MVN - Most Valuable Network

Rams’ bust against Seattle no exception

It’s no secret that the Rams’ loss to Seattle Sunday was a dud.

We’ve already seen articles putting the blame for the loss on Gus Frerotte’s shoulders (not all unjustifiably) and fans calling for Scott Linehan’s head. Yes, it was a truly disheartening game and may indeed be the nail in the coffin that gets Linehan canned.

Yet what’s gone unexamined is how nearly everything that went wrong in the game resembles the Rams of the last several years. This transcends the team’s injury epidemic this year. No, these were not mere lapses in concentration and failures to execute - this game serves as a testament, in striking fashion, to the trends that have haunted this team for years. (I’ll be restricting most of my analysis below to the years dating back to 1999, the first time the St. Louis Rams resembled much of a team.)

1. Terrible Turnovers

Rams quarterbacks threw two interceptions against Seattle and had several passes batted down, an alarming trend this year that has yet to be solved. The Rams have coughed the ball up 31 times (18 of them interceptions) this year and are -9 in turnover margin, good for 29th in the league. But this recklessness with the ball dates back some time.

Discrediting 2006, an aberration year in which the Rams ranked first in the NFL in interceptions thrown with only 8, the Rams have averaged an embarrasing 27th in interceptions thrown. This was even an issue, if a neglected one, back in the days of the Greatest Show on Turf. Sure, when the team is hemorrhaging points in bunches, it’s easy to let this slide, but the fact remains that the Rams have not done a good job hanging on to the ball, leading to the next point…

2. Coughing Up and Catching Up

The Rams have had a problem with wearing down in the second half over the years, and at no point has that been more obvious than Sunday, when the Rams gave up 17 unanswered points and were shut out in the second half. Of the Rams’ eight losses last year, they held the lead at halftime in two of them; of the Rams’ eight wins, they came back from a halftime deficit in only two. Part of the problem has been those pesky turnovers, which haven’t let the defense rest enough. And being in a quick strike offense for so many years didn’t help either, which brings us to our next point…

3. A Rotten Running Game

The Rams have one of the game’s undeniable stars in Steven Jackson and his predecessor, Marshall Faulk, is an all-time great. Odd, then, that the team has found it so difficult to get the ball into its stars’ hands. It’s true that the Rams still play in a predominantly passing offense, but Jackson (like Faulk before him) has shown he is more than adequate as a pass catcher and has the burst to take passes out of the backfield deep downfield.

This paradox was evident Sunday, when the Rams decided to keep the ball in the hands of a backup, Frerotte, rather than Jackson’s at the end of the game. It’s been said several times before, but why not just let Jackson plunge into the middle four times from the five-yard-line? He’s one of the biggest and most elusive backs in the league. And it wasn’t just a one-time deal: Jackson has 167 touches in 7 games, for an average of 23.86 touches per game. That average last year, his breakout season? About four per higher.

Shockingly, though, the Rams rank ninth this year in time of possession per game. (On the other hand, the Steelers have held the ball three more minutes per game on 30 fewer scrimmage plays this season…) The Rams’ number is inflated by games in which the team allowed the opposing team’s offense to score early and often, but it does suggest that the offensive philosophy isn’t the team’s only issue in falling behind. Certainly another factor is…

4. A Disastrous Disparity

Let’s compare, dating back to 1999, the number of Pro Bowlers on each side of the ball. Offense: 25. Defense: 5. Say enough? Of those defensive Pro Bowlers, only Leonard Little remains on the roster. The commitment to the defensive side of the ball, while it’s improving, still pales in comparison to the talent and effort devoted to the offense. And the Rams have watched defensive free agents walk away without offering them contracts time after time, from Kevin Carter to London Fletcher to Dre Bly to Grant Wistrom, only to watch them have success with other teams.

There was only one reason people were picking the Rams as a playoff darkhorse before the season, and it sure wasn’t Jim Haslett’s unit. So what happens when the offense sputters, even as the defense steps up? Well, a 2-9 record. The defense simply does not have the talent to keep this team in games by itself, and it’s sure not helped by the…

5. Shoddy Special Teams

Yes, Dante Hall has, when healthy, stabilized the return game for the Rams for the first time since (my favorite) Tony Horne roamed the turf. And Donnie Jones has been playing out of his mind all year long. But the Rams still aren’t getting much from their coverage teams. Seattle’s Nate Burleson returned two kickoffs for touchdowns against the Rams in their two matchups this year, and things don’t look to improve with new acquisition Hanik Milligan and this year’s special teams standout, Eric Bassey, both going down with injuries against on Sunday.

One of the main problems here has been the Rams’ disregard for special teams in the draft. It seems they’ve rarely brought in guys for the express purpose of contributing on special teams, considering them wasted picks. (Yeah, ask the Bears how that Devin Hester one worked out…) But perhaps the most disturbing Rams trend has been…

6. A Disturbing Divisional Record

Saying that the Rams play in one of the worst divisions in the NFL shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Yet the Rams’ record against their divisional opponents from 2005-2007 stands at only 4-13. The last time they swept a divisional opponent was in 2004 (coincidentally, that was the last time they beat Seattle). The Rams simply cannot let an easy schedule (ranked 27th prior to this year) go to waste, or it makes the going that much tougher.

There’s probably not much here you didn’t know already, but it’s an interesting indictment of the Rams’ management that the same problems plague the team year after year and nothing is done to solve them. None of them is big enough to ruin the team on its own, but throw them together and you get - well, you get this team. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see how this unfolds in the 2008 off-season.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 1:09 am and is filed under Rams Players, Rams Special Teams, Gus Frerotte, Rams Offense, Rams Defense, St. Louis Rams, NFC West, Steven Jackson, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.