St. Louis Rams

Faulk Downplays Stafford’s Achievements

by Chris Edwards on February 15, 2012 · 0 comments

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had an impressive season. He passed for 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns, led the Lions to 10 wins and the playoffs, and won the NFL’s comeback player of the year award. Mighty fine for someone the missed a good portion of his first two seasons.

Former St. Louis Ram and current NFL Network analyst Marshall Faulk doesn’t see Stafford’s accomplishments as a big deal. Instead Faulk said he wasn’t impressed and called passing for 5,000 yards is the norm in today’s NFL.

“Throwing for 5,000 yards in the NFL right now is nothing,” Faulk said. “I don’t want to take anything away from it. As much as people throw the football now, you better have 5,000 (yards) if you have Calvin Johnson.”

I’d like to ask what is Faulk smoking? The 5,000 yard plateau has only been done five times in NFL history and he calls it the norm? Drew Bledsoe had over 600 pass attempts on four occasions and never broke 5,000 yards. If you take away Calvin Johnson, Stafford still passes for about 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. Still not that bad.

While I don’t know that Faulk has an agenda, it’s clear he’s been dining on paint chips. Stafford’s season is absolutely impressive. It’s not run of the mill, even in this pass-happy league.

I imagine this was a classic case of overstatement. From what I can gather, without having seen him make the statement, his point was that it’s not a big deal to throw for 5,000 yards, as it was in Marino’s day. If that’s what he meant, fine. I totally agree. It used to be a big deal to rush for 1,000 yards; it’s not a huge statement any longer.

On the other hand, if Faulk is trying to dismiss Stafford’s season altogether as somehow being par for the course, he has no leg to stand on. Jon Kitna had Calvin Johnson at his disposal. Peyton Manning, Daunte Culpepper, Joe Montana and MANY others had outstanding receivers at their disposal. It’s not to say Stafford is the greatest thing since sliced bread, rather that he had a fantastic season, regardless of era or weapons.

I love to talk sports.Just a fan that blogs about what goes on in the world of sports. Everyone feel free to discuss their take on what’s going on.

Twitter 

Marshall Faulk Won’t Cut Jeff Fisher Any Slack

by Chris Edwards on February 5, 2012

Marshall Faulk is one of the greatest St. Louis Rams of all time. If there were a Mr. Ram, he might be it. He won a Super Bowl with the Rams and was the centerpiece of “The Greatest Show On Turf”. During media day at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Faulk was made available to talk to media and he gave his thoughts on the state of the Rams and former head coach Mike Martz. To say the least Faulk isn’t thrilled with the Rams and isn’t willing to cut new coach Jeff Fisher any slack despite his track record with the Tennessee Titans.    VOW

• Faulk on Fisher: No. 28 expects quick results and doesn’t seem inclined to give Fisher the benefit of the doubt if the Rams’ reconstruction takes longer than expected.
“We’ll see. That’s all I can say. We will see,” Faulk said. “Jeff had a long and illustrious tenure in Tennessee and Houston. How long is (owner) Stan Kroenke going to wait? Will they give him all five years regardless of how bumpy it is? If Jeff hits three of those 8-8 seasons, what do you do? That’s a lot of money to be mediocre. You’ve got to deliver.”
• Faulk on Brian Schottenheimer: “I’m sorry, but can you tell me what Schottenheimer did with the Jets that would give confidence that he can be the one to turn this offense around and to get (quarterback) Sam Bradford going? He had better talent to work with in New York than he’ll have right away in St. Louis. So we’ll see what he can get done.”
• Faulk on the future of the Rams’ franchise: Is he worried that the team will move? “No, I’m not,” he said.
• Does Faulk believe the Rams will stay in St. Louis? “I hope so. I hope that’s the case. I would hate to see the city without the team,” he said.
• Faulk on the retirement of Mike Martz, his former head coach in St. Louis: “I know that he has a lot to offer. It’s bad that he takes a knock for being a passing guy, when you look at today’s NFL. And what he did and how we did it — that’s what everybody’s doing right now.”
• Faulk defending Martz’s work as offensive coordinator in Chicago: “Martz was working with lesser talent than he’s accustomed to working with. And I believe that (in the 2010 season) they were playing in the NFC championship, at home, against the Packers. With Caleb Hanie in the game after Jay Cutler went down. And they were in the game. If he didn’t do a good job, they should have let him go then. Other than (running back) Matt Forte, there wasn’t anyone that was fear inducing. I’m defending Mike because I can only imagine how hard it was to game plan with what he had. Look at what Green Bay put on the field offensively. Look at what Detroit put on the field offensively. And you have to play them twice a year? Do your best. And I believe he did his best.”

