SB Nation Bay Area: All Posts by Ryan Van Bibber

Chuck Cecil is kinda nuts

2013-05-25T15:11:14Z

Chuck Cecil is a name that most St. Louis Rams fans should know well. He's a long-time Jeff Fisher associate, once his defensive coordinator in Tennessee, and now his defensive backs coach with the Rams. He's also a former NFL defensive back, and was kind of a big hitter himself back in the day.

In 1993 Cecil, then with the Cardinals, delivered a brutal hit on Redskins tight end Ron Middleton. He nailed him right in the chest, knocking Middleton's helmet off and sending him to a more ephemeral world for a few minutes. The hit cost him $30,000, one of the largest penalties every leveled at the time. If it had happened under Roger Goodell rather than Paul Tagliabue, Cecil would surely have been suspended, especially with the rule changes since then.

Here's a Sports Illustrated article on the incident from 1993. That's the cover story. It's called "Too Vicious for the NFL?"

The most insane part is Cecil admitting he was in another place immediately after the hit, unable to recall exactly what happened. He played the game with a nasty streak, which has carried over to his coaching style. Exhibit A:

It's impossible to find video of the hit, apparently. So if you have video of it, please let us know.

You can get a taste of Cecil's playing style here Freak outs following his big hits with this one from his Packers days. That's Neil Anderson he takes out.

(h/t Reddit NFL)

Seriously, HIVEMIND, go try and find that Cecil hit on Ron Middleton. There's a free TST t-shit in it for you if you do.

2013 NFL OTAs: News and Notes from Around the League

2013-05-25T14:16:23Z

With NFL teams gathering together and practicing in full for the first time, several prominent storylines have emerged over the past few days. Ryan Van Bibber of SB Nation recaps the NFL's first round of OTAs.

Super Bowl XXXIV in GIF form

2013-05-24T20:39:21Z

I guess you could go back and watch the St. Louis Rams win Super Bowl XXXIV on VHS. Maybe there are DVDs of it floating around. Hell, it was the year 2000. But why do that when you can relive the experience in GIF format?

Friend of TST Jeff Roman, @Jeff_underscore has done just that. He set up a Tumblr GIFing the Super Bowl. It's got all the plays you remember. God, that Hakim dropped pass still makes me wince. But then you see Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk and London Fletcher and, damn, if it doesn't just make your heart fill with that strange warm sensation.

But wait, it gets better. Jeff has included some of the commercials. Bud Light was lame then too. My favorite was seeing the hey day of the early internet economy ... this wasn't too long before the first dot com bubble burst.

And of course, there's Jeff Fisher, then the Titans head coach, in his mullet prime!

via media.tumblr.com

Go check it out.

Jeff Fisher is shattering our notions of offensive line play

2013-05-24T18:06:15Z

Uh oh. Jeff Fisher is going to catch hell from Twitter's army of draft analysts. And what egregious crime has the St. Louis Rams head coach committed this time?

He downplayed the differences between left and right tackles.

The world will end soon, swallowed up by the gash Fisher's arrogance made in the fabric of space and time.

The subject in question here was Rodger Saffold. He is now the Rams starting right tackle, moving over after the team signed Jake Long in free agency this year. When OTAs opened this week, Saffold finally got his first reps on the right side of the field.

"Football's football," Fisher admitted. "Responsibilities are the same. He's just at the point of attack when the ball goes to the right."

So in Fisher's mind, the right side and left side really aren't all the different. Clearly, the Rams are doomed from this kind of backwards thinking. DOOMED!

"We may have a tight end outside of him more often than the left tackle does," Fisher said of the right side. "Because with a right-handed quarterback, you're typically right-handed."

Saffold is apparently responding well to the move too. His coach praised his work over there on Thursday after practice.

"He's done a great job since we've moved him over," Fisher said.

There are some differences. Fisher's Jedi mind trick isn't fooling Saffold. Here's what he said to the Post-Dispatch after practice about the move to the right side:

"It's just a matter of getting used to it, the muscle memory, the change in stance. Honestly, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be. As far as the smaller details, that's what I'm constantly working on. It's just the second day out here, so I just want to continue to work and to learn."

Wait a minute, he doesn't make the right side sound all the different from the left side either, not really. And not as hard as it seems? Well, now all of my notions of reality are shattered.

