Congratulations to Sam Bradford

[Warner2BruceTD]

Ignoring the humorous trolling job done by FirstTimer (seriously this is awesome).. the Rams coaching staff held Bradford back WAY too much in this game.

Josh Freeman just gouged this secondary up and down the field a week ago. Why not open it up some more? Instead they took what.. 3 shots downfield? Two of which were dropped by Alexander.

Sam Bradford will be a great player in this league, but they needed to take the training wheels off the kid in a do or die game.

Not to mention failing to challenge the red zone catch in the first Q, or the bad spot in the 4th Q.

Or the horrendous clock management at the 2 minute warning.

Or the fact Steven Jackson was barely used, and had less carries (1) through one quarter than Mike Karney (2).

These Spags game day shenangans are nothing new to NFC West fans, but he's got people fooled who don't pay attention.

Great motivator, but probably the worst game day coach in the league. He has to improve his game management, otherwise he has no business being a head coach.

[Hasselbeck]

Not to mention failing to challenge the red zone catch in the first Q, or the bad spot in the 4th Q.

Or the horrendous clock management at the 2 minute warning.

Or the fact Steven Jackson was barely used, and had less carries (1) through one quarter than Mike Karney (2).

These Spags game day shenangans are nothing new to NFC West fans, but he's got people fooled who don't pay attention.

Great motivator, but probably the worst game day coach in the league. He has to improve his game management, otherwise he has no business being a head coach.

Agreed.

As an aside, I've witnessed some pretty shitty refs in my day as a Seahawk fan.. and today's crew (while they weren't Bill Leavy bad) was absolutely horrible.

From the fucked up spot of the ball to claiming Pete Carroll called timeout.. to a bunch of other weird calls.. they were downright awful.

[mcstl25]

W2B, if there was ever a time to tee off on Spags and his staff, now is it. I know you've kept it bottled in all year... let it rip! Worst coached game of the year. You didn't mention that Seattle has the 32nd ranked run defense and SJ only had 11 carries all game. If you're not going to run the ball, at least throw the ball down field and see what happens (even though the Rams garbage receivers probably would have just tallied up more dropped passes.)

[Houston]

Wow this just in.

Aaron Rodgers reaction to making the playoffs while Bradford will sit at home.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69bKDFbZZnQ&feature=related[/ame]

[Warner2BruceTD]

W2B, if there was ever a time to tee off on Spags and his staff, now is it. I know you've kept it bottled in all year... let it rip! Worst coached game of the year. You didn't mention that Seattle has the 32nd ranked run defense and SJ only had 11 carries all game. If you're not going to run the ball, at least throw the ball down field and see what happens (even though the Rams garbage receivers probably would have just tallied up more dropped passes.)

Worst coached game of the year (with some stiff competition), at the worst time. You should hear the excuses in the chatbox for that mess:

-Spags isnt resposible for the missed challenges, it's on his assistants to tell him to challenge.

-Spags isnt resposible for the lack of Jackson touches, that's on Pat Shurmer.

-Spags isnt resposible for the play calling, he's a defensive coach.

-It's not on Spags that Bradford keeps checking down, it's on Bradford.

What people don't understand about Bradford, and even Collinsworth fell into this trap, is that he isnt checking down. THAT'S THE OFFENSE. It's been this way all year.

With your playoff life on the line, if you don't want to run the ball (play along), at least get Jackson involved in the passing game. Get the best player on the field the ball in space, and let him try to win the game.

For fucks sake, the coaching staff was severly overmatched, and Seattle didnt exactly have the gameplan of the century going for them. Whitehurst was running for his life and missing guys by a mile, and Seattle kept chucking. At least they put the game in his hands, more than I can say for how the Rams handled Jackson & Bradford.

[Hasselbeck]

W2B, if there was ever a time to tee off on Spags and his staff, now is it. I know you've kept it bottled in all year... let it rip! Worst coached game of the year. You didn't mention that Seattle has the 32nd ranked run defense and SJ only had 11 carries all game. If you're not going to run the ball, at least throw the ball down field and see what happens (even though the Rams garbage receivers probably would have just tallied up more dropped passes.)

Actually the rush defense is 22nd.. the rush offense was 32nd.

But yeah 11 carries for your star player is inexcusable.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Actually the rush defense is 22nd.. the rush offense was 32nd.

But yeah 11 carries for your star player is inexcusable.

It's the OC fault

/chatbox armchairs

[Warner2BruceTD]

I realise that only mcstl25 will care about this post, but...

The local media guys better get on Spags for those 11 Jackson carries. They use to crucify Martz if Faulk had less than 25, even in blowouts. No more kid gloves for Spags, this is year two and this was the biggest game in 6 years. On the road, they should have let it all hang out, and made sure the best player on the field had a chance to make an impact.

[mcstl25]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/article_168c795c-16e4-11e0-90b6-0017a4a78c22.html

Pretty much sums it up.

