The St. Louis Rams have not enjoyed a winning season since 2002. Head coach Jeff Fisher, despite receiving a king's ransom that would burn the Lannisters with envy in the RGIII haul from 2012, has not posted a winning percentage higher than .467 in any of his three seasons. So even though the Rams have amassed an impressive collection of young talent (especially along the defensive line which is littered with first-round picks), they haven't made much noise in the NFC West.
That means that Fisher and general manager Les Snead need to win this season if they want to keep their jobs.
"I don't see how Fisher could survive after another losing season with the Rams, no matter how you justify it," ESPN's Terry Blount wrote. "And there are plenty of ways to justify his three-year tenure and 20-27-1 record, starting with the injuries to former quarterback Sam Bradford."
Bradford suffered two torn ACLs with the Rams and never lived up to the expectations of a No. 1 overall pick when healthy. But even given the instability under center, the Rams never broke above .500 like other QB-challenged teams (Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, etc.) have recently.
But, as Andy Dufresne says in "The Shawshank Redemption," "Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."
"But now the Rams have pushed all of their chips to the middle of the table with the trade for quarterback Nick Foles," Blount continued. "They have what might be the best young defensive front in the NFL and a potential superstar running back Todd Gurley. It's time for the Rams to step up. However, Fisher has two years left on a $35 million deal, so it would be costly to fire him after this season. And Fisher is a SoCal guy who went to USC. He fits right in for the likely move to Los Angeles in 2016."