Okay, I'm obviously being facetious here, just a little. The are differences in the right and left side of the protection scheme, but every year we see guys who pundits tell us must live on the right thrive on the left and vice versa.

The importance of the two positions are not so different anymore either. An arms race for pass rushers and more sophistication defensively sends just as much trouble for passers around the right side as it does the left side ... the middle too, which is why teams spend more on guards and centers than they once did.

I get the sneaking suspicion that if Saffold picks up where he left off on the left side last season, he'll be just fine on the right side this season.

Local media idea lab: The art of the subtitle

2013-05-24T15:53:44Z

Video. It's taking the internet by storm. Every since the debut of YouTube roughly six months ago, people have been uploading their own personal takes on hot topics at a blistering pace. That includes sports.

The Post-Dispatch's corporate overlords, Lee Enterprises, undeterred by bankruptcy and ongoing layoffs, was an early adopter for online video. They jumped into the fray like a year ago!

Former 101 ESPN program director Kent Sterling is doing hot sports takes on camera too, exiled or not. He recently sat down with former NFL interim head coach Rick Venturi to talk about the NFC West. It's about time. I for one am tired of nobody talking about the NFC West as a powerhouse division.

The thing is, video on the internet is kind of a tough thing to do. Everybody thinks they can jump right in and be like Bryan Burwell. But it takes work, attention to detail and a crack production staff that knows how to strategically place the appropriate amount of bobblehead dolls around a desk.

Let's go to post-production, where crafty editors put the spit and polish on those sports videos you consume so thoughtlessly like cans of Tecate. It's not so easy either. Details matter, especially when it comes to working with the chyron, the thing that puts the lower thirds on the screen.

Sterling's video with Venturi left out one essential detail. We have a suggestion for how to improve it next time. Can you think of other tips, clever subtitles that would improve this video?

Tony Romo is the most elite of all elite quarterbacks

2013-05-24T14:26:02Z

There's your poof. End of debate. Those fourth quarter passing numbers settle the issue for all of time! Tony Romo is better than Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. He also tops Joe Flacco, but that was never really in doubt. Eli Manning too ... of course. I'll say it again just to be clear: Elite. (h/t Reddit)

Random Ramsdom, 5/24: Beware of explosions

2013-05-24T13:48:03Z

The Rams offense is going to be all about BOOM! explosive plays this year. BOOM! And with guys like Chris Givens BOOM! and Tavon Austin BOOM! BOOM! it really could be one helluva way to burn defenses. Sando does the math, revealing that the Rams already had some explosiveness to their game last season. BOOOOOOOOM!

Speaking of explosive players, Doug Cross has a great break down of Stedman Bailey and Austin, the former Mountaineers that figure heavily into the offensive plans going forward.

Steven Jackson, remember him? Well, it wouldn't be the St. Louis media market if we didn't spend an inordinate amount of time looking backwards. There was plenty of SJ39 talk at Thursday's OTAs. Something, something ... void to fill ... something, something.

There was a soccer game in St. Louis last night. A good one featuring bits and pieces of two teams from the English Premiere League's Chelsea and Manchester City franchises (what, Stan Kroenke can't get an Arsenal exhibition here?). Someone had to explain futbol to Bryan Burwell.

Rams OT Terrell Brown topped 400 pounds on the scales this week, Fisher said. He's the 6'10 guy from Mississippi that's been confusing the shit out of the easily confused Tony Softli. For your reference he's one of the biggest players in the league ... ever.

Cool. Same size as OT Terrell Brown RT @softlistl: Several league sources confirm Rams sign DT Thomas Brown 6'9 388, played at Mississippi.
— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) May 22, 2013

Tim McGraw is the latest country singer to get a Rams jersey, this one presented by James Laurinaitis. If you're wondering just who in the hell Tim McGraw is: 1) married to Faith Hill (nice!), 2) he is not Brad Paisley, the accidental racist, 3) his song "Indian Outlaw" was kind of racist though.

#Rams LB James Laurinaitis presents @thetimmcgraw with a jersey just before going on stage: twitter.com/STLouisRams/st…
— St. Louis Rams (@STLouisRams) May 23, 2013

Second time's a charm for the Rams?

