This is it, people. This is the week. San Francisco is 7-1; if they get to 8 wins against the Giants this weekend, the worst the 49ers can do is .500. St. Louis is 1-7; if they get to 8 losses against the Browns this weekend, the best the Rams can do is .500.
If not probable, then the possibility of the Rams and 49ers basically finishing their seasons before either plays 10 games is real. And it’s real disturbing. Remember that if this does happen, the Rams will be one game away from elimination as it pertains to the playoffs. Their season will be done and it’s not too soon to look ahead.
The norm, or at least the norm for the past 12 years, has been for an NFL head coach to get 3 years at the helm before the organization cuts bait. If success comes sooner, as it does sometimes, then the coach is extended. But everyone has kind of settled on 3 years as the litmus test for a head coach.
Steve Spagnuolo has gone 9-31 so far in his tenure and is on pace for 9-39. There are plenty of head coaches that have gotten the axe for far fewer transgressions than nine-and-whatever this number ends up being.
If the Browns, without their Pro-Bowl RB, and with their head coach who was lionized in St. Louis for being boring, can beat the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, then Coach Steve Spagnuolo needs to be relieved of his duties.
Spags will need to go.
Yes. Rams GM Billy Devaney will deserve to be terminated as well. He’s done an absolute atrocious job of drafting and purchasing free agents. A very poor combination of talents if you want to create a successful sports team. Today, though, we’re focusing on the man that could get the Rams motivated to bury a playoff team (New Orleans) one week, and followed it up with – well, the most STL Rams loss ever – in Arizona seven days later.
Afterall, when you have a linebacker cover Larry Fitzgerald on the most pivotal defense play of a game. Or you go for it on forth and one when a field goal wins you game. Or you stick with your o-line coach through another pillaging of a franchise QB… well, you deserve your own space.
Last week we told you that the win against New Orleans was going to be the final nail in the Spags coffin. Turns out we were right sooner than we’d anticipated. The stark contrast of two games speaks to the coaching of men. In fact, with Bradford back and the Cardinals going with a back-up QB, you’d have assumed that the Rams would have performed perhaps slightly better than the week prior.
But they didn’t.
You might have assumed after weeks and weeks of botched special teams play and mangled offensive play-calling that the head coach would step in and take some control instead of toiling away with his staff floundering to get a grasp of what works.
But he didn’t.
So here we are in year three of the Spags era and the team is further removed from their already buried chances and we don’t seem to have the answers to simple things – like who will return a punt – let alone big picture things like how Sam Bradford progresses.
Here we are a game away from being done before Thanksgiving.
Here we are wondering just why a team that can beat the snot out of the Saints can go and lay an egg against Arizona.
Here we are with people actually wondering if the Rams would be better off with Andrew Luck.
It’s a symptom of one thing- the visual leader of an organization not doing the right things at the right time. And when things start getting bad, we don’t see the repercussions to a team that is still suffering from the same plights as Week 1.
This is it.
This is the week. And if Steve Spagnuolo can’t get the win this Sunday? Well, it’s never coming. And it’s time to start moving forward.