Monday, December 31, 2007

"Happy New Year"

Good riddance 2007.

This was the absolute worst season I have ever endured as a Rams fan.

Sunday's game was the epitome of the 2007 season. The Rams defense gave up 48 points, the most in 30 years for the Arizona Cardinals.

Edgerrin James had over 100 yards rushing, and Kurt Warner had a 300 yard passing day with three touchdowns. Typical of the entire season.

The Rams defense was never on the same page this year. The defense would stop a team from getting a hundred yards on the ground, but would allow the QB to throw for a boat load on them, or visa versa.

The Rams defense allowed an average of 27+ points per game for the season. This is the NFL, and that won't cut it.

It will be interesting to see what changes are made in the off season. Speculation is that there will be some coaching changes. There has to be some personnel changes, because what we have now is not working.

The next few weeks should be interesting, we will see if the Rams are serious about contending again, or are happy with the status quo.

Any way it goes, it can't get any worse than 2007. Hopefully 2008 will be a happy new year for all Rams fans.

"see you on the hit side" #21

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

A Good Scheme

Finally, this late in the season, the Rams found a good defensive scheme to run against the Atlanta Falcons. Jim Haslett showed Rams fans how it should be done on Sunday.

Atlanta is by no means a powerhouse of a team, but have the Rams been this year? After going up 21-0 in the first half, the Rams tried to give another game away.

The defense was solid in the first half.

Looking at the Falcons, the Rams played the correctly. Talking heads throughout the country were picking Warrick Dunn as a sleeper for this game. He ended up with 17 yards on 10 carries. The Rams stopped the run and focused on part two of the scheme, Joey Harrington. The Rams sacked Harrington 3 times and picked him once. The Rams threw various blitz packages at them and they were totally confused by the Rams defense.

In the second half, Atlanta made a quarterback change and brought in Chris Redman. Redman played well, and got Atlanta back into the game. They got into the game due to Rams turnovers and field position, not because the Rams defense let up.

The Rams defense kept up the pressure on Redman, sacking him once and picking him off. The interception on Redman was the game. Oshiomogho Atogwe's pick with 1:31 left sealed the win for the Rams. This Sunday I will be in Cincinnati for the Rams game. With an offense like the Bengals have, I hope the Rams come up with another good scheme for the defense.

"See You On The Hit Side" #21