Deranged Owner vs Ornery Head Coach: Rams and Cowboys Facing A No Brainer Decision

Ed "Pi Double i" Henderson

WorldWide Rams

​ The Dallas Cowboys former starting quarterback Tony Romo suffered a vertebral compression fracture during the first quarter of the Cowboys third preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. His injury had opened the doors up for the starting quarterback position for the rookie sensation Dak Prescott; a fourth-round draft picks out of Mississippi State. Prescott play has been so fantastic, that he has been the best rookie quarterback selected from the 2016 NFL Draft. Statistically, Prescott has been breaking records this 2016 season with 176 passing attempts breaking the record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception of starting a career. The record previously was held by the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady with 162 efforts in the 2000 NFL season.

The Los Angeles Rams selected quarterback Jared Goff from the University of California Berkeley, with their number one overall pick, which was 134 selections before Prescott. Rams fans everywhere were joyful from the choice and were anxious to see the newly drafted quarterback play. One problem lurked in the midst of the freshly prepared quarterback, he never played under center and had to make that big transition to the NFL. Pre-season had arrived, and to say the least Goff play was subpar, the angry fans turned against him and Head Coach Jeff Fisher. Goff's first couple games were so terrible; many NFL analyst begins to compare him to past number one overall draft bust. In week one of the NFL season, Fisher named Case Keenum as the starting quarterback of the L.A. Rams as Goff would find himself inactive for the game.  Fans were comfortable with Goff's inactivity due to his poor performances. Many rallied for second-year quarterback Sean Mannion, who outperformed the other two quarterbacks in preseason, by uniting the team back twice to wins, including the first game in Los Angeles since 1979 in front of 90,000 spectators at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Playing in front of 75,000 spectators on Sunday afternoon in London, England, the Los Angeles Ram lost their third consecutive game against the New York Giants. The outcome of those losses was so critical that fans were urgently calling for Coach Jeff Fisher's termination. It’s wasn’t about how the Rams lost the game, but the way they lost, as well as Coach Fisher’s comments at the Rams,  post-game interview. 

The Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, made it public that when Tony Romo became healthy and returned to the Cowboys from injury, Romo would be the starting quarterback for Dallas Cowboys. Even though Prescott has the Cowboys not only in first place but also has a 100 passing rating, with seven touchdown passes, to just one interception. The buzz around the NFL and Cowboys fan base were people were questioning instead if Jerry Jones was utterly deranged?

The Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher stated after his team lost to the New York Giants that the quarterback position was not the reason why his team lost. Fisher went on to mention in his post-game interview that Case played well and that he was not making any changes to that position. Aiding to Keenum’s defense, witnessing the game live, two of the four interceptions were not Keenum’s fault, but the other two were from poorly thrown passes.  If Coach Fisher honestly doesn't believe that a change at quarterback is needed, then he is just as ornery as a mule! 

The similarities between Jones and Fisher is creating not only media outraged, but also public criticism. My question is why would a team owner bench a player that has performed and played as well as Prescott has played?  Why is head coach refusing to bench a player that has thrown interceptions in his last fives games? Four of the five interceptions came on drives that could have potentially tied or won the game for the Rams?

My thoughts are, if Jones benches Prescott from Romo’s return and they lose out, it would be a complete meltdown and the Cowboy nation will go insane. If Coach Fisher does not play Jared Goff, and Keenum continues to start and play mediocre, then the Los Angeles Rams fans will once again turn their back against the Rams by refusing to show up for home games.  

The Rams organization can’t afford this attention nor the scrutiny by allowing the fans to resist because of the coach’s indecisions. I’ve supported Coach Fisher and Case Keenum up to this point. However, after Sunday’s game, I knew for a fact that Keenum’s was over and it was time for Goff or Mannion to be named the new starting quarterback. Shaking up the coaching staff, by replacing the offensive coordinator as well as the offensive line coach will provide better offensive play.  The project of Alec Ogletree playing middle linebacker is not working either; he should transition back to the outside where he has performed excellently throughout his short career.

If these changes not executed soon, let’s say Fisher's days are non-existent in Los Angeles.  Sunday’s loss joined Jeff Fisher to a list of coaches of none who would enjoy being apart. Fisher has lost his 160th game as a coach and placing him only two games behind the legendary Tom Landry.  If Fisher loses three additional games after tying Landry, he will then become linked with Dan Reeves as the most losses by a head coach. Per sources, reports made that since in week one that Fisher is due a three-year contract extension. If this is true, Fisher must have something hanging over Stan Kroenke head for him to accept his recent franchise losses.
       
My opinion is to prevent Rams faithful from turning their back against the organization again until Fisher fired. 

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