Where do Rams rank among NFL’s bad teams?
THE WATERCOOLER:
Through eight weeks of the season, the NFL has one winless team (Tampa Bay) and five with just one win (St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City, Tennessee and Cleveland). Plus a couple of hard-to-watch two-win teams (Washington and Oakland). In that context, do the Rams have a better future than some of these teams?
JIM THOMAS:
In terms of Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and Detroit, the Rams are on a similar track, with rookie first-year head coaches and rebuilding teams that have purposely gotten younger. The Lions, however, already have their quarterback of the future in Matthew Stafford getting on-the-job training. That may be the Rams’ fate next season. Is Tennessee in for a coaching change? And Cleveland, well, they’re just Cleveland. The second version of Paul Brown’s team just can’t seem to get it going An added element of uncertainty for St. Louis — an ownership change looming on the horizon that could change a lot of things.
BERNIE MIKLASZ:
The Rams are for sale, which is an issue, but for now it hasn’t impacted the operation. They have good harmony and stability in the front office. GM Billy Devaney and head coach Steve Spagnuolo are working well together. The personnel department, the scouts, are being treated as an important part of the operation. You just don’t see the glaring dysfunction that greatly damaged the Rams during the latter years of the previous regime. And in this context the Rams are in better shape than many of the other woeful NFL losers these days.
BILL COATS:
I like the Rams’ future, because I think they’re going about things the right way. That is, they’re not pulling off desperate moves now to try to win a relatively meaningless game or two but hamstringing themselves down the road. They’re being patient and prudent, and I believe that approach will pay off in the long run.
JEFF GORDON:
It’s too soon to say that the Devaney/Spagnuolo combo will get it done in St. Louis. The next Rams owner will get to make that call. But at least the Rams aren’t a dysfunctional mess like the Browns, Raiders and Redskins. In all three of those cases,you wonder if the ownership will get a handle. In Cleveland, Randy Lerner needs to find a strong footman he trusts to show him the way. In Washington, Daniel Snyder to hire a stronger football man and stay out of his way. And in Oakland, Al Davis needs to sell. There is no hope for a turnaround otherwise.
Bench Bulger!!! His best asset is not throwing interceptions. While that’s a good asset to have in a quarterback, the fact that he never makes any plays to win games pretty much means the Rams won’t win any games. I think Boller gives the Rams a better chance to win because Boller has some athletic ability to make winning plays by scrambling or throwing the ball down the field. Boller actually threw some touchdown passes when he got his chance to play. They need to give Null some reps as well. Why was he drafted if he was never going to be given an opportunity to play? We know that with Bulger the Rams can hang close with teams like the Redskins, Jags and Lions, but he can’t make a winning play (SJ won the Lions game). Give the ball to Boller or Null! At least there is hope that they might be able to make a game-winning play and there is hope that the defenses will start to respect the downfield pass. Bulger is a loser!