 QUEST FOR THE PERFECT RAMS, BY NINER HATER (Dec
20) |
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The Giants game was an
excellent effort. But to quote my favorite lyricist--- "I know that perfect's not for
real, I thought we might get closer." Is this team invincible? I think in Nashville and Detroit they proved that they're NOT. Have they been improving on their deficiencies throughout the course of the season? I'm not sure about that. Let's see. While I can't help but thinking that the '99' Rams remind me a little bit of the '85' Bears and the '96' Packers who steamrolled through the regular season and playoffs like a monster truck over a speed bump, I still find myself wondering if this team really has what those teams had. Maybe...but I'm struck by a couple of imperfections that keep showing up. I haven't seen much improvement in these areas and it's of great concern to me. Right now, I realize it's like pointing out the pimple on Cindy Crawfords behind, but here they are anyway: * PENALTIES---We seem to continue to get flagged for the same penalties week after week. It was evident the week when we struggled against the Panthers early on. Too many times on offense there is a critical drive killing false start or holding call. I have yet to see a defense stop the Rams on a consistent basis all by themselves. If the Rams play penalty free, it seems like they score. However, against the Panthers and Saints in the last few weeks, the Rams squandered too many scoring opportunities because of stupid penalties, lapses of concentration or whatever you want to call it. Also, pass interference and holding on defense. It just kills me the amount of times the Rams have extended the opponents drive thanks to a silly penalty. I haven't seen a real improvement in this area. Even in games that the Rams dominate, they keep getting the same penalties. * TURNOVERS. Early in the season it was fumbles. Lately it's been interceptions. Warner, while he's been incredible all year, has recently taken to throwing critical INT's lately. So far, except for the Detroit game, they've been able to overcome them. But, will that continue come playoff time? The defense has done a good job of getting take aways but their + - ratio is not what it should be given their record. Again, this area hasn't seemed to improve much since the beginning of the season. * CONCENTRATION. I've noticed that there have been more dropped balls lately. You can also add the false starts and blown pass coverages to this category. I don't see this improving much. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. * PASS PROTECTION. Warner has definitely been on his back a lot more recently than he was early in the season. He's had less time in the pocket as of late. I know this is partially a result of defenses focusing more on him than before, but it needs to improve. I don't want to start the playoffs with Justin at QB. * PASS DEFENSE. This is a big concern. This defense, as they did a lot last year, has the tendency to give up the 3rd and 4th and long plays. As mentioned before, they also commit far too many penalties. This is the Rams biggest weakness and I haven't seen it get anything but worse as the season has progressed. It also has seemed as though they're having a little more trouble getting pressure, which is contributing to the failure of the pass coverage. They make big plays but also give up too many. * KICKING. What is up with Jeff Wilkins? I actually think the punting has improved some, thanks to Horan, but the place kicking is terrible. He's not getting his kickoffs into the endzone on a regular basis anymore and he's missing FG's all over the place. I suppose his injury in the Titans game may be contributing but he should be over that by now.Anyway, it's certainly not improving and I have real concerns about him hitting a game winner if he's called on. DON'T GET ME WRONG. This team has exceeded all of my expectations thus far, and I had big expectations to begin with. It just seems that they need to fix a couple of things, get a little closer to perfect before they can get to the point where those other championship teams were. I think they're close but they're not there yet. |
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