Faulk shouldn’t talk down about Fisher. He had a good run in Tennessee and almost beat the team Faulk played for in the Super Bowl. I can understand if the Rams hired anyone without a track record like Fisher’s. Granted he could’ve done more in Tennessee, but some of those seasons the Titans overachieved. In my opinion, the Rams made the best hire this offseason. The way it sounds is that Faulk would likje to have someone that coaches an offensive style of football with a lot of run and gun.
—-

Written by Chris Edwards, Reporter (Archive/RSS)

I love to talk sports.Just a fan that blogs about what goes on in the world of sports. Everyone feel free to discuss their take on what’s going on.
Follow on Twitter @justsports72

I love to talk sports.Just a fan that blogs about what goes on in the world of sports. Everyone feel free to discuss their take on what’s going on.

Twitter 

St. Louis Rams Commit to Three Games In London

by FeedCrossing on January 24, 2012

http://imgsrv.wina.com/image/WiresGraphic/2012-01-20T151118Z_1_BTRE80J167200_RTROPTP_2_SPORTS-US-NFL-RAMS.JPG

Don’t be surprised if you hear some members of the St. Louis Rams speaking with English accents in the next couple of years or becoming quite fond of fish and chips. This is because the NFL team has committed to playing a regular-season game at Wembley Stadium in London, England in each of the next three seasons. They’ll basically become London’s home team during that time and will face the New England Patriots in their first contest on Oct. 28. Their opponents haven’t been chosen yet for the games in 2013 and 2014.

It might not come as a big shock to NFL insiders since Rams owner Stan Kroenke spends quite a bit of time in Jolly old England since he’s also the majority shareholder of London’s Arsenal F.C, of the English Premier Soccer League. The decision means the Rams will lose out on one home game per season over the next three years while they’re playing in London.

Kroenke released a statement that said the NFL’s popularity is growing in both London and other major European markets. He said he’d like the Rams to play a role in the growth and promotion of the league and feels this is an excellent way to do it. The game against New England will be the sixth NFL contest held in London, but it will also be the only there next year even though it was rumored there might be a second game added ad Wembley.

Alistair Kirkwood, who’s the managing director for the NFL in Britain, said that 2012 is going to be a very competitive and busy place for sports in Britain because the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games are going to be held there this summer. He said the NFL wanted to concentrate on the Rams as more or less being Britain’s home team for the time being and didn’t think they should add a second game at Wembley next season.

He added that the league still wants to play more games in Europe and they will be scheduled when it feels the time is right. Their chance will come since the NFL has agreed to play at least one regular season game in London for each of the next five years. League commissioner Roger Goodell also hopes that Britain will one day have its own NFL franchise. However, British fans won’t have one of the league’s elite teams to cheer for. The Rams have won just 15 games over the past five seasons and finished this year with a 2-14 record, which was the worst in the league and shared with the Indianapolis Colts. The club also recently fired coach Steve Spagnuolo and replaced him with Jeff Fisher.

The NFL played its first game in London back in 2007 when the New York Giants edged the Miami Dolphins by a 13-10 score. Since then, a total of seven other NFL franchises have played in England, with Tampa Bay playing there twice. Next season’s game will also be New England’s second visit as they beat Tampa 35-7 back in 2009. Tampa played there this season as well and dropped a 24-18 decision to the Chicago Bears in October. It was the first NFL game in London that didn’t sell out.

Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots said he’s excited about the trip, especially since his club won’t be giving up a home game. He said the Patriots have a pretty big fan base in Britain and it’s actually like playing an extra home game for his team.

By Diehard Sports via FeedCrossing
—-

Written by FeedCrossing, Content News Source (Archive/RSS)

We are the internet’s premiere content exchange for great sports articles and blog posts. We bring together publishers looking for a great source for sports-related content with writers and websites looking to promote their websites and blogs.

We are the internet’s premiere content exchange for great sports articles and blog posts. We bring together publishers looking for a great source for sports-related content with writers and websites looking to promote their websites and blogs.

