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But I found the questions patronizing and irritating. It's like the writer had to admit that we had made some big moves, but then wanted to take it all away by using phrases like "toys on offense" or whatever.

So I answered 2 questions. They are probably too long for TSN to use (shocking that I would be long-winded, eh?--but I thought I would share my answers with you guys. I think you may like the tone!

"2. Were there risks associated in acquiring these new offensive toys?

Of course there are risks here! There are question marks all over the field: QB, WR, TE, FB, LOG, ROT, DT, SAM, CB, and SS.

We were 4-12 last year! We stank! How on earth are you going to make progress without taking risks?

This question is simply ridiculous. It shows no awareness of the Ram situation.

We are proud fans who can remember Gabriel, Jones, Olsen, Pardee, the Youngbloods, Dickerson, Reynolds, Mack, Slater, Robertson, Cromwell, and more.

For 10 years, we have stunk. We want that to change. We know that it can only change if the managment brings in PLAYERS!

This off season--hallelujah!--the front office acted aggressively and acquired players who, theoretically, make sense. It hasn't happened since Carroll Rosenbloom went swimming.

Yes, there are risks. There always are. This group may not work out.

But we think it has a hell of a better chance of winning games than the group that has lost consistently for 10 years.

So we are thrilled to have SOMETHING to feel good about this off season. Something to hope in. We have had our hearts broken often enough to know better than to count on it.

But we are Ram fans and we will hang in there no matter what.

If this bunch fails, at least we can be glad that the front office gave it a real shot.

And we think that AT LEAST enough of these moves will work out to provide the nucleus of something special without having to wait another decade!

Listen--don't needle loyal fans of a team that has been losing to remember that there are risks. They already know it better than you can.

Go ask the 49ers if there are risks in going lean on D and the O Line! Their fans are convinced that every Whiner move will turn out golden!


3. Will the Rams be able to stop the run? Your view of the Rams' ability to stop the run is pretty one-dimensional.

Yes, our DTs our something less than over-whelming. But your discussion does not deal with several of the key reasons why we had trouble with the run last year.

* Tight Ends: they killed us. We did not have a true SAM LBer to stuff the TE, or a Safety who could stay with TEs on route. Pfifer and Jones are both OLBers. If Collins stays healthy, he is likely to help contain the strong side much more effectively.

* Scheme mistakes: we gave up many big runs because of over-pursuit and lack of discipline in the rushing lanes. Much of this was due to the weakness at SAM LBer (see above). A Tough defense against the TE will let use play more conservatively and with more discipline elsewhere across the Line of Scrimmage.

* MLB: Hill did little for us. And your read on FLetcher is dead wrong. He is the classic Mike Singletarry-type LBer. He will be very hard dfor OGs to find, he is cat quick, and he hits like dynamite. Watch films of the last, SF game and tell me he will be a weakness!

* Complete lack of offense: the biggest problem of all. As your discussion of the first question notes, the Ram offense DID NOT EXIST after Hill and Bruce went down. Nor is it a matter of the D being on the field too long and getting tired. It is simply this: with the opposing coaches facing no offensive threat whatsoever, they had the luxury of simply hammering away. In the 2nd ATL game, the D contained Anderson on many plays, but the volume of rushes added up and he gained a lot of yards.

Remember: the best run defense is a high octane O that scores points. As Ram fans, we remember the way Joe Montana used to routinely take Eric Dickerson out of the game. If an O scores 17-24 points in the first half, a power running game is basically taken out of the game. Often, the THREAT of a high octane O will influence the opposing OC to call a game with more passes to try to keep up.

* Morale: the numbers from last year are very hard to make sense of, because the D played in streaks. At times, it was terrible. At other times, it was brilliant. In numerous games, the D would get stops and the O would go 3 and out, over and over. Under those conditions, it is very difficult to play consistently hard. Sometimes, the D just collapsed mentally, knowing there was simply no chance to win.

Now, many of these points are not intended to be "The Answer." Ultimately, we old-line Ram fans remember Merlin Olsen and Rosey Grier and so forth. We know that DT is an area at which we eventually need an upgrade.

But our DTs are not that bad either, and they need suppoort from SAM, MLB, SS, etc. We think they will get that. We do face Ricky and Jamal and Garrison, but during the other 10 games we will be just fine. If our O scores points, we may just do a surprisingly good job with the big 3, too!"