[PARAM]

2007-2009 I attended 23 St. Louis Rams games and never saw a single victory. Not one. This season we are 9-7 (10-6 with one made kick) and the world is supposedly ending.

Wow!!! I attended 1 Ram game from 2007 - 2009 and they won*. Gus Frerotte, Steven Jackson vs the Falcons. I had attended two other games that were losses. 1 in 2005 (led by Ryan Fitzpatrick vs the Redskins fresh off his remarkable win in Houston) and another in 2006 (vs the Chiefs and in that game with the game out of reach, on the last play Bulger tried to hit Kevin Curtis deep on the sideline and somebody absolutely crushed him.) I thought he might be dead.

*I forgot about the 2008 season opener in Philly. Got beat 38-3 IIRC

Nobody likes losing. Nobody likes going to a game and watching them lose. Nobody likes a losing season. And nobody likes not making the playoffs but it happens. A lot to a lot of teams.

Question: Do any Rams fans today talk about that 1968 Rams squad??!! NOPE!! BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AND WERE, WHEN ALL THE DUST CLEARED, NOT RELEVANT IN THAT 1968 SEASON!!

Some guys here are happier than me about our 9-7 non-Playoff finish for 2019. God bless you! I have no problem with guys who can take satisfaction and pride in a non-Playoff finish. I acknowledge your viewpoint and can see where you stand. No problem for me!

BUT....I am NOT wired that way.

So, if I want improvement to Los Ramos effectiveness....and I identify as a longtime fan, what I think is an avenue towards increased Rams effectiveness......THEN why can't that view point be acknowledged and respected as well?

As I have posted before, we are all wired differently. I am a longtime, some would say, "long-suffering" Rams fan......so when we miss YET ANOTHER PLAYOFF RELEVANT SEASON, I GET PROACTIVE ON IDENTIFYING WEAKNESS....and I opine about changes to bring about improvement, but I do not do it as a Rams Cheerleader....
...I do it as a longtime Rams fan.

This Forum is set up for Rams fans to come together, and discuss (and debate) Rams issues......not to pass judgements on whether guys are "naysayers" "doom&gloomers" and, my favorite, "scape-goaters"!
IMO, some guys are overly quick on the judgemental.....and not so quick with facts. JMO.

We are allowed to disagree. Aloud. We are allowed to call out the things we see as problems, even if it goes so far as to call for somebody's head, be they a coach or a player. Without being labeled. So I feel I should clarify something. I wasn't saying your comments to call for the imposter OL coach's head scapegoating. I said he might have been scapegoated in the past. Twice. But he left those other cities with everybody else on the staff except for the time he got a better job offer and took that step up. And I believed your coloring his resume as a guy who got fired everywhere, when in fact he hadn't been, was scapegoating. You can call for his head and Wade's head and you might even be right on one of them. But he was scapegoated in Oakland and Tampa and the numbers with him and without him bare that out. His numbers with New Orleans speak for themselves.....Superbowl win but then there were all those pro bowlers he inherited right? And his numbers with Chicago as OC (going from #28 offense to #8 while Lovie's defensive chargers finished 30th each season) and OL coach in Buffalo (leading the league in rushing yards, rushing yds per attempt and rushing TD's) were very good. But he was thrown out with the rest of the staff because of the head coach.

Perhaps "scapegoating" was the wrong word. Exaggerating? Embelishing? Misrepresenting a tad bit? I believe there's a difference, when it comes to blame, between 1 guy on the staff getting fired and the entire staff getting fired. So please don't believe I think you're scapegoating Kromer when you ask for his head. I know you actually believe he should be handed his walking papers. We disagree. I believe he did a fine job with 3 guys going down and getting 3 other youngsters ready to play and play pretty decently at that. I believe his resume says his guys, more often than not will perform well under his tutelage. As far as "missing yet another playoff relevant season" when was the last one? 1968?

