Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Originally posted by JayBee:
Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Originally posted by JayBee:
Originally posted by Harbaugh52:
Originally posted by JayBee:
Are people really comparing a QB in his 1st season to a QB in his 6th season? Did I actually read that Danny Amendola is better than anyone on the 9ers roster? Did I read that Spagnola is one of the better HC's in the league and Shurmur is a top OC? Did I just hear that St. Louis had a good O-line? I'm getting a kick out of reading this garbage.
Uh..
Sagnola isnt a bad coach, Shurmur was a great OC last year, St. Louis does have a pretty good O-line.
Shurmur? Great OC?
Spagnola coached a team to a 1-15 record.
The O-line? The same O-line that was decimated by injuries?
It just goes to show you what a competent QB will do to a team. Makes the HC look good. Makes the OC look like a HOFer and the O-line look good. Makes a practice squad receiver all of a sudden a great player with phenomenal hands.
These guys have interesting careers. Shurmer didn't just help Bradford become a good QB, but every category of offense improved under Shurmer. That indicates coaching, not one great player showing his stuff. As for Spagnola, he is a D guy and has a track record of success as a DC. So, they had both areas covered by very competant people. Next season will be interesting as Bradford will have Josh McDaniels as OC. That should still be a good situation.
But I thought QB's required offensive minded head coaches to succeed? Bradford's situation mirrors Alex's situation so perfectly yet the 9ers OC's, HC's, players etc are all garbage and the Rams OC's, HC's, players, etc are top tier. It's just funny how some talk on both sides of their mouth.
We're not going to agree on this so no point discussing this further.
Shurmer is/was the yin to Spags yang. I'm not the poster who called the rest of the team garbage...as a matter of fact I don't recall any postive contributer to the discussions saying such a thing. The comparison parallels Smith's second year when Turner was the OC. If you recall, his rookie year Alex was in and out of the lineup to get him seasoning. Bradford was the annointed one and he started all 16 games. Smith had just turned 20 while Bradford was 23.
While you can say the circustances were similar, they were not the same and I disagree with your take. As to no point discussing this further...that's your option but I notice most people who say that keep posting and carrying on the debate. Look forward to your future posts.
Couple of points about the Rams coaching:
Spagnuolo tutored under Jim Johnson, a strong defensive coach who also understood the importance of having a solid offense as well. He inherited a Ram team that had become comfortable losing. He spent the entire first season changing the chemistry of the team, bringing in rookies to replace vets who were just mailing it in every week.
He also brought Pat Shurmur as OC who had spent 10 years learning from Andy Reid. Shurmur had a number of suitors around the league but chose the Rams and Spagnuolo, in part because he was promised a free hand with the offense. Shurmur set about designing an offense that would work with existing Ram personnel. He had Bulger playing quite well compared to past years. Before he was injured, he had a QBR of 71. (Bradford was 76) His completion percentage was 57%. (Bradford was 60%) The offense with Bulger was decent, not great but much better than the year before. It was the defense that stunk but the 1-15 record gave them Sam Bradford.
The significant thing about the 2009 season was that despite the 1-15 record, pro observers widely noted the change in attitude on the team under Spagnuolo. They played hard but a lack of talent among the vets and a lot of rookies held them back. In 2010, the rookies had a year of experience and the entire team played much better. It wasn't just Bradford that made them a better team.
Some interesting stats comparing 2009 and 2010:
1st downs:
In 2009 the Rams gained 259 1st downs to opponents 333. This with a combination of Bulger and Kyle Boller.
In 2010, Rams gained 292 to opponents 304. The improvement was roughly equal on both sides of the ball.
Ave gain/play 2009 Rams 4.5, opponents 5.9.
In 2010, Rams 4.6, opponents 5.3. The big improvement here was NOT on offense but on defense. Bulger/Boller were only .1 yard/play below the Bradford offense. The defense was where the big improvement came.
Total yards in 2009 Rams; 4470, opponents 5965
In 2010: Rams 4846, opponents 5388
Again, while the offense did improve under Bradford, gaining 376 more yards than 2009, it was the defense that made the greatest improvement giving up 577 FEWER yards than before the year before.
Turnovers were a BIG change where the Rams went from -13 to +5. Bulger/Boller had 12 between them while 3rd string injury replacement Keith Null had 9 by himself. Bradford had 15.
The point here is that while Bradford was clearly an improvement over the 2009 QB committee, there were substantial improvements in just about every other category as well. It wasn't like Sam turned a garbage team into a contender. Bradford got a lot of press but when we blow away the smoke, the defense was where the biggest improvement came about.
So take it for what one might. Bradford had a nice rookie year but when we look at the entire picture, the Ram defense behind Chris Long, James Hall and James Laurinaitis made more of an improvement than the offense behind Sam Bradford.
[ Edited by dj43 on Jul 1, 2011 at 22:27:53 ]