Holt and the Dream Team

Whats wrong ?
By Rams Nation's Ed Andresen

The interception with a few seconds left on the clock in the first half of the game at SF that went for a touchdown is a perfect example of what I mean. Even if completed, the play would not gain enough for a try for a field goal. Why throw it? He doesn’t need to completely change his offense game planning, but, he needs to understand that he has been dissected by every team in the league and has to come up with a twist to his offense that will allow his players to make plays that give them the opportunity to run with the ball once they catch it. Even if it means dinking and dunking passes down the field. By not adapting and making the necessary play calls and obvious player changes he has caused his team to lose confidence in his play calling and his ability as the Head Coach. Martz has not adapted to the league that has recognized his tendencies in his play calling. He also punishes a backup player who may make a mistake, like a promising CB like J. Butler. Butler bumped Sorenson when Sorenson could have downed a punt on the oneyard line, instead, the ball rolled into the end zone. He is going to ruin a player’s desire to play for him when he reacts in this manner. Not only does Butler have to deal with that issue, but every other secondary player sees how Martz reacts to mistakes, even if they are mistakes of trying to make a play. The secondary players on this team are afraid of him and are not developing as they should because of this type of knee jerk reaction by the man in charge. This fear of punishment is showing in the performances of these players on this year’s team. Martz needs to know when to yell and when to coach. He has not shown that necessary capabiltity to me this year.

Lovie Smith’s play calling was better last year than it has been this year. He has obvious play calling tendencies, and I believe that other teams have learned what to expect from our team in certain situations. His defense plays runs hard and is playing with a lot more emotion than our offense, but it has not shown the one thing that separates good teams from bad teams, being able to stop a team when they have too. Smith gets way too soft in his play calling when he is in that situation. I believe you should play to win, instead, we are playing in a manner that looks like we are trying not to lose. Let your people play, give them the opportunities by being bold. It is as if he is afraid of taking chances except in the most obvious of situations. In this league the talent level is pretty close for most of the teams, the difference is the coaching that takes place during a game. If your team is fooled or is in the wrong positions when the play starts, you are at a huge disadvantage. Our team has been both fooled and with poor play calling by our coaches, we have been at a disadvantage. Both Martz and Smith need to get input from their coaches during he game and they need to re-evaluate their own play calling.

Our team is leaderless on defense. Defense is played with emotion. Lots and lots of emotion. We have not shown that emotion on the field one time this year. The loss of London Fletcher has caused our run defense to be become soft and teams can run at will between the tackles. Our two defensive tackles are not making any kind of impact in pushing the middle of the offensive line back into the face of the opposing QB on passing plays. The loss of Tommy Polley means that teams can run at will outside of the tackles. Jamie Duncan is not fast enough to play the cover two. He easily blocked by a running back, let alone an offensive lineman. He is way too soft, he has not made one bone jarring tackle this season and he is playing in the corner stone position of our defense. Our defense is playing upright, they are not pushing their opponents back, instead they are being tossed around like last nights dinner salad. The players are being beaten when they have one on one blocks, no one is making a positive statement for this defense. This is causing our secondary to become fixated with the run, and they still cannot stop teams from running on them. They over pursue and leave cutback lanes wide open. This is poor coaching and a lack of intensity by the defensive players. Our team’s defensive secondary first move is toward the line of scrimmage whether they know it or not. Teams are making 4, 5, 6 or 7yard gains on first down, there by making the next play a very dangerous one for our team. Our corners are not being put into situations where they can make plays, they are playing way too soft, couple that with our inability to stop the run between the tackles and you have a quick synopsis of what is wrong with our defense, Our safeties have not covered a tight end in the first five games. The opposing teams have taken advantage of our confusion, lack of strength at the point of attack, poor play calling, mental and physical mistakes, lack of emotional play and the results are not pretty.

