that aggressiveness on the field.
-Brian Leonard was on the inactive list yesterday. 'Nuff said....Not really. At what point will some of these ass clowns in the front office lose their jobs for what is obviously stupid drafting. We could've had another tackle or defensive end with this pick, something we sorely need. Instead we have a guy who is too small for fullback, not fast enough for halfback, and got beaten out by an unproven guy who doesn't look all that good. I'm sure he's a fine kid and all, but come on.
-We only had six passes completed to wide receivers, including only one to Torry. This team needs to be developing its young players, so its time to stop throwing the ball to Hall and Looker. I even like Looker a lot, but I think it would be wise to give his roster spot to Stanley and develop a kick returner and fifth receiver.
-I've been a big Bulger fan over the years, but one thing is abundantly clear to me now -- he's too battered at this point to be an effective starter. This is exactly what happened with Kurt and its happening all over again. His mechanics yesterday were simply absymal. And, how many times did he throw a ball too low, under throw it, or simply throw it into triple coverage? I could live with the bad mechanics if he were making better decisions, but his decision making was about as bad as I've ever seen it. Unfortunately, we really have nothing behind him.
-Stephen Jackson ran hard, but I'm so pissed about that fucking picture of him laughing it up after the game...Bennie has it right, these guys were just collecting checks. Jackson needs to shut his pie hole and become a leader, because he's starting to come across as that Leon guy from the beer commercials.
-This might have been the worst collective effort by a coaching staff that I've ever seen. Linehan has no clue what he's doing, Haslett's play calling was uninspired, and Saunders didn't work any magic. The QB coach didn't fix any of Bulger's issues and the secondary coach might have actually made the unit worse.
-Bennett is hurt. Now, this might be a positive in someways because he wasn't doing anything on the field. But it just further proves what a fucking waste of money that signing was. Honestly, when do we just release the guy and cut our losses?
The Good
-Randy McMichael. Honestly, he was the only guy who showed up to play yesterday. He made nice catches, good runs (he almost broke one), and did a fine job of blocking when asked to do so.
-Trent Green. He didn't get a concussion...that's gotta be good, right?
-Orlando Pace wasn't the Orlando Pace of five years ago, but it was good to see that he was back in action and effective. I don't think I saw him get beat many times and it only really mattered once, if my memory serves me. If the Rams have any hope at all this season to win a couple of games, this guy has to be healthy.
-Donnie Jones is a stud. Simply put, the guy is just a great punter.
-Coverage units. Yeah yeah, they got nailed for the big 60 yard return but that was on their 8th coverage of the day and on the one time when Jones outkicked the coverage a little too much. Take that away, and they only gave up 52 yards in 8 other kicks. That's a dramatic improvement over the past. Its also the only positive I could squeeze out of this turd, so just roll with it.
-I wouldn't have guessed it, but James Hall lead the team with 8 tackles. I can't remember the last time our defensive line had someone lead the team in tackles. Good job James.
The Bad
-Our linebackers only had 10 solo tackles between them (including backups). Even though the defensive line generally did a good job of tying up blockers (about the only thing they did well), the backers couldn't get the job done and when a runner got past the line he always got into the secondary. Meanwhile, they proved that no one in the unit can cover a tight end (I ought to just save these posts sometimes and re-use the old material).
-Carricker and Long. Both played hard and truly competed. Both did a good job of tying up blockers in run situations, which they should be doing in our base defense. Long even got a couple of tackles, both of which were for a loss. But...neither dominated his individual match-ups and made any plays happen. We've invested so heavily in the defensive line that we need these guys to step up and make some plays. I'm hopeful that as Long gets experience and Carricker gets closer to being fully healthy will see more from these guys.
-Ron Bartell got torched twice, but was generally pretty good the rest of the game. If he could ever work out the inconsistency, he'd be a pretty decent CB.
The Ugly
-Tye Hill is a bust. I've tried to be patient with the kid, cutting him slack two years ago for being a rookie and last year because of the injury. But he gave up two huge plays yesterday and was just rocked on the second one. Rotoworld is already reporting that he'll lose his starting slot; since he's too small for the slot, I expect he'll soon be our fourth CB. Bust.
-Chavous is done. If the guy can't even be in the right spot and take the right angle (on the 90 yard pass play), what good is he? He clearly no longer has the athleticism, so if the so-called leader can't be in the right spot then its time to sit him down. I'm ready for Todd Johnson. For Haslett to continue pretending that they have full faith in him is simply riduculous. Actually, its beyond ridiculous. Seriously, why didn't he pick up the FOURTH FUCKING STRING RECEIVER WHO WAS RUNNING WIDE OPEN IN THE SECONDARY????
-Here is how bad this team is -- we've invested a bunch of high picks in the defensive line, made a trade, and signed our "best" player to a huge contract...and we still can't generate a pass rush. We're losing ground in the areas we're drafting in, even while the rest of the team is falling apart.
-I'm ready to bench Alex Barron too. Seriously, fuck him. He's a chump and he obviously doesn't care. If he cared, he'd figure a way to stand still. Stop jumping dumbass! They need to fine him, make him run laps, kick him in the nuts....something. What a waste of talent this guy is.
-I'm none too pleased with the rest of the offensive line either. The team failed to go out and get a center, even though they were clearly anxious about it. Incognito is a hot head who should've been flagged for a personal foul yesterday and, for whatever reason, doesn't use that aggressiveness on the field.
-Brian Leonard was on the inactive list yesterday. 'Nuff said....Not really. At what point will some of these ass clowns in the front office lose their jobs for what is obviously stupid drafting. We could've had another tackle or defensive end with this pick, something we sorely need. Instead we have a guy who is too small for fullback, not fast enough for halfback, and got beaten out by an unproven guy who doesn't look all that good. I'm sure he's a fine kid and all, but come on.
-We only had six passes completed to wide receivers, including only one to Torry. This team needs to be developing its young players, so its time to stop throwing the ball to Hall and Looker. I even like Looker a lot, but I think it would be wise to give his roster spot to Stanley and develop a kick returner and fifth receiver.
-I've been a big Bulger fan over the years, but one thing is abundantly clear to me now -- he's too battered at this point to be an effective starter. This is exactly what happened with Kurt and its happening all over again. His mechanics yesterday were simply absymal. And, how many times did he throw a ball too low, under throw it, or simply throw it into triple coverage? I could live with the bad mechanics if he were making better decisions, but his decision making was about as bad as I've ever seen it. Unfortunately, we really have nothing behind him.
-Stephen Jackson ran hard, but I'm so pissed about that fucking picture of him laughing it up after the game...Bennie has it right, these guys were just collecting checks. Jackson needs to shut his pie hole and become a leader, because he's starting to come across as that Leon guy from the beer commercials.
-This might have been the worst collective effort by a coaching staff that I've ever seen. Linehan has no clue what he's doing, Haslett's play calling was uninspired, and Saunders didn't work any magic. The QB coach didn't fix any of Bulger's issues and the secondary coach might have actually made the unit worse.
-Bennett is hurt. Now, this might be a positive in someways because he wasn't doing anything on the field. But it just further proves what a fucking waste of money that signing was. Honestly, when do we just release the guy and cut our losses?
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