[Warner2BruceTD]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/footb...7a4a78c22.html

Pretty much sums it up.

From the article, I might as well have written this:

As for the offense, there's one question: what was the plan? Did the coaches plan to attack Seattle's horrible run defense with Steven Jackson? No, that wasn't it. Jackson was reduced to a virtual non-factor by his own coaching staff. Remarkable. Was the plan to attack downfield with passes? No. Until late in the game, the Rams were content to peck away with 3-yard, 4-yard passes. There was no imagination, no boldness.

So again: what was the plan? What was the identity that Steve Spagnuolo and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur wanted to stamp on their offense? What did they Rams want to stand for? Like you, I watched this game for more than 3 hours and never once had an idea of what the Rams wanted to do.

If you aren't committed to running the ball with Jackson at the NFL's 32nd-ranked (last) rushing defense, then at least turn it loose. Try to push the ball down the field. Try to come up with some innovative plays. Try to catch the Seahawks off guard. But if you've decided -- for whatever reason -- not to make Jackson's running a major plank of your game plan, then you'd better have a good Plan B. The Rams had no Plan B. They had no plan at all. This was one of the strangest things I've seen in covering NFL football for nearly 30 years.

Eleven carries for SJ39 against the worst run defense in the league? What? I'm not saying that the Rams should have run him 35 times, no matter what. If Seattle is stopping Jackson and taking him away, then you have to try something else. But Seattle didn't stop Jackson. The Rams coaches stopped Jackson. When the ball is given to fullback Mike Karney in key situations, it's probably all you need to know about the performance of the coaching staff.

How do you manage only 184 yards and 10 first downs against a Seattle defense that was ranked 29th in scoring defense and 31st in yards allowed from scrimmage? Look, we know this isn't a glamorous, jazzy, high-octane offense. We know the Rams lack big-time playmakers. But really, now: 184 yards against Seattle?

Spags had at least two chances to challenge some calls made by an officiating crew that was just as bad as any team in the gadawful NFC West team. Spags didn't challege.

It wasn't all just the coaching. The wideouts dropped passes. The Rams' interior line allowed penetration in the pass rush, and QB Sam Bradford had multiple passes batted down. And Bradford didn't play well. But he had little help from his coaches and receivers. Let's not have any more talk about the Rams being OK at wide receiver, and not needing to make an aggressive offseason move or two to upgrade the position. This was a cry for help.

The Rams -- painfully -- were not ready for prime time. They were not ready for this moment.

I realize that this is a building year, and I haven't lost perspective. I realize that the Rams weren't supposed to win 7 games. They weren't supposed to be playing for a division title. That's been established. But after the progress that's been made, there's no excuse for playing and coaching as poorly as this team did in Seattle on Sunday night.

My thoughts EXACTLY.

[FirstTimer]

Sam Bradford will be a great player in this league, but they needed to take the training wheels off the kid in a do or die game.

He'll have to take his training bra off first. Cut his faggot ass hair. Not wear flannel shirts for interviews. Etc. Charlie Whitehurst is allowed to grow his hair out...and grow a beard. He's a playoff QB.

Bradford can go impersonate Forrest Gump in his basement for the next 4 months

[Youk]

/chatbox armchairs

Not that you have any football experience or anything.

Oh wait, you're being an armchair QB as well.

[tigstah]

This is why I think the playoffs should just be the teams with the best records. The Seahawks make it while team like The Giants and The Bucs gotta stay at home?

the giants are home cause they screwed themselves. the league needs to do something, but unless they rearrange the divisions again, i don't see how this can be prevented.

[Hitman]

Kind of funny that the guy who wrote the article and W2B both bring up the incorrect stat about Seattle having the 32 ranked run defense..... Apparently they don't watch as much NFC West football as they should. Or maybe W2B is just linking an article that he did write himself. Who knows, but I find it comical.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Not that you have any football experience or anything.

Oh wait, you're being an armchair QB as well.

Not that it matters a single bit, but since you bring it up, I have plenty of football experience.

But the difference between my armchairing and your armchairing, is in this case, i'm right about Spags being awful in that game (and all season), and you're dead wrong. Rams fans agree, Seattle fans agree, Rams beat writers agree, even Kuzzy the compulsive gambler agrees.

That was a terribly coached game, he blew the two non challenges, he blew the clock at the end, they gave the best player on the field 11 carries, and he has struggled with these game management issues all year long. The head coach is ultimately responsible for challenges, game management, and gameplan. Your assertion that his assistants are more to blame for any of those things are outrageous and show a total lack of understanding how football coaching works. For example, when Pat Shurmer is ignoring Steven Jackson, it's Spagnuolo's job to turn on his headset and say, "Hey Pat, 39 is the best player on the field, get him the fucking ball."

Steve Spagnuolo has a long, long way to go as a head coach when it comes to managing a game. A national audience got to see exatly what i've been bitching about the last two years. Great motivator, bad on the sideline.