Tim Klutsarits

The St. Louis Rams had the game there for the taking in Jacksonville today. Seven seconds to go ball on the Nine yard line and one timeout in the bank. Rams down by three and a chance to win the game. Surely the Rams would take a shot. Surely I was wrong. The Rams decide to play it "safe" and it costs them dearly as they would never see the ball again and lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-20 in overtime. Another frustrating day for a team that has now lost an entire season's worth of games (16 in a row) and have now started the season 0-6.

While one call is not the entire reason the Rams lost the game it is inexcusable that Steve Spagnuolo did not give his team the opportunity to win the game, on the road, in Jacksonville. How can you not choose to go for it? Your team is in the basement and HAS NOT WON A GAME IN A YEAR. What do you have to lose by going for it? It is not as if you didn't have a timeout left if you were sacked or came up short of the goalline. You could have run the ball up the middle. You could have called a fade pattern to the back corner. You could have run a quick slant. You could have run a three step drop and throw anywhere. But instead the Rams chose to kick the field goal. Inexcusable. Even if the worst happens and you get sacked and time runs out, or you throw an interception, you still gave your team a chance to win the game for you. Instead you chose to not give your team a chance to win the game.

There are so many reasons that this was a bad decision. First off if you were not confident in your offense being able to execute a play in six seconds from nine yards out then you needed to burn your last timeout on the previous play. Then you would have had 1st and goal from the 9 yard line with 24 seconds to go. That gives you a couple shots and if disaster were to strike on first or second down then you would have enough time to down the ball and kick the field goal. Instead Spagnuolo chooses the worst possible scenario of not stopping the clock and holding a timeout as time expires on the 4th Quarter. A horrible mistake.

Another reason you have to go for it is that everyone in the entire football world knew that if Jacksonville got the ball in overtime the Rams were done. The defense was being gouged by Maurice Jones-Drew and David Garrard. The defense had been on the field an astounding 51 plays in the second half. They were gassed and done. How can you let the game come down to a coin flip? Ridiculous.

I have been a pretty good believer in what Spagnuolo is trying to do here with the Rams but he is really starting to concern me as far as his game day management. The day I finally lost my faith in Mike Martz was in the NFC Playoff game against the Carolina Panthers when he let the clock run down instead of going for it to win the game. He and the Rams lost that game in overtime as well. This game today clearly was not played with as much on the line as that one which makes what Spagnuolo did today even worse. The Rams are 0-5. The Jaguars are 2-3. Neither is going anywhere and you aren't going for it? What does that tell your team? What does that say about your strategy going forward? To me the red flags are up on Spagnuolo.

I don't want this entire article to be about blaming Spagnuolo for what happened today, because there is a lot of blame to go around, but there is one other thing that scares me a ton about Spags as a Head Coach. On the disputed Torry Holt call in the third quarter, when the Rams challenged the play, say to the official, "We can challenge that right?" If we have a coach who doesn't know if he can challenge an inbounds/out of bounds play in the NFL then we may have a big problem. It look at times as if the game is moving faster then the Rams coaching staff can handle it. That is a HUGE concern.

Other things to mention today

Pat Shurmer: I again am not a fire the coach type of guy but at what point does Shurmer get questioned on his use of the Rams offense? Steven Jackson was ignored in the second half running the ball only 4 times. You can't have your best player on the roster not be a part of your offense, especially when you consider that the Rams were without Donnie Avery and running out Keenan Burton and Tim Carter as your offensive weapons. The Rams were aggressive in the first half and it loosened up the Jaguars defense. They stopped being aggressive and the offense went back into their slumber. You HAVE to get the ball in Steven Jackson's hands or you will not win the game. As simple as that.

Wide Receivers: I understand that this is a rebuilding year and I know the Rams are up against the salary cap but they have to do something about their wide receiving corps. Laurent Robinson is done. Donnie Avery is out. Now there is the possibility that you could have Keenan Burton, Tim Carter and Danny Amendola as your starting wide receivers next week. That would be inexcusable in the Big XII much less in the NFL. How can you expect to even compete with that as your lineup? I know that Billy Devaney and the Rams were gambling heading into this season that Avery would step up, Robinson would develop into a threat and then someone else would become a valuable receiver. They gambled horribly wrong. I don't believe there is going to be any way to fix this for the final 10 games but it sure isn't fair to Rams fans or anyone else in the offensive meeting room that that group is what you have to lineup with. It may have been a lost season to begin with, but it is patently unfair now.

The Defense: I have not been one that has been overly complimentary about the defense this year. They have shown signs of being better at times but they are still a group that is lacking. Frankly the Rams should have never been in the game today with how bad their defense was. When a quarterback throws for over 300 yards and a running back runs for another 133 then you are lucky to even be on the field. The defense is regressing, even though the scoreboard didn't show it today.

A Couple of Good Things

Steven Jackson: You are the man. It stinks that you have to be on the worst team in the league because you are certainly one of the top three running backs in the NFL right now. I hope you get a Pro Bowl invitation this year because despite the lack of touchdowns that you will score you are playing harder then anyone else out on the field.

Leonard Little: Good to see the "old" defensive end creating some havoc in the backfield. He may not be the dominating player that he once was but he is still good enough, when used in the right situations, to be a force.

The question becomes when are the Rams going to win a game? Certainly next week is out with the Colts coming off of a bye week. Then they have a game at Detroit that will provide them with a chance to win. Other then that there is a home game against Seattle, a road game at Tennessee and maybe a home game against Houston or San Francisco that could give them a chance. At best this team can win three games. More likely less than that. Patience is a virtue, but having a chance and not going for it just pours more salt in the wound. A brutal Sunday for a Rams fan.

Boy, ain't that the truth?

I guess when time is running out you might be tempted to get more playing time by kicking a field goal to tie the score, but when your team is 0-4 what in the world do you have to lose. GO FOR IT!

That's just it. At 0-5 in a game you are behind by 3 with as many as 7 seconds left in a game in which you still have one time out left, YOU MUST TAKE ONE MORE SHOT!