Our offense line has two guards that do not have the mobility they have had in recent years and the inside push by our opponents has reeked havoc with our timing for our passing game. It is time to move Andy M. to guard, take out Nutten and bring in Garcia at center. Timmerman can still play, but he is a shell of what he was for the last three years. Do we have anyone on the bench that can stop a bull rush from opposing defensive tackles? Do we have anyone on the bench that can pull or cross block for our running game? The trio in the middle of our offensive line is not capable of doing any of those things at this point in the season. I know that they are hurting, but for goodness sakes, what will it take for Martz or his coaches to see that by his refusal to make changes he is getting his QB’s and Marshall brutalized. I have never seen a QB take the beating that Kurt took in the game against the Bucs. I blame Martz and his inability to coach during a game for this situation. He is the boss and if he refuses or has created an atmosphere that prevents his coaches from making suggestions during the games with regard to the play of certain players, he is not a complete head coach. I knew, as I think most of us did that when he took over the team, he had no prior head coaching experience. He was going to learn on the job. An incredible task for anyone, regardless of their intelligence level. He has not been able to make the moves this year that a coach must when he sees the level of play that his team is putting forth on the field of play. Martz, I believe thinks that this team is the same as the one that he had last year. He does not have the same team he has had the last two years. The loss of Az Hakim has not really been talked about much, because so many of us thought losing him to FA was a good thing because he fumbled too much. I beg to differ. Kurt Warner said that when Az was in the slot he saw the field exactly as Kurt did. Kurt knew where he was going to be and we do not have that now. Wilkins is either not smart enough to understand his responsibilities or he has not devoted himself to learning the system. He has not figured out that the slot receiver in Martz’s offense is the key to so much of our success. Apparently he is so slow in picking up the offense they traded for Troy Brown, hoping that he could pick up the third receiver responsibilities. Ricky is not fast enough to be the number three receiver. With that being said, I think we should keep Wilkins, he is good in the punt and kick-off return game.

Player evaluations. Marshall is being beaten to a pulp, just as Kurt was in the first four games. Kurt throws the ball hundreds of times in practice and I believe he has a tired arm from this type of practicing. Martz should let the second QB get some reps in practice if for nothing else but to give Kurt a rest. Kurt has yet to throw a dart like he has been doing for the last three years. Most of his passes have been anything but a tight spiral. He is also failing to lead his receivers like he has in the past. He is hurt and is feeling the defensive push in his face and is reacting as any QB would. He throws before he is ready too. The wide receivers are dropping balls or failing in the most basic of performances, like when Holt stood still for a pass from Martin in the 9er game and the DB was able to bat the ball away. Holt should have come back to the ball, if he had he would have had a chance to catch it. Even Ike caused a potential loss of a TD when he ran the crossing route when the linebacker for the 9ers swatted the ball away. If you look closely at that play, he was running at 75% as he was coming across the field, if he had been going at 100% the LB would not have been able to make the play. Is this lack of coaching, yes, why? Because, no one is not being blasted by the WR coach when the do not play as they should be. They are also running different routes than the QB is expecting on hot reads leading to three and outs for the offense or worse yet, turnovers.

When Lovie Smith rushes Little on an inside stunt, the opposing teams are just running to the open spot on the field or throw to the open area left by Little. Our linebackers are being out played and out hustled by our opponents. Kim Herring has not played to the level that we pay him, neither is our middle linebacker Jamie Duncan. In fact, Duncan is a liability on the field. He is slow and out of shape. As far as I can tell he has yet to collect double digit tackles in a game, and I have not seen him make a play in the offensive backfield. His supposed strength was pass defense, yet he has not covered a TE all year. The defense is geared to shape the play to the middle of the field and he is lost or is injured, because he is not playing to the level of London either emotionally or physically. Has he sacked the QB yet? Don Davis is barely adequate. He can tackle, but does not make plays behind the line of scrimmage, and most importantly, none of linebackers can deliver crushing blows that will ignite his teammates and make a statement to the opposing teams offensive players. The opposing teams seem to know that they will not be hit hard by our defense. We arm tackle most of the time. We rush to the ball, but the first hit is a grab, not a punishing blow. Our defensive line is young and making mistakes that have cost us numerous opportunities to stop drives or put pressure on the opposing QB. Our defensive line rotation is a joke. Let the two young first round picks play and let them learn in game situations. Spell them occasionally, but let them play their way into the upper echelon of defensive tackles. Taking them out, is only prolonging their development and when they make a mistake, out they come. They are playing to not to make mistakes, they are not playing like all out crazy 300 pound mean spirited men. They are like soft, pliable bodies that try to hold their own against tougher men who have a job to do and are willing to do anything to get it done.

