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I know it was only Week One of the preseason, but if you’re a fan of the Rams or Niners, I’d be more than a little worried right about now.
Suffice it to say, after these teams’ dreadful performances in their exhibition openers, the already-short ropes that Rams head coach Scott Linehan and Niners head coach Mike Nolan were clinging to have lost a little more hemp.
On both sides of the ball, both teams left a stench that continues to linger.
In the Rams’ 34-13 loss to the Titans, the offense failed to score a TD in the ninth straight preseason game since Linehan replaced Mike Martz after the 2005 season. The first-team unit managed a mere 44-yard field goal by new PK Josh Brown. Coming off a most disappointing ’07 campaign, Rams QB Marc Bulger completed 3-of-9 passes for 29 yards and an interception, a performance that resulted in a 3.7 QB rating.
In the Niners’ 18-6 loss to the Raiders, none of the three candidates for the starting QB job in a revamped offense choreographed by Martz fared all that much better than Bulger. Alex Smith, J.T. O’Sullivan and Shaun Hill combined for zero TDs, two really ugly interceptions and a fumble, doing absolutely nothing to eliminate the team’s current logjam under center.
As for the Rams’ and Niners’ defenses, would you believe that they allowed a combined 588 yards rushing?
Or that someone named Quinton Ganther rushed for 115 yards and two TDs (14.4 yards per carry) vs. the Rams’ defense?
Or that neither DE Chris Long, the Rams’ No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, nor Adam Carriker, the team’s No. 1 pick in the ’07 draft, had a single tackle?
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Scott Linehan (left), Mike Nolan
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For obvious reasons, Linehan started the week with his sights set solely on the immediate future, one that he all but promised would be brighter than the Saturday-night debacle in Nashville.
“This is the official week that we prepare for our home preseason opener (against the Chargers),” Linehan said. “We’re going to play a significant amount of our starting unit in this game. … We’re preparing to play a great game on Saturday.
“It’s very important,” Linehan concluded.
What’s even more important for the Rams is to do everything in their power as quickly as possible to end their contract standoff with offensive centerpiece Steven Jackson, who as of Monday evening had missed 20 practices and racked up $272,008 in fines.
Even as bad as it looked vs. the Titans, the Rams’ offense figures to be a lot more tolerable with Jackson back in the mix. The buzz that had been created by new coordinator Al Saunders heading into the preseason slate seemed too genuinely positive to warrant a prematurely harsh judgment.
As for the Niners’ offense, which has created a consistently negative buzz except for rookie WR Josh Morgan, I am not nearly as sure, as Nolan and Martz show no signs of clarifying a QB situation that seems more counterproductive with every passing moment — an assessment that Nolan continues to stubbornly dispute.
“It is never too late,” Nolan answered when asked if he believed he might be taking too big a risk in waiting so long to determine the Niners’ starting QB. “We want to make a good decision. The information we are gathering right now is valuable. As I have said all along, I believe in all three guys. It is important, and they must be ready. Anytime a guy gets a rep, at least I am feeling good that it is not a wasted rep because they all may have to play.”
As was the case with Linehan, Nolan refused to panic with a new workweek under way.
“You know, every year in training camp, in most cases and on most teams, the defense is always ahead of the offense,” Nolan said after Monday’s early practice. “It shows in preseason games. You see the scores, they’re always low, and I think that’s what you saw (in the first game).
“As well as, as you’re well aware of … the receivers that are in there. Isaac Bruce isn’t practicing, and neither is Bryant Johnson (sidelined with a hamstring injury). That affects different guys.”
So where do the Rams and Niners go from here? Not very far, I’m afraid.
If there’s any reason for optimism, it comes courtesy of the division-favorite Seahawks, who suffered a costly blow of their own in their preseason opener when they lost WR Bobby Engram for 6-8 weeks with a shoulder injury.
But when you’re hanging your hopes on simply outlasting the competition in a woefully weak division, you’re a good bet to get hung out to dry.
It sure seems like nooses around the necks of Linehan and Nolan could be in the offing a lot sooner than later — even with only one preseason game in the books.
Dramatic and immediate improvement better come very quickly, or else.
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