Sports360AZ
It’s amazing what a year off can do for you.
In Jeff Fisher’s case, he took that year and now he’s back in the NFL as head coach of the St. Louis Rams, and in four short weeks, he’s already guided them to as many wins [2] as they had all of last season.
“Clearly the past speaks for itself,” Fisher said. “It’s been a difficult few years, but what you do is you just move forward and you let that go.”
Fisher said there were two things that led him to make his decision to come back and coach the Rams.
“It was an opportunity to work for our owner [Stan Kroenke], and it was an opportunity to come in where there was an established quarterback [Sam Bradford],” Fisher said.
“Sam is very talented,” Fisher said of his quarterback. “He’s very competitive, he’s got a good arm [and] he’s an accurate passer.”
Fisher says it’s foolish for anyone in the organization to expect to be representing the NFC in New Orleans, La., come February 3, 2013, because everyone there realizes that that kind of success doesn’t come overnight. Fisher says it takes hard work and dedication.
“Guys have a different type of expectation,” Fisher said. “They come to work, they look forward to coming to work and they’re having fun.”
Fisher’s Rams will host the Cardinals in prime time on Thursday night, and what won’t be fun for Fisher and his team will be going up against the Cardinals defense.
“Well, I see a lot of problems,” Fisher said. “They do a great job pressuring the passer, it’s a very good tackling defense.”
“As has been mentioned nationally over the last couple of weeks, the three defenses they’re talking about [Texans, 49ers, Cardinals], they deserve the attention because they’re all playing so well,” Fisher said. “I think the Cardinals defense is really solid.”
The Rams have had problems keeping quarterback Sam Bradford upright this season. Bradford’s been taken down 14 times so far.
Their line played much better last week against the Seahawks than they did against the Bears two weeks ago, when they gave up six sacks.
They only gave up two sacks to a defense that sacked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers eight times the Monday night prior.
As strides are made week-to-week with his offensive line, Fisher knows that the Cardinals defense is very capable of causing setbacks all across the board.
“When you think you’ve got them figured out and blocked up, somebody is running free and hitting your quarterback,” Fisher said.
Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb continued to gain steam against the Dolphins last Sunday, eventually leading them to the game winning field goal in overtime to keep the team unbeaten.
In watching film on Kolb, Fisher has seen some positive characteristics that he possesses.
“He’s making good decisions, he’s protecting the football,” Fisher said. “He’s patient, and he clearly has a very good understanding of the offense and what they’re asking him to do, and he’s got really good people around him.”
