Ramblin' Fan
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It’s Time To Be Critical of the St. Louis Rams

By Blaine Grisak

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7-8-1, 7-9, 6-10, those are the three records that Jeff Fisher has had during his tenure with the St. Louis Rams. While 7-8-1 was a promising first season, the team really hasn’t made much progress, and to say the least, it’s frustrating.

While many in the mainstream media may not realize it, St. Louis is a successful sports city. The Cardinals are perennial contenders in Major League Baseball and have won 11 MLB championships. They have been to the playoffs an National League best 27 times and represented the NL in the world series 19 times.

Cardinal fans expect their team to win, they EXPECT the Red Birds to be the best team in baseball, which record-wise, they are in the early portion of this 2015 MLB season. If the Cardinals dont make the World Series, while it may have been a successful season, the very next year, fans expect the necessary changes to be made to make a World Series run the following season.

Last year after manager Mike Matheny lost to the San Francisco Giants in five  games and pulled Adam Wainwright prematurely for closer Pat Neshek in what was a stellar performance, fans blasted Matheny as Neshek gave up the lead and then lost the series.

If the Cardinals dont win the last game of the season, none of it will have mattered. Fans will go into the following year expecting just as much if not more going into the next season.

The same goes for “The Note”, the Blues, from 1979-2003  they made 25 playoff consecutive playoff appearances, before the lockout followed by the worst record in the NHL. The fans of St. Louis however demanded excellence.

After five years of mediocrity and one playoff appearance in which they were swept the Blues made a coaching change for current coach Ken Hitchcock. As many may know the Blues have made the playoffs four consecutive years only to have three straight disappointing exits.

With so much promise surrounding the team, fans wanted changes. They want to take the next step. “Hitch” wasn’t fired or let go, which some fans weren’t happy about, but still personnel changes are going to be made going into next season in order to attempt to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

This was all a long story to bring me to my point. Why is it that Jeff Fisher and the St. Louis Rams aren’t given the same standards and same expectations? For some reason the Rams are given different standards than those of the Cardinals and Blues, who also reside in the gateway city, and its time for that to change.

The fans of St. Louis bleed red, that is certain. It is a baseball town and always will be, but it has also proven that it can care about another sport, i.e. the Blues.

Yes, the Rams went through one of the worst stretches in NFL history, and one could argue that the 2007-2009 St. Louis Rams team, was the worst in NFL history. And yes, there are rumors about a potential move to Los Angeles, but that should be even more reason to be critical.

However, this town, the city of St. Louis, has proven that they can support an NFL team. When the Rams were good, the Edward Jones Dome, then the Trans World Dome, was one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL.

Fisher and Snead did take over what was a pathetic excuse for an NFL roster and they have made it better. They fixed the problem. The only problem is now, they have yet to improve there own roster and take it to the next level.

The Rams have had the 23rd, 30th, and 28th ranked offenses and 19th, 18th, and 16th defenses during the Jeff Fisher regime. While there may be improvement on the roster, i.e. Janoris Jenkins over Bradley Fletcher, Jared Cook over Billy Bajema, Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald over Gary Gibson and Justin Bannan, and the list goes even further.

However, it’s time to get the results on the field. Another seven win season won’t cut it. Quarterback or no quarterback, offensive line or no offensive line. The excuses need to be over for Fisher and company. It’s time to give him the same treatment and the same criticism and the two guys listed above with the other franchises.

The Arizona Cardinals made it to the playoffs with Carson Palmer and Ryan Lindley at quarterback, is there a reason the Rams can’t with Nick Foles? The Green Bay Packers went to the playoffs in 2012 and 2013 despite allowing 51(2nd most) and 45 sacks(9th most).

The time to win is now, and honestly, after the offseason that the Rams just had, one could argue that they have actually gotten worse rather than better. Three new faces on the offensive line, putting their faith in a quarterback who had the season of a lifetime, and no improvements to a secondary that allowed a staggering 68.1% completion percentage(31st in the NFL).

They did hire a new offensive coordinator, even if Fisher would have been content with Schottenheimer had he not left for Georgia. The even hired two quarterback gurus in Chris Weinke and Jeff Garcia.

Fisher hasn’t had a winning season in the NFL since 2007 and 2008, the results are beginning to speak for themselves. While he has done a nice job reshaping the roster and has this team on the right track, the question to whether or not he can get the job done and get them to the playoffs has yet to be answered.

While back in 2007-2009, I would have been happy to win just five games, and winning seven, seven, and six, has been nice, it’s time to take the next step. Three years in, this is Jeff Fisher’s team, only nine players remain from the 2011 old regime roster. It’s time for him to start taking responsibility, and start taking the heat when the St. Louis Rams underperform once again in 2015.

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