Welcome to "The Sharpest Point," the newest weekly feature here at Spectrum Sports. Each week, the sports editors (Jim Byrne, Corey Griswold, John Norman and Darren Riethmiller) will be posed with a question dealing with sports. Each editor will make a brief argument on the topic, trying to come up with the best point.
Now for the fun part. Every week there will be a different guest judge who declares the editor who made the best point the winner. That editor will receive one point on the season, which ends with the last issue of The Spectrum in the school year. Another point can be earned by the reader vote. Each week the readers have a chance to vote for who they think the winner is, by going to spectrum.buffalo.edu or e-mailing us at spectrum-sports@buffalo.edu. So an editor can earn a total of two points each week, and the editor with the most points at the end of "the season" is the winner.
This Week's Question: How to Fix the St. Louis Rams
John Norman: The Rams' problem is their coaching staff. Mike Martz's ideas worked when they were new and no one knew how to stop them. To succeed in the NFL you need to adjust; teams spend weeks scouting for each game. They know everyone's tendencies and abilities. Martz doesn't seem to grasp this. This team is too good to keep losing, Kyle Turley and Orlando Pace are two of the best tackles in the NFL. Marshall Faulk is a top-five running back and Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce are great receivers. These guys still have the ability to play the way they did two or three years ago. Besides that, their defense is better than it ever was. Grant Wistrom, Leonard Little, Tommy Polley and Adam Archuleta are all great players.
Martz is out of touch with his team. He couldn't tell Kurt Warner had a concussion against the Giants. That means he either doesn't know Warner well enough or had no contact with his QB during the game. Additionally, he decided to go for it on two-fourth and-longs, rather than try field goals. If that's not the problem with this team, I don't know what is.
Jim Byrne: Since the consensus in this article is going to be pretty one sided, I am going to go another way with this one, just to mix it up a little.
This is what the Rams need to do. First and foremost, move back to Los Angeles. The LA Rams had such a better ring to it, didn't it? Who wants to play in that crappy dome anyway? Football is not meant for domes, it's meant to be played outside in an open stadium. Also, it's time to ditch the current boot-nasty uniforms and go back to the much sweeter blue and yellow ones that Flipper Anderson used to rock out.
Up next, the Rams need to cut Marc Bulger. See ya, bye bye, QB controversy over. Bulger is a two-bit, third-string quarterback ... not the messiah. How quick we are to forget that Warner was a sick quarterback not too long ago (although he looked like a stoned Slater from "Dazed and Confused" on the field this Sunday). But to resurrect his career he will need to do two things. A) Get Martz fired and replaced by former Rams QB Jim Everett (the destroyer of Jim Rome sets), and B) divorce that homely, Vanilla Ice haircut wearin', Wal-Mart clothes buyin', radio show cryin' wife of his. Come on Kurt, this is the NFL, it's time to stop making Chunky Soup commercials and start attending Hef's Playboy mansion parties.
Corey Griswold: Has anyone told Martz that he has Marshall Faulk? Maybe he forgot. Mr. Martz, you have a pro bowl running back, please use him. If Faulk doesn't get at least 25 carries a game, Martz's game decisions should be seriously questioned. Not as if there aren't enough reasons to question him already.
You thought something was wrong with Warner when he looked confused or dazed? Then why was he still playing? The problem with the Rams is that they rely on Warner far too much. Warner is accurate and precise, and makes his progressions quickly, and the offense is based on that. When he is out of whack, that offense falls apart. Balance your offense please. Run the ball. I'm just a student and even I knew that.
Darren Riethmiller: There is one word that sums up the Rams so far this year and all of last year. What is wrong with the Rams is clearly evident - Coaching.
The Rams have all of the talent in the world and yet Martz doesn't utilize it to its fullest.
Mistake No. 1 - Starting Warner who was 1-6 as a starter last year with a QB rating of 67.4 percent, as opposed to Marc Bulger who was 6-1 with a 101.5 percent QB rating. You do the math.
Mistake No. 2 - Martz is an idiot. Does he realize whom he has in the backfield? He has the most explosive running back in the NFL with Marshall Faulk and yet he only got NINE attempts and managed 28 yards. I'm sorry but when you have a player of that caliber in the backfield just being a blocking dummy and going out for the occasional pass (seven catches for 27 yards) it's just not going to fly in the NFL. If that's all Martz is going to use Faulk for then he might as well have Antowain "ex-Bill, now good" Smith, for crying out loud.
Just let Bulger pass the ball to Holt and Bruce and let them do the work and for god's sake let Faulk run hog wild.
The Verdict (Nicholas Mendola): Right off the bat, Byrne makes two errors. Everett should come back to play quarterback and Chunky Soup is delicious. He is, however, correct on the blue and gold jersey issue. While both Griswold and Riethmiller make astute points, John Norman hits the nail on the head. The Rams roster is flat-out too good for them not to rebound from last year's stumble, primarily with the young players on their roster. Martz isn't a coach, he's a system. The NFL, as it tends to do, learned and moved on. It's time the Rams did the same with their coach. I hear Ted Nolan is looking