Saturday, October 10, 2009

How to rescue something out of 2009 if you are the Rams

Week 4 of the 2009 produced one hell of a dreadful sequence of outcomes. It was one of the worst weekends of football I've ever seen, and not just because the Rams got shutout and blown out by the 49ers. There were a lot of other dreadful results beside this one. Thank God the Bengals, Giants, Saints, and Dolphins won, otherwise the weekend would have been an absolute disaster.

By now everybody is well versed in the fact that the Rams have the longest loosing streak in the NFL. The streak stands at 14. Many expect it to get longer, as we are now playing the Vikings, fresh off their smacking of the Packers. Were it not for the Browns, we would be the unanimous choice as the worst team in professional football. There is a small controversy about whether the Browns or the Rams are worse. Many say the Browns, because they have apparently quit on Man-Genius. Man-Genius is one of the several reason why I say that there is no such thing as a Patriots coaching-tree. As a head coach, he is truly rubbish.

So without further ado, what is the Dave plan for salvaging something out of 2009 and building for the future:
  1. Trade Alex Barron and a draft pick to Green Bay for Aaron Kampman. The Viking game highlighted the terrible problems the Packers have on the left side of the offensive line. The Rams and the Packers have similar contractual problems with Barron and Kampman. Things are not working out well for either team with either player. Let's help fix each other's problems. I do not pretend that Barron is worth Kampman straight-up. We will have to give up a pick to make this deal. Hopefully, no higher than a 3rd rounder. We just need to ensure that the Packers will get more than the 3rd round compensatory pick we'll give them if we sign him at the end of the year anyhow. Kampman is ideal for Coach Spagnuolo's 4 DE defensive line scheme. He will help compensate for the loss of Adam Carriker.
  2. Make Jason Smith our Left Tackle. It's time Smith takes his rightful place as the successor to Orlando Pace. That's why we drafted him in the first place.
  3. Bring back Phil Weintraub.
  4. Fire offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Clearly, Shurmur was not ready for this assignment. We officially have the worst and lowest scoring offense in the NFL. We have produced a total of 26 points in 4 football games. That is 6.5 points per game. You cannot win a single game at this pace. We will be winless at the end of the season at this rate. We will duplicate the Lion's feat last season if something isn't done to repair the situation. Our offense has been so terrible that the coaching staff must held accountable. You cannot be as dysfunctional as we are given how much talent we have unless the offensive coordinator is absolutely fucking things up horribly. I do not believe this is Coach Spagnuolo's fault. I do believe it is Pat Shurmur's fault.
  5. Hire Trent Green as our new Offensive coordinator. I have already written on this subject. You know my views about this question. We should do it.
  6. Stop running the Football with Steven Jackson. Start throwing the football to Steven Jackson al-la the proper West Coast Offense. I still see no signs of the West Coast offense in St. Louis. If we are indeed trying to implement the West Coast, we have the worst offensive coaches in the history of the sport, which is indeed possible.
  7. Consider trading Steven Jackson. This is the most controversial element of this game plan. Most Ram fans would never consider trading Steven Jackson. We all believe that he is the one and only piece of championship material we have on the offensive side of the football. Folks, my reasoning is simple. Steve is already playing in his 6th season, and we have already done a lot to ruin his career. I think Steve has earned the right to play for a winner. I think he deserves the opportunity to play for a championship. We will not be ready to contend until the twilight of his career... and maybe not even then. There is one contender we have dealt with before who would be only too happy to have Jackson. That is the Pittsburgh Steelers. They were more than happy with the last RB we sent their way. I think they would be more than ready to do it again. I think we would be handsomely rewarded for putting the Steelers in a position to defend their championship.
Folks, the absolutely mono dimensional dependence on Steven Jackson has to end, and we need to stockpile picks for the future. We can get younger, more diverse, and shed salary all at the same time. This is the best we can do for all folks involved in this train wreck.

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow Ram fan about our offensive woes. He liked most points on this list save one: Why get Trent Green when Mike Martz is still out there?

Folks, I seriously doubt that Martz would want to return to our team as a Coordinator. He would be the cream of the crop pick, but he was once the fucking head coach for Christ's sake. What a humiliation! I doubt he would take the job.