Jeff Fisher is feeling the heat
The St. Louis Rams were supposed to compete for a playoff spot this year. General manager Les Snead was very aggressive in the offseason, trading quarterback Sam Bradford for Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round pick, then signing defensive tackle Nick Fairley in the spring before drafting superstar running back Todd Gurley.
Instead, Snead has seen his team go 4-6 through the first 10 games of the National Football League regular season, currently sitting two games outside of the NFC playoffs. The Rams were looking good but have lost three straight, including a last-second defeat on Sunday to the lowly Baltimore Ravens.
After the defeat, there was more talk about the Rams and how they have become a dirty team under fourth-year head coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher, who coached the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans for well over a decade, was never considered a dirty coach in his previous job. However, Fisher has come under scrutiny from multiple teams, coaches and players, and lashed out on Tuesday about all the talk, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.
“I’m kind of intrigued by some of the stuff — and I can’t verify it — but the insinuations or whatever of, that we were a dirty team coming out,” Fisher said. “Then I’ve got plays I’ve got to send the league office where their players are hitting us in the mouth after plays. With fists.
“It was allowed in the game because it wasn’t called, and I’m not complaining. We played hard.”
Fisher then brought on a specific example from the game against Baltimore.
“Let’s go back to the Bradley Marquez catch,” Fisher said. “That’s a huge play for us. So Bradley is on the ground tackled and is getting up and almost going to give the ball to the official, and he almost has his neck broken because he’s hit by their player. So boom, it’s unnecessary roughness, but our guys are not going to put up with that, and you saw them come to his defense, which is appropriate. I had no problem with those offsetting fouls.
“But we’re a dirty team, and they’re hitting us two or three seconds after the play is over, and they hit Tavon [Austin] out of bounds? We had six penalties, and they averaged about 5 yards apiece. … They need to take a look in the mirror.”
Frankly, Fisher has a beef. Still, most coaches will take the high road in this situation. Fisher is not going to change the perception of people who believe the Rams play dirty, so why fight it?
It seems as though Fisher knows that barring a huge turnaround, he and Snead are both going to be without jobs in 2016. Fisher was supposed to come in and turn this franchise into a contender on a consistent basis. Instead, the Rams are still without a playoff berth since the Mike Martz era.
