4th Quarter Conservativeness

I don't want to take anything away from this road win, this must win game situation, because the boys did it. And up until the 4th quarter they did it exceptionally well.

Going into half time with a score of 30-13 had everyone thinking man this is great, what a blowout this is going to be. Oops, that was the wrong way to think!

Bradford and the entire receiving group did a splendid job all day long and Bradford again proved that he doesn't really need some superstar WR out there catching passes for him. In fact, Bradford seems to be turning into one of those players that makes other players look good! But that's beside the point. The point is, you are up 36 points and where's the dagger?

Why, and I ask this every time, why does Shurmur ALWAYS go conservative in the 4th quarter when we have the lead? This has simply got to stop! This team needs to finish the opponents off. They need to be taught the "killer instinct" and it is NOT going to happen if all Shurmur does in the 4th quarter is play not to lose, when he needs to continue to play to win!

Coaching needs to not expect the players to have a killer instinct with the vanilla plays they send into them to execute. Being a good sportsman is one thing but that should not stop you from finishing off the opponent and stop letting them get back into the game! Enough is enough, nail the coffin shut next time!

Two Point Conversion?

Not that it would have had any influence on the game whatsoever, but my question is, why the 2pt conversion when the Falcons already had the game on ice with less than 2 minutes in the game?

This kind of shove it in or rub it in your face kind of football bothers me. So, you're the better team, is it necessary to make sure the opponent doesn't forget? I don't know, it just bothers me when a team does that. Argue all you want that it was because they wanted to make sure that it was a three score game to keep the Rams from tying it up, but come on, didn't they see enough of the Rams inability to hit the endzone in the end to convince them they weren't going to be able to overcome their deficit?

To me it is just another form of taunting  or flaunting themselves and slapping the opponent in the face after they were already down. I lose respect for coaches who play football in that manner.

Just my honest opinion.

Need For More Creativity

This game started off with some creative plays that Bradford again showed he could execute with perfection. Time and time again the kid has proven to all the coaching staff that he has the ability to execute whatever you call into him, even without any deep threat receivers.

What continues to boggle the mind is why Shurmur almost always backs down on continuing to send in those creative plays. He continues to not only bore us to tears but give the opponents a chance to predict what the Rams are going to do.

After the kid has shown Shurmur over and over again that he can do it, why does he continue to go conservative? Sometimes it works but it is apparent that in the long run it simply is not going to work, especially on the road. Chances have to be taken. Chances need to be taken. Taking chances truly cannot turn out any worse than turning to conservative play calling.

Shurmur needs to pull out the stops and start giving up on the boring, conservative play calling. It's going to be his demise.

Let the Past Go

In a different piece by GeezerRam in this weeks newsletter he mentioned how those who refer back to the Greatest Show on Turf days will begin to get impatient with the offense of the present. Now, is the time however; that we let go of the past. The Greatest Show, was the Greatest Show and can never be brought back. And why would we really want to? Leave it a lone in it's own glory. Wanting to repeat it would take away from the specialness of that part of Rams history and that's what it is, history, just like Bruce, part of Rams history, which will always be there to enjoy for many generations to come.

Bradford and his Rams are a new entity and as the team is built around this young man, he and the rest of the team will begin to build their own history. Good teams do not always have flashy offenses, some instead have a strong defense that allows the team to have a finely tuned precision oriented offense and that is what we are beginning to see with the Rams.

We may evolve into something else once a star receiver or receivers are found but until then we need to understand that what we do have is beginning to work and we need to be patient and enjoy the fact we are watching the growth of a future incredible  elite quarterback who is going to be worth every penny of any contract he signs with this team.

Right now, this is good enough for me.