Seahawks, Rams Looking to Build on Momentum

by FeedCrossing on November 18, 2011

 http://theticketgurus.com/wp-content/uploads/stl_rams_2011.jpg

The NFC West title was decided between two chronic underachievers last season: the Seattle Seahawks and the St Louis Rams. Both teams sported losing records and it all came down to a tiebreaker game which the Seahawks won 16-6 at home, thus finishing atop the NFC West with a dismal 7-9 record. The Rams had a similar record but they had lost the tiebreaker.

This season, none of the two teams are playoff-bound. In fact, they look nothing like playoff teams, with the Seahawks sporting a less than impressive 3-6 record, and the Rams an even worse 2-7 one. San Francisco’s 8-1 west-leading record will leave no room for teams hoping to ride into the playoffs on losing records. Despite their obviously tough seasons and poor records, the two teams have both had good games last weekend. The Rams played in Cleveland where they managed to steal the game rallying to a 13-12 victory. The Seahawks played at home, against the Baltimore Ravens no less, and they too managed to put an end to their skid, scoring a 22-17 win.

The two teams will play each other in a re-enactment of last year’s tiebreaking game, on Sunday at Edward Jones Dome, for the first time this season. Experts point at Seattle as the favorites in this bout, on account of their ability to keep the ground game rolling against a defense which allows 150.6 rushing yards per game: dead last in the league in this respect.

Last weekend, a whole bunch of the Seahawks’ leading receivers suffered head injuries. Kam Chancellor, Dough Baldwin and Sidney Rice are all down for the count, but the team hopes they’ll all pull themselves together till Sunday and if they do the Seahawks will be like pokerprops: rolling in options. St Louis has its own injury-related problems in Al Harris and Mike Hoomanawanui who are both down with knee problems.

We are the internet’s premiere content exchange for great sports articles and blog posts. We bring together publishers looking for a great source for sports-related content with writers and websites looking to promote their websites and blogs.

Chris Long Pays Tribute to the Cardinals Winning World Series

by Josh Dhani on October 30, 2011

Boy, what a way to make a tribute to the World-Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. After making a sack on Drew Brees, Long did a batting stance and swing as the sack celebration.

Take a look below:

Josh has been writing since January 2009 and founded FootBasket in April 2009. He also owns the websites, Hardcourt Mayhem and Gridiron Mayhem. For a full bio, check out JoshDhani.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshDhani

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ YouTube 

Cardinals Bring Cheers to Saints-Rams Game

by Josh Dhani on October 30, 2011

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/1030/nfl_u_cards_gb1_600.jpg

The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals brought cheers after the team went to celebrate at the Edward Jones Dome as the New Orleans Saints took on the Rams.

The Cardinals received a standing ovation from the crowd as the franchise won their eleventh title, beating the Texas Rangers in seven games.

“To be on the sideline is definitely an adrenaline rush and we’re not even playing today,” pitcher Edwin Jackson said.

The game started off well, as the Rams jumped to a 17-0 lead, as they were aiming for their first victory of the season, even without star quarterback Sam Bradford.

“This is my first time in this stadium. It’s awesome to be part of this,” catcher Yadier Molina said.

The Rams would end up winning the game with a couple of Steven Jackson touchdowns, beating New Orleans 31-21.

“Listening to thousands and thousands of people going crazy for us is definitely going to give people chill bumps. I definitely wouldn’t mind doing it again,” Jackson said.

Looks like the Cards brought good luck in this game. Maybe they should come more often so the Rams could win more. 

Josh has been writing since January 2009 and founded FootBasket in April 2009. He also owns the websites, Hardcourt Mayhem and Gridiron Mayhem. For a full bio, check out JoshDhani.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshDhani

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ YouTube 

Worst of the Worst Award: Rams, Colts, and Dolphins All Remain Winless Through Week 7

by FeedCrossing on October 24, 2011

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/10/fullj.19e5a8343036a3789e242d285dc754e3/19e5a8343036a3789e242d285dc754e3-getty-130156781.jpg

There are three teams in the NFL who have yet to experience a win this season. Despite some close shaves for the Dolphins, Rams, and Colts, they can’t seem to get it together when it counts. Comparing all the major malfunctions these three teams deal with on a weekly basis, it’s easy to see who the NFL’s biggest loser really is right now. Even though the Colts have the most losses (7) since Miami and St. Louis have had the pleasure of a bye week already, the Rams carry the unfortunate honor of scoring the least points in the league into week 8.

