A Letter from Jeff Fisher… to Jeff Fisher

Hey Jeff,

It’s me, you know, you, but in the future. The whole idea of this letter is crazy and the events that took place to get it to you are really complicated, but I have some really important information to share with you. We’re halfway through the NFL season and I need to tell you about how we got here, and what we did well, and what we didn’t do so well. Hopefully, by the time you reach this moment in history, or really the future for you, you’ll be in an even better position then we are now.

As you already know, we open the season at home against the Seahawks. Man what a game. We play them tough most of the way, but that Russell Wilson, he’s something special. He never did sign that big money deal in the offseason, so he came out trying to prove something and put up some nice numbers including a couple long touchdown passes. Ultimately though, it’s a couple costly mistakes by Nick Foles that does us in. Seems he wasn’t quite ready in our system against a top defense, he had his moments though. We will lose, but we can take away some positives. Our defense will keep Marshawn Lynch under 100 yards and out of the end zone, and without Todd Gurley 100% yet, Tre Mason carries the load just fine to the tune of 85 rushing yards and a score.

Don’t worry though, we bounce back Week 2 when we drub Washington on the road to the tune of 28-10.

Week 3 we see Pittsburgh back in the dome. We are beginning to click and we steal an early one from what very well could be a wildcard team when all said and done. We pick off Roethlisberger twice, including a pick-six from Janoris Jenkins. Are run defense is stout once again, but Le’Veon Belll has himself a game with 100 all-purpose yards fresh off his reduced suspension.

Do me a favor and tell the guys how much this win means. Even though it’s early in the season and there is a lot of football left, this is a quality win, especially with two consecutive games against playoff teams from last year coming up next.

The team rides that rousing speech we give right into a quality road win against Arizona. We surprised the Cardinals and ourselves. Andre Ellington can barely sniff the first down marker, let alone a quality start, and we catch Carson Palmer on an off day. Our offense is starting to click with Foles putting up solid numbers and Kenny Britt starting to break out. Britt grabs two scores in this one plus 120 receiving yards. Off to Green Bay next.

It’s not quite freezing yet in Wisconsin, but it’s an unseasonably cold October day. The weather doesn’t matter this weekend. Aaron Rodgers and company are firing on all cylinders and we finally give up our first 100 yard rusher all season, when Eddie Lacy goes bonkers for 120 yards and two scores. Maybe it was the cold, or maybe we couldn’t sustain our winning formula, but prepare yourself for this one because it wasn’t pretty. It ends 34-14.

You’ll be thankful for the bye-week in Week 6, and the paltry Cleveland Browns the week after. Turns out Johnny Manziel wasn’t the answer, and it’s a good thing we didn’t draft him, because during our bye week he gets traded to the New York Jets. All new York had to give up was a couple late round draft picks in 2016, but Geno Smith just wasn’t cutting it. Regardless, the Browns succumb to our unrelenting pass rush and we make Josh McCown part of the playing field with three Robert Quinn sacks in a nice win.

Our second home game after the bye week will be our third division game with a chance to move into a tie for first in the division with Seattle. We play San Francisco, and it’s nothing like you would expect. Neither team can seem to get things going, and it becomes a kickers duel. It’s one of those games where both teams always seem on the cusp of breaking through, but just cant do it. Some penalties down near the goal line will ruin your sleep for the next two weeks. We should’ve taken heed to those stories about reducing our yellow flag count. We eek out a win, 12-6 to be exact. We are beginning to silence the doubters.

Oct 26, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein (4) kicks the point after touchdown during the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 34-7. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately our momentum comes to a screeching halt when we travel to Minnesota. Teddy Bridgewater is tearing it up at this point in the year. He’s clicking with the return of Adrian Peterson and the Vikings are leading their division. We face them at the absolute worst time. They just beat Detroit and Chicago on the road and we just cant seem to find it against this team. A bad loss moves us to 5-3, still good enough for second place in the NFC West, but we have a challenging stretch of games coming up. This includes  on the road against Baltimore and Cincinnati, then back home to host Arizona again and Detroit.

This is really important coach, so I need you to hear me on this one. This is the turning point in your season, this is what will define your 2015. This loss cannot set you back. It’s a bad one and the sports outlets and talking heads will let you have it, but you need to block all that out.

A stretch of losses here will certainly be the last nail in the coffin of another sub .500 season and most likely the end of our tenure as head coach in St. Louis. Let’s say we make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s mid-November and time to make a push for the playoffs. Winning two, or better yet, three of your next four games will allow you to compete for the top spot in the division. This is our moment; let’s make it count.

Our plane just touched down back home in St. Louis, so I have to wrap this up, but I have a binder full of reasons on my lap as to why Jay Cutler is ripe for the picking and I’m going to have a long conversation with Jenkins and Gaines as soon as I get off this flying death trap. Do me a favor and let them know were better than SportsCenter says we are. This team is on the verge of greatness. Let’s take them there.

With you all the way,

Jeff Fisher

Head Coach St. Louis Rams