Our special teams have been the highlight of a dismal season. The highlight for our team is the downing of punts inside of the ten yard line. Whopppeeee. We downed a punt inside the ten yard line. You are not going to win any ball games with that being your main weapon.

What do we need to do?

We need to let the younger players play in games and see what they can bring to the table. Replace Nutten with someone who can run on sweeps. He cannot even spin to pick up a stunt. His ankles are preventing him from being able to change his direction once he starts to run, causing him to miss blocks that could have open holes for the backs. He has been the cause of numerous hits on Warner and any other QB we put in the game. St. Clair has been solid. Pace is hurt and I believe his play was below par even prior to his getting hurt. I think he is thinking about his contract more than football. Andy M is adequate and losing ground as he is being battered by the failure of the guards on either side of him. Our offensive line has no identity and they do not show any fire or drive. Count the number of hits on Warner in his four games and you will see what I am talking about. Heath Irwin is a joke and he is our only backup at guard. Why did we keep him and let C. Spikes go? When Pace gets back, put Grant Williams at left guard and run the ball behind them. Let the offensive line get some licks on the defensive linemen. Stay with the run until the play action works. Teams are stopping our running game with their front four and an occasional linebacker. For this team, we will have to establish the run and then throw the ball. When I say establish the run, I mean run the ball like Chuck Knox ran it. Put two TE’s in the game just outside of the tackles and let them block like offensive lineman. Boring as it may be, this team needs to gain some attitude and running the ball at will gives you that kind of mindset. Stay with it until teams finally move up both safeties to stop the run. Don’t go wide, we aren’t fast enough with our guards to do that, push the pile with big bodies like Pace and Williams and keep pushing until the cover two disappears. Then go to play action and throw deep.

Use Brandon M. in the passing game in the middle of the field. Use Gordon in the backfield during games. Put him in with Faulk. Chris H. is not doing the job either, blocking or catching the football. Most of all, Martz and Smith have to do a better job of game management and they have to get on players that do not produce when they have the opportunity. For the most part both men are treating their players as adults. Fine, treat them as adults, but they are also employees and any owner of a business will tell you that if an employee is not producing or making mistakes they address those issues with them as they occur. Correct the problem, but don’t punish the player by making them sit out or pushing them down on the depth chart. Both Martz and Smith believe that if they practice the plays properly, the play will work during the game. That is not the case with the talent level of this year’s team. Injuries, age, lack of intensity and poor preparation by this year’s team is obvious.

I have used only a few specific plays to illustrate what my article is trying to address. You can argue with me that if the Rams had only done this or did that in the first four games we would have won them. We did not do this or that and we lost. Period. There is no such thing as a small mistake when you play tackle football. Everyone has to do what they are supposed to do on each play for a team to be successful. The questions are do we have the coaches to do their part and do we have the players to do theirs on each and every play? I believe we have both. I also believe that we are not using our available resource’s as we should be.

I am a Rams fan, I have always been a Rams fan, and I will always be a Rams fan. I have followed this team since the late 1950’s, and they are close to quitting on the field of play. I have seen it in the past and I am afraid it may happen again. I am also capable of evaluating my team’s football performance from a neutral point of view. You may not agree with what I have said in this article, but the one thing that is without argument is that this team is in a downward slide and only one man can change that fact and that man is Coach Martz. The key to this team’s future is can he do it?