The St. Louis Rams (0-6) are the only winless team left in the NFC. They’ve scored a lowly 56 total points to 171 scored against them so far after getting spanked in Week 7 by a score of 34-7 in a blowout win for the Dallas Cowboys. The closest game this team’s been in this year was a week 4 loss to the Redskins decided by just 7 points. It was also the only game so far in which the Rams had the top passer (Sam Bradford, 164 yards), rusher (Ryan Torain, 135 yards), and receiver (Jabar Gaffney, 62 yards). Their highest point total in any game came in a 16-28 loss to the New York Giants. Next week they face an always-daunting New Orleans Saints squad, the same one that kept their kindred-spirit Colts winless through week 7. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for this Rams team, and while it’s hard to imagine they could get any worse, it’s clear they’ve shown no signs of significant improvement. Their best shot to crack the win column will come in their two upcoming faceoffs with the 1-5 Arizona Cardinals on November 6th and 27th.

The Indianapolis Colts (0-7) have been a complete disaster this year in accumulating 7 straight losses to start the season. The New Orleans Saints (5-2) demolished the Peyton-Manningless Colts in the week 7 Sunday night contest by a mind-boggling score of 62-7. Not only was the defeat depressing for Indy fans, but it likely led to a huge drop in ratings for NBC. Countless viewers likely switched over to the World Series Game 4 on Fox between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals rather than watching the slaughter continue. Colts QB Curtis Painter couldn’t put a good drive together for the bulk of the night, and he finally threw a pick 6 to add insult to the injury to his psyche. The shock of this incredible defeat might inspire this team to step it up and play with a little more desperation in the weeks to come. Many would give them the worst of the worst award for the season based on this sole performance. It’s easy to forget that they had very close calls against the Pittsburgh Steelers (23-20) and the Kansas City Chiefs (28-24) earlier this year. This Colts team is struggling at the worst possible time, though. Their next two opponents are the Tennessee Titans (3-3) and Atlanta Falcons (4-3). The November 13 game against the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars represents their best hope to pull off their first win of the season.

The Miami Dolphins (0-6) actually came closer than they ever have this season to putting a one in the win column on Sunday against the Denver Broncos (2-4). This Dolphin team’s sad story is their inability to convert red zone appearances into touchdowns. They also lost their starting QB Chad Henne early in the season and haven’t recovered despite having some real talent on the team. They actuall had Denver beat this week and let them get back into the game late in the fourth quarter with two back-to-back scores. Even those touchdowns would have been too little too late if it hadn’t been for Coach Tony Sparano deciding to try for two on the only Dolphin touchdown of the game, Tim Tebow and the Broncos would have had to go 2-2 on two-point conversions to tie the game and send it into overtime. Instead, Miami lost 18-15 in overtime. They had an even closer loss against the Cleveland Browns in week 3. They lost that hard-fought game 17-16. Perhaps that was the very game in Sparano’s mind when he opted for the failed two point conversion this week. It’s been one of those seasons where every point matters, and the Dolphins offense has been disappointing. The acquisition of Running Back Reggie Bush and the reliability of Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall make Miami’s offense more potent, but breaking their losing streak is also going to take some major improvements on defense. Their best chance to earn their first win comes November 6 against Kansas City (3-3), but the recent Kansas City resurgence makes that possibility questionable at best.

Some teams have all the luck, and others have all the talent. Miami, Indianapolis, and St. Louis have none of the above this season. They are the NFL’s only winless teams, and there’s nowhere to go but up at this point, though at least one of these squads could certainly end the season without scoring a single victory. As for which team wins first, it’s a real toss up. The only sure thing is whatever team loses to one of these squads first will have to deal with a deluge of criticism once the final whistle blows.

We are the internet’s premiere content exchange for great sports articles and blog posts. We bring together publishers looking for a great source for sports-related content with writers and websites looking to promote their websites and blogs.

Brandon Lloyd Traded to Rams

by FeedCrossing on October 17, 2011

http://helmet2helmet.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/brandon-lloyd-broncos-263x310.jpg

The biggest name on the trade block (that we know of) has, to no one’s surprise, landed with another organization.

According to NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora, Broncos receiver Brandon Lloyd was traded to the Rams.

The compensation for said deal is not yet currently known, though it’s likely a conditional pick that would escalate with performance. Lloyd was told not to report to the Broncos’ facilities Monday.

Of all the teams interested in him, the Rams are by far the best fit. Not only do they desperately need help at the position, Lloyd had his Pro Bowl season under Josh McDaniels, Denver’s former coach and current offensive coordinator in St. Louis.

We are the internet’s premiere content exchange for great sports articles and blog posts. We bring together publishers looking for a great source for sports-related content with writers and websites looking to promote their websites and blogs.