2013-05-24T03:53:45Z

The St. Louis Rams have a secret weapon this season. No, it's not a 6'10 tackle or a double secret mystery appendix in the playbook focused mostly on Johnny Hekker trick plays. It's continuity. The Rams are going to get better, the thinking goes, because the players finally have some stability from year to year.

"I guess I could describe it to you this way," Jeff Fisher said on Thursday, "last year at this time, the entire team was hearing things for the time. This year at this time, the rookie class is hearing things for the first time. Everything else is a second go around for everybody, which is good."

It's easy to forget that it was only a year ago the Rams overhauled the team's leadership cadre. Taking it from the first reports of their hiring, Fisher and GM Les Snead haven't even been in St. Louis for a year and a half.

A handful of high profile free agent moves, two drafts, impecable hair and a reputation for ballsy moves on the field and in the war room, Fisher and Snead have remade the Rams in their own image.

This year, the roster more fully exudes the approach of their coach and GM. That identity translates to the playbook too, so the thinking goes. To listen to the players speak about their second spring after the rebranding at Rams Park, it's doing wonders already.

"Amazing," is how Sam Bradford, the most obvious beneficiary described it. "Like I said, it just feels so much better knowing the details of this offense."

"It just feels so much better knowing the details of this offense."-Sam Bradford

I am legally required to remind you here that this is the first time in his NFL career that Bradford, entering his fourth season, has played under the same offensive coordinator, in this case Brian Schottenheimer. Bradford made progress in his third season. He set career bests in passing yards and touchdowns and threw the fewest number of interceptions, 13, in his career. Perhaps most notable of all, his yards per attempt number jumped to 6.7 yards.

"Now obviously we had the opportunity to go back and watch all our cutups from last year," Bradford said. "All the concepts that we had success with, all the concepts that we struggled with. We talked about the areas that we need to be improved, the things that we need to do ..."

Bradford's been working on it for most of the spring, except for a brief interlude to proselytize the Red River Rivalry to South Americans.

"On the non-OTA days, he's been working since the rookies got here with them when it's permissible for him to work," Fisher said about Bradford. "He's taking advantage of the opportunities, not only with Tavon and Stedman, but in addition to that he's worked a lot with Jared Cook this far."

Bradford talked about his leadership role as well.

"There's a void right now," Bradford told reporters and disc jockeys on hand. "I think it's part of my duty going into my fourth year to step up and help fill that void."

There are some important new faces in the fold now, currently being indoctrinated to the Rams culture and the playbook. Bradford, now well versed in the system, is also taking on the role of tutor. Tavon Austin told TST last week that the Rams quarterback had already been watching film on him. He knew because Bradford told him that when he first arrived at Rams Park, the day after the 2013 NFL Draft.

Bradford was asked about Austin on Thursday.

"He's fast," the now veteran quarterback said. "He's quick. He's smart. He gets open. He's done a great job so far. We've thrown a lot at him. The first two installs, these two OTAs, it's amazing how much quicker you can go the second year in the system. Everyone's not seeing something for the first time and these rookies are being asked to keep up with the veterans."

"They can turn a five-yard hitch route into an 80-yard touchdown."-Bradford

Continuity was obviously the talking point of the day at practice. If the offense is as dialed in as the message, it could be very effective. But there will be some differences. For starters, the offensive line should be better than the one than previous iterations that left the quarterback vulnerable. The biggest change is that dynamism, and it's not just Austin's speed.

"There's a lot more speed on the field," Bradford said. "I think if you look at our offense in the past, we've really had to grind out touchdown drives because we haven't been able to create those explosive plays. You take some of the guys that we have on the field now and they can turn a five-yard hitch route into an 80-yard touchdown.

"I think that's extremely exciting."

Everyone's a little football starved, fans and players. The first whiff of spring OTAs brings out the optimist in everyone. Routes are sharp. Nobody's being tackled. The pads are still locked away in the equipment room. It's football distilled down to its essence.

It makes it easy to forget that things start changing in August when the pads come on and in September when games start to count.

But this is a good place to be. The Rams know what they want, and, more importantly, they know what they have to do to get there.

"You never go into a year thinking, ‘Man, if we could go 8-8, that would be awesome,' because if you do, you might as well not even play the game," Bradford said. "When we started this offseason - what is it, six weeks ago now? - we came in with the mindset that we are putting in the work each day to build the pieces to win the Super Bowl. That's what our goal is."

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