Rams lose; future for Spags, Devaney up in the air

It's over for the Rams in 2011. Is it now over for coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney following Sunday's 34-27 loss to San Francisco? Initial indications were that a decision would be made quickly, probably on Monday, according to league sources.


Team sources tell the Post-Dispatch that the Rams have made no decision at this time on whether to fire Spagnuolo and Devaney. ESPN reported that they've been fired.


The Rams made things interesting, with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to narrow their deficit from 34-13 to 34-27. But that's as close as they got as San Francisco ran out the clock in the final 2½ minutes to play in the Edward Jones Dome.


The Rams finish their season at 2-14, tied for the second-worst since the move to St. Louis in 1995. By virtue of Jacksonville's 19-13 victory over Indianapolis, the Rams will pick No. 2 overall with the Colts having the first pick. Indy also finished 2-14, but because the Colts played a weaker schedule than St. Louis, they get the No. 1 pick on the tie-breaker.


Meanwhile, San Francisco marches into the offseason with a 13-3 record and a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in the NFC.


Things started out promisingly enough, with quarterback Kellen Clemens doing his Cam Newton impression on an 18-yard scramble for a touchdown. Clemens was starting his third consecutive game with both Sam Bradford (ankle) and A.J. Feeley (thumb) sidelined again with injuries.
On third-and-7, Clemens scrambled to his right and dove past 49ers safety Donte Whitner for the final couple of yards into the end zone. The 62-yard drive followed a rare miss by San Francisco's field goal machine, kicker David Akers.


It marked only the second time all season the Rams had scored a TD on their opening drive of a game. The only other time it happened? Steven Jackson on the Rams' first offensive play of the season _ a 47-yard TD run against Philadelphia.


But it was all 49ers in the first half after what was the third rushing TD of Clemens' six-year NFL career. The 49ers picked up lots of field position on special teams, due mainly to the work of their Pro Bowl punter, Andy Lee. On the possession following the Clemens TD, a 66-yard punt by Lee bounced out of bounds at the St. Louis 8. The Rams went three-and-out, and when a 38-yard punt by the Rams' Donnie Jones was returned 10 yards by Reggie Smith, the 49ers took over on the St. Louis 33 late in the third quarter.


Five plays later, on third-and-goal from the Rams 8, San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith matched his Rams counterpart by scrambling to his right for a game-tying touchdown with 37 seconds left in the opening quarter. Defensive end Chris Long missed a potential sack at the start of the play.


On the Rams' next possession, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels reached into his bag of tricks, but this one backfired like an exploding cigar. On third-and-3 from the St. Louis 39, running back Jerious Norwood took a direct snap and started to his right before stopping to lob a pass back across the grain for quarterback Clemens.


But the ball seemed to float forever, and 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown swooped in for an interception and return to the St. Louis 34. Alex Smith then tried two quick throws, or "smokes," to wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The first, to Smith's left, was relatively well defended and went for six yards. On the second, to Smith's right, cornerback Josh Gordy missed a tackle near the line of scrimmage and Crabtree raced down the sideline for a 28-yard TD and a 14-7 San Francisco lead.


The 49ers, who outgained the Rams 113 yards to 34 in the second quarter, tacked on a couple of Akers field goals for a 20-7 halftime lead.


The Rams added a Josh Brown field goal in the third quarter to cut the San Francisco lead to 20-10. But 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh went one better later in the quarter on a fake field goal. Akers took the snap and threw to a wide open Crabtree for a 14-yard TD and 27-10 lead with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.


Crabtree faked as if leaving the field, but never did; he lined up just inside the out-of-bounds line on the sideline with no Rams player following him over. It was just the latest meltdown by special teams coordinator Tom McMahon's unit over the second half of the season.


The Rams added a second Brown field goal early in the fourth quarter, but the 49ers kept answering the field goals with touchdowns. Anthony Dixon scored from one yard out with 6:30 to play to stretch the San Francisco lead to 34-13.

Rams offense is historically impotent

BY JIM THOMAS

It's not an illusion, the Rams' offense is as bad as it looks. In fact, with just two games remaining in the 2011 season, the Rams' lack of production has reached historic proportions.

With a league-low 166 points scored, the Rams are on pace to score less than 200 points for only the second time since World II. If the Rams stay on their average of 11.9 points per game, they will complete the 2011 season with 190 points scored.

And given the caliber of the defensive competition in their final two games, the Rams might be lucky to score at all.

Entering their Monday night game at Candlestick Park, Pittsburgh was ranked No. 1 in the league in total defense and No. 2 in scoring defense. The Steelers' foe, San Francisco, was No. 4 in total defense and No. 1 in scoring defense.

The Rams travel to Pittsburgh for a Christmas Eve game at Heinz Field. Then on Jan. 1, they ring in the New Year by playing host to San Francisco in the season finale at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Steelers are in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Baltimore for the AFC North title. The 49ers, who beat the Rams 26-0 on Dec. 4, still could be in the running for a first-round playoffs bye when they face the Rams. So neither team might be resting any regulars when they play St. Louis.

Before coach Steve Spagnuolo's arrival in 2009, you had to go back 65 years and two cities in franchise history to find a Rams team that scored fewer than 200 points. From 1937 through 1944, the Cleveland Rams never scored more than 196 points in any of the franchise's first seven seasons. (The Rams didn't field a team in 1943.)

But in those days, the Rams played only 10 or 11 games a season, not 16. Even the 1982 Rams during that strike-shortened nine-game season managed to score exactly 200 points.

So from the '44 Rams, who scored 188 points in a 4-6 campaign, one must go all the way forward in time to the '09 club —which scored 175 points — to find another Rams team that scored fewer than 200 in a season.

In '09, Spagnuolo stepped into the considerable mess left by predecessor Scott Linehan, one replete with bad draft picks and failed free agents.

The 2010 offense under rookie quarterback Sam Bradford was much improved, scoring 114 more points than the '09 squad, marking the second-best improvement in points scored in the NFL by a team from '09 to 2010.

But despite the signing of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, the drafting of two wide receivers and a tight end in Rounds 2-4, the trade for Brandon Lloyd and the signing of offensive lineman Harvey Dahl in free agency, the Rams have regressed noticeably in this injury-plagued 2011 season.

As Dahl said after the Rams' 20-13 loss Sunday to Cincinnati, "We just can't get it all connected on offense."

Not even close.

The Rams rank last in the league in third-down conversion rate (26.9 percent) and are 30th in red-zone offense, scoring touchdowns on just 35.7 percent of their possessions inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

"It's hard to move the ball when you're not converting on third down," Spagnuolo said following the loss to Cincinnati. "We haven't been able to generate those explosive plays, and that's kind of been the story a lot.

"For whatever reason (defenses) are taking away certain weapons that they defend a certain way. We've got to try to manufacture some points working our way down the field. It's hard to be perfect for however number of plays, but one thing we've got to do is convert on third down."

With a tattered offensive and no true fullback on the roster, the Rams had trouble gaining inches — much less yards — on third down against the Bengals.

In going 0-for-eight on third-down conversions through three quarters, the Rams never faced any situation longer than third-and-7.

They had a third-and-1, third-and-2, third-and-3, and third-and-four plays — all very manageable down-and-distance situations. But they had minus-10 yards to show for those eight third-down plays:

• Steven Jackson was stopped for 1- and 2-yard losses on runs.

• Kellen Clemens was sacked twice.

• Clemens threw incomplete once and scrambled once for one yard (on third-and-2).

• The only other plays to gain positive yardage besides Clemens' scramble were a 1-yard completion to Lloyd on third-and-4 and a 5-yard completion to Danario Alexander on third-and-6.

A facemask penalty against the Bengals' defense did give the Rams a first down on third-and-1 in the second quarter, but because it came on a penalty it wasn't counted in the conversion stats. On the actual play, Lloyd lined up in the backfield took a pitch from Clemens, and was nailed for a 3-yard loss.

So the red zone remains the dead zone for the Rams, and the act of actually crossing the goal line remains a rarity.

The Rams have scored only 15 TDs this season, and if that number doesn't change against Pittsburgh and San Francisco, it will be the second-lowest total in franchise history — trailing only the 10 TDs scored by the Cleveland Rams in 1937.

And if the Rams don't score at least 34 points over their final two games, they will become just the 15th team in the NFL since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978 to score fewer than 200 points.

Those hardly are "milestones" a team wants to reach.

Kroenke plotting changes for Rams

by Bryan Burwell

SAN FRANCISCO • By now the details are no longer very important. Let's just say that Sunday in Candlestick Park for the Rams was just like any other NFL Sunday — another bad loss in another lost season that makes every game day feel like a regurgitated Groundhog's Day nightmare for this really bad football team.

By the end of this 26-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the 2-10 Rams were doing what they always do, marching glumly off the field while another team celebrated. The Niners were prancing around Candlestick doing all sorts of silly dances and waving and blowing kisses to their giddy fans after clinching the NFC West title. And while the Niners partied, the Rams were forced to ponder their increasingly sorry state, which appears to be getting more hopeless as the weeks go by.

This may have been the worst loss of all, because the Rams had absolutely no chance of ever winning this game. Seriously. No chance at all. Not when your injury-plagued, patchwork offense is physically incapable of scoring. I'm not trying to be flippant, either. The Rams' offense is now averaging less than a touchdown per game, which should not be possible in professional football. But on Sunday, the Rams' offense had one offensive possession (out of 12) all game that was over five plays and never came within 37 yards of the end zone all day long.
Oops, I said I wouldn't bore you with details.

At this point in this franchise's unsteady history, the only thing that any of you really want to know is when and how this bad football will ever end. There's only one man who can provide those answers and his name is Stan Kroenke, the majority owner, who is not exactly reclusive but does not particularly regard public attention as essential as air or water.

While it's popular to characterize Kroenke as some indifferent absentee owner, nothing could be further from the truth. As I've told you before, he's almost always around on game days but usually slips out some back door in the locker room before reporters can get close. But Sunday, Kroenke decided not to make a hasty exit. Instead, he lingered in the cramped visitors' locker room, slowly navigating his way over and around half-filled equipment bags, discarded balls of tape, helmets and shoulder pads. The man who hasn't said very much publicly about the state of his woeful football team quietly moved from locker stall to locker stall, shaking hands and whispering in the ears of his dispirited employees.

With some players, it was nothing more than a firm handshake and a quick word. With others, Kroenke lingered a bit longer, placing a hand on a shoulder, maybe holding on to a forearm, too. But each time, he looked them all square in their eyes and spoke to nearly every player in the room.

"I just wanted them to know that I appreciated their efforts," Kroenke would say a few minutes later as he stood in a narrow hallway just outside the locker room. "I know they don't count that in the NFL, but I wanted to make sure the players knew I do appreciate their effort."
And that was pretty much it. He chatted politely for a few more minutes before making a retreat into the parking lot where a car was waiting to whisk him off to a waiting jet at the nearby airport.

Is he mad or frustrated? Is he about to lose his mind and fire everyone in sight, and quite a few who aren't? Is he plotting the complete overthrow of the front office and coaching staff or does he have a more surgical renovation in mind?

I'd like to tell you that Kroenke unburdened his mind like he was on a therapist's couch. But that's not Kroenke's style.

"As you know we don't discuss or make these kinds of decisions during the season," is all he was willing to say at this point.

But understand this. The man is not taking all this losing lightly. You could see it in his expressions as he moved around the locker room. People who know him well say he is extremely frustrated by what has transpired in his second season as majority owner and at the proper time — which is not in the middle of the season — he will decide what needs to be done. They say he is paying very close attention but feels no overwhelming need to prove that he is some boisterous ownership tough guy who needs to stand in front of microphones and TV cameras calling subordinates on the carpet.

Just because he's not going all George Steinbrenner on us doesn't mean he's playing the role of indifferent absentee owner.

In his typical "Silent Stanley" style, he prefers the low-key approach. The people who know him best say he has been gathering every snippet of information for the past two seasons — probably longer than that, really, since he's been around this franchise since 1995 — and when the season is over, he will be able to intelligently evaluate who, what, when, where and how things didn't work.

Of equal importance, his fact finding must also sort out who and what is working.

I've told you this before and I will continue to maintain this: Kroenke will not automatically utilize the scorched earth approach when all is said and done. People who he believes are part of the solution could survive regardless of popular opinion, and those who he believes are part of the problem will be gone.

There will be evaluations about the current operating structure of the football organization. There will be appraisals about how decisions are made, who makes them, when they make them, and if they should be making them.

There will be accountability in every aspect of the operation of this organization, and in the end, changes will be made.

But do not be surprised or disappointed if he does not follow the whims of popular opinion.
Quite frankly, draw comfort from that.