On the subject of "nobody talks about the 1968 Rams" sure they do. You do. I do. A lot of older Ram fans probably do. And I'd bet some older fans of other teams might even bring them up when they see these Rams (2017-2019) play well. Truth is, in the present it ain't nothing to remember but down the road it gains some steam. Especially in a drought like 2006-2016 or 2019

Furthermore, about "nobody talks about those teams", who talks about any team in a "man they were great" way if they don't win the Superbowl, except for diehard fans of that team (us)???? You're not going to tell me you haven't talked favorably about the 2000 Rams, going into Nawlins in week 17 having to win and doing it only to go back there and get behind big in the Wild Card game. We all know we were 1 fumbled punt away from advancing because TGSOT was on fire late and the Saints couldn't stop them. So yeah we talk about them anyway. And this team didn't make the playoffs so we're probably not going to talk about them much. Maybe if the Rams go on to the postseason in each of the next 6 years we might say something. I'm thinking, "hey remember 2019? When Taylor Rapp was a green rookie and Tyler Higbee had his breakout season? Man we were all over Goff too but since then they've been light out!" Who knows? Maybe we'll be saying, "that was the year the downslide started, all because they kept that imposter Kromer".

[NST4]

I think a lot of teams would love to trade positions with us. But I’m pretty happy with where we are and where we’re going

In the modern era...no one without an established legacy wants to go back to the Super Bowl the year after losing it. I'm fine with 9-7/no playoffs for this year.

[Flash]

In the modern era...no one without an established legacy wants to go back to the Super Bowl the year after losing it. I'm fine with 9-7/no playoffs for this year.

Really?

[Hacksaw]

In the modern era...no one without an established legacy wants to go back to the Super Bowl the year after losing it. I'm fine with 9-7/no playoffs for this year.

In reference to the "hangover" thing and seemingly every team not named Patriots having a difficult time the following year, I understand this take. However I'm pretty sure that every team wants to go to the SB whether they were in it the previous season or not.

[actionjack]

It's really pretty simple, Rams in 2017 & 2018 got some bounces and stayed injury free.
2019 tons of injuries, some plays went against us and still a kick from 10-6. Not where we wanted to be, but now the Rams are even more motivated and a pretty light schedule in 2019/2020. The problem is our division could be even better next year, its very hard to send 3 teams to the playoffs. Niners and Hawks with tougher schedule and longer season should help.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Not sure if the division will be THAT much better:

AZ: Better. They are off to a good start with their new HC and QB. I think they are on the upswing.

SF: Down. Just too hard to stay at that level. They are like us from last year. Some lucky bounces and healthy. They won’t regress much but probably and will have a tougher schedule.

SEA: Push. Hard to tell with them. Don’t see a big swing either way.

So maybe not much change in the division. Going to be a fight.

[Hacksaw]

Fair assessment. You never know what personnel changes might skew the mix though..

[TomSlick]

As tragic as the sinking of the Titanic was....
it was an absolute miracle to the lobsters in the ship's galley.

Never thought of that. Hopefully, the little rubber band thingies around their claws deteriorated in the saltwater. Imagine being the last lobster that hit the boiling water seconds before the life-giving saltwater stormed the galley...bad luck that...

[aeneas1]

Never thought of that. Hopefully, the little rubber band thingies around their claws deteriorated in the saltwater. Imagine being the last lobster that hit the boiling water seconds before the life-giving saltwater stormed the galley...bad luck that...

kinda like the guy who choked to death at a restaurant the day before henry rolled out his heimlich maneuver...

[rams74]

Never thought of that. Hopefully, the little rubber band thingies around their claws deteriorated in the saltwater. Imagine being the last lobster that hit the boiling water seconds before the life-giving saltwater stormed the galley...bad luck that...

Well, the bad luck for any live lobsters was that the Titanic sank in waters too deep and too cold for lobsters to survive.

But it's a good line, anyway...