A.J. Hawk Gives the Finger During Rams-Packers Game

by Josh Dhani on October 16, 2011

http://p.twimg.com/Ab5ZFQDCIAADh8L.jpg 
During the second quarter in a match-up the Rams and the Packers, Green Bay linebacker A.J. Hawk would make a solid play, sacking quarterback Sam Bradford. 
But then he went too far.
Hawk would rub it in, and went as far as to flipping the bird as the Packers led at that point, 10-0. 
Maybe Hawk is trying to show he is tougher than Clay Matthews. 
Can Clay Matthews do that? Maybe, but I don’t think he wants to be fined.

UPDATE

Here’s a video of what Hawk did:

Josh has been writing since January 2009 and founded FootBasket in April 2009. He also owns the websites, Hardcourt Mayhem and Gridiron Mayhem. For a full bio, check out JoshDhani.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshDhani

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ YouTube 

Deon Grant Says He Wasn’t Faking

by Josh Dhani on September 24, 2011

After the St. Louis Rams filed a complaint with the NFL about the New York Giants faking injuries, the league sent out a memo basically stating that those caught faking an injury will be punished.

Giants safety Deon Grant says that if there’s a problem he’ll gladly address it. Grant was the main culprit along with teammate Jacquian Williams in the injurygate scandal. Grant isn’t too happy about it and says he’s too tough to fake an injury.

“I wanna ask a question: From the first time I touched the football field, how many games (have) I (missed)?” Grant said Wednesday, noting that he’s played 162 out of 162 possible games since he came into the league back in 2001. “None, right? None. Now to this day I got two torn MCLs. I just had wrist surgery two years ago. I had a hole in my labrum and a torn rotator cuff. I (haven’t) missed (any) games.”


“I went out one play,” Grant said. “I got banged up, and went right back in and finished the game — (just like I have) every game for my career. My whole thing is when (do) you know (if) somebody faking an injury? … I’m not no duck or no dummy. I’m not about to be going out there banging myself up like they do in the movies.




“You look at my knees now, do you see this knee (my right one), this knee is smaller than that one (my left one)? You see the bang up, right?”

Grant claimed he banged knees on the previous play and the Rams tried to line up while he was out of position. Besides going out of his way to prove how macho he is, he also implied that a teammate, maybe Justin Tuck told him to “just go down”.

“And I was like, ‘No,’” Grant said. “But as I was walking they lined up knowing I couldn’t get back into my position because of the injury, so I went down. It just so happened Jacquain — he was catching a cramp at the same time — and he went down.

Grant had plenty to say. He said if the league wants to fine him he’s ok. Just give him some money for the metal plates in his knees and the surgeries. He also doesn’t care what the Rams think either.

“Like I just told (you), if you want me to be fined for that, how about (the league) give me money for playing on these torn MCLs, for me finishing the season with a torn rotator cuff and with a labrum that I got fixed before the season so I won’t miss (any) games and sell my team out like that,” Grant said.




“Give me some money for this metal plate and screws that I have in my hip that was a career-ending injury,” he continued. “I can keep going on and on. Give me some money for finishing the season with a cast on, with a broken wrist and torn ligaments. Want me to keep going? Give me some money for me breaking my finger and it popping through my skin and the bone’s just hanging out and I wrap it up and finish a preseason game or start a preseason game because the game hasn’t even started — I did that in warmups.


“I can go on and on and on. So if you want to talk about claims and all that other stuff, and all this toughness and softness, nobody’s gonna try me first of all with the softness thing. But if you wanna talk about this whole toughness and all that, I got the injuries to speak for it.


“What was that down and distance when that happened?” Grant asked. “(Second-and-2) So they had, what, (three) plays to score right? So how you slowing somebody down?




“They already got down the field right? You got (three) plays, and I’m not even in the game the next play. You got (three) plays to score and that’s what you’re complaining about? C’mon.”

We get it Deon. You’re just way too tough to be faking. Personally I don’t care one way or another. There will always be a team willing to bend the rules to get an edge. If he wasn’t faking then oh well. Life goes on. We know football players are big and tough, I just don’t care for someone to go out of their way to prove it.

Josh has been writing since January 2009 and founded FootBasket in April 2009. He also owns the websites, Hardcourt Mayhem and Gridiron Mayhem. For a full bio, check out JoshDhani.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshDhani

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ YouTube 

← Previous Entries