Rams Coaches On The Hotseat

The Rams have had a disappointing 2013 to say the least. Since winning their first game against the Cardinals the Rams have lost three straight and the last two have been blowouts. You can blame the players to a point, but only to a point. They are the ones executing the plays and at times the Rams have not executed the play, but it is the coaches who are calling the plays and the coaches who need to fix the issues and frankly they are not, which is why I have to put them on the hot seat.

Jeff Fisher

Now Jeff Fisher may be on my hot seat, but in no way am I saying his job is on the line this year, another year like this one next year, then yes maybe, but for now Id say his job is safe. All Im saying is that Fisher has to get his act together and get this team to start playing smash mouth, Jeff Fisher football.

Last season it seemed like the Rams were in every game even the games that they had no business being in. This season however, the Rams have lost two blowouts…in a row. The Rams are not executing on offense or defense and that all starts with the head coach. The Rams are consistently making the same mistakes e.g. penalties, dropped passes, etc. The Rams have a lot of talent and it’s time to start using it the right way, even if it means changing the way he coaches and changing up the game plan, the Rams have got to find a way to utilize this talent. The Rams may be 1-3, but they are one of the best 1-3 teams out there talent wise.

Brian Schottenheimer

Brian may be the son of Marty, but in no way are the Rams playing anything close to “Marty Ball”. The Rams offense got a lot of new weapons in the offseason and as fans we have not seen anything that we heard about during training camp. Jared Cook has been non existent since week one, Tavon Austin hasnt done anything on offense except drop passes, although he did have the two touchdown catches.

The offense has became extremely predictable and we are seeing some of the same struggles if not more than we saw last season. Schottenheimer has all this talent on offense and either doesnt know how to use it or just refuses to use it. The Rams have deep threats in Chris Givens and Jared Cook, yet they just try to dink and dunk the ball down the field. The Rams offense seems to play better in a hurry up style offense and yet the Rams dont apply it until they are down by 30 points in the 4th quarter. With the Rams playing on Thursday night I thought the Rams might make a change here, but because he has survived the weekend, it looks like “Schotty” is here to stay.

Tim Walton

Last season the Rams had an offense that looked to be on the verge of a top ten defense and that was without a coordinator. So far this season we havent even seen flashes of that potential. The Rams defense has struggled to stop the run, they have struggled to get to the quarterback, and they have had serious troubles on third down. Now the Rams have a really good front seven and three what I consider reliable corners. The only place the Rams dont have a lot of firepower is at the safety position, and really before his injury, TJ McDonald had been playing pretty well.

So far this season we have learned that the Rams like to play a lot of soft zone coverage giving receivers sometimes 10-15 yards cushion. Unfortunately in the NFL that just doesnt work. Either Walton doesnt trust the safeties over the top or he doesnt trust his corners, and because receivers can get open earlier the Rams defensive front doesnt have time to get to the quarterback. This was a hire that I didn’t necessarily understand at the time, and as of right now Im not really liking it. At one point Rob Ryan was a St. Louis Ram and look what he’s done to New Orleans defense. This was another change I was hoping the Rams would make over the weekend, but it looks like they are going to just ride this one out.

Conclusion

The Rams coaching staff has struggled this season just as the players have and you have to wonder if Shottenheimer is just getting used to his personnel and doesn’t quite know how to use them yet, but I doubt that’s the case as this is Shottenheimer’s second season with the team. Walton on the other hand is in his fourth game with the team so for now he has a small excuse. The Rams coaches have a lot to fix if they dont want this season to get completely out of hand.