primelord
06-03-2004, 01:11 PM
We have had several threads about Kurt Warner around here lately, but they were more focused on things like Warner's place in history etc. I wanted to vent a bit on the Rams QB situation as a whole.
What the hell are the Rams doing? I have said from the beginning that I think giving Bulger the starting job without knowing for certain that Kurt Warner was done was a huge mistake. In the few games he played after 2001 Warner certainly had some issues. However I haven't seen conclusive proof that he is "done". In 2002 there is no question he struggled early. However many people forget his first three games were against the Broncos, Giants, and Buccs. And the Denver and Tampa games were on the road. So he was facing 3 teams that all finished in the top 10 defenses and two on the road. I thought he should have played better, but overall it isn't shocking that he wasn't superb. Then he breaks his finger in the Dallas game. Bulger comes in after Jamie Martin was slaughtered by the 49ers on the road and was injured and gets to face Oakland, Seattle, Arizona, San Diego and Chicago. Only the Arizona game was on the road, and only Oakland was any good out of those 5 teams and even then that was the start of their 4 game side that year where they were awful. And all 5 teams finished near the bottom of the league in total defense.
So Bulger excels against the weaker competition at home and with the help of a recommitment to the running game by Martz. Warner gets realtively healthy and gets thrown back into the mix on the road against Washington and Philly. Again two top ten defenses on the road. And he breaks his hand in the first game. And the Rams still had a chance to win both games. So he is done for the season after the Philly game. Bulger gets in one more full game that year again against Arizona and again shines.
We fast forward to 2003 where Martz has said all preseason that Warner will be the starter. Warner looks fantastic in the preseason, but since they don;t want him to get hurt he is limited in his playing time. He gets the start against the Giants and everyone here knows the fist half was awful. He kept getting sacked and kept fumbling the ball. We can argue about whether or not he had a concussion on the second sack and fumble, but there is no question either way he had problems in the first half. However many people forget he was very good in the 2nd half of that game and again the Rams had several chances to win that game.
Martz decides to bench Warner and he never sees the playing field again except for a few meaningless plays at the end of the year. However after a fast start Bulger looks awful down the stretch in 2003. The media is ooohing and aaahing over his various 4th quarter comebacks, but are largely ignoring the fact that Bulger was responsible for the fact that the Rams were in the majority of those 4th quarter holes. It gets so bad that the Rams choose to kick a FG against Carolina and go into OT in the playoffs instead of giving Bulger a shot to win it with time left to kick the FG if he didn't. Martz had no faith in Bulger to get the job done.
The knock on Bulger is he can't hit the deep ball. At all! He was awful all last year and reports so far in the mini camps is that Chris Chandler of all people is continuely out shining him throwing the deep ball. Bulger has proven he can play well against weak defenses at home. However his accuracy and decision making are very questionable. And the whole time there was a 2 time MVP sitting on the bench who has not been given the shot to prove whether or not he still has it. Is Warner done? He might be, but he certainly hasn't been given the chance to prove whether he is one way or the other. So instead the Rams cut him and head into the season with a QB that the head coach doesn't trust in key situations, who can't throw the deep ball on team built for speed, who has the same problem with turning the damn ball over that Warner had in his struggles, and with a backup QB who is 98 years old and tends to be injured if a Dlineman looks at him funny. What the hell are they doing?
End of rant. :)
What the hell are the Rams doing? I have said from the beginning that I think giving Bulger the starting job without knowing for certain that Kurt Warner was done was a huge mistake. In the few games he played after 2001 Warner certainly had some issues. However I haven't seen conclusive proof that he is "done". In 2002 there is no question he struggled early. However many people forget his first three games were against the Broncos, Giants, and Buccs. And the Denver and Tampa games were on the road. So he was facing 3 teams that all finished in the top 10 defenses and two on the road. I thought he should have played better, but overall it isn't shocking that he wasn't superb. Then he breaks his finger in the Dallas game. Bulger comes in after Jamie Martin was slaughtered by the 49ers on the road and was injured and gets to face Oakland, Seattle, Arizona, San Diego and Chicago. Only the Arizona game was on the road, and only Oakland was any good out of those 5 teams and even then that was the start of their 4 game side that year where they were awful. And all 5 teams finished near the bottom of the league in total defense.
So Bulger excels against the weaker competition at home and with the help of a recommitment to the running game by Martz. Warner gets realtively healthy and gets thrown back into the mix on the road against Washington and Philly. Again two top ten defenses on the road. And he breaks his hand in the first game. And the Rams still had a chance to win both games. So he is done for the season after the Philly game. Bulger gets in one more full game that year again against Arizona and again shines.
We fast forward to 2003 where Martz has said all preseason that Warner will be the starter. Warner looks fantastic in the preseason, but since they don;t want him to get hurt he is limited in his playing time. He gets the start against the Giants and everyone here knows the fist half was awful. He kept getting sacked and kept fumbling the ball. We can argue about whether or not he had a concussion on the second sack and fumble, but there is no question either way he had problems in the first half. However many people forget he was very good in the 2nd half of that game and again the Rams had several chances to win that game.
Martz decides to bench Warner and he never sees the playing field again except for a few meaningless plays at the end of the year. However after a fast start Bulger looks awful down the stretch in 2003. The media is ooohing and aaahing over his various 4th quarter comebacks, but are largely ignoring the fact that Bulger was responsible for the fact that the Rams were in the majority of those 4th quarter holes. It gets so bad that the Rams choose to kick a FG against Carolina and go into OT in the playoffs instead of giving Bulger a shot to win it with time left to kick the FG if he didn't. Martz had no faith in Bulger to get the job done.
The knock on Bulger is he can't hit the deep ball. At all! He was awful all last year and reports so far in the mini camps is that Chris Chandler of all people is continuely out shining him throwing the deep ball. Bulger has proven he can play well against weak defenses at home. However his accuracy and decision making are very questionable. And the whole time there was a 2 time MVP sitting on the bench who has not been given the shot to prove whether or not he still has it. Is Warner done? He might be, but he certainly hasn't been given the chance to prove whether he is one way or the other. So instead the Rams cut him and head into the season with a QB that the head coach doesn't trust in key situations, who can't throw the deep ball on team built for speed, who has the same problem with turning the damn ball over that Warner had in his struggles, and with a backup QB who is 98 years old and tends to be injured if a Dlineman looks at him funny. What the hell are they doing?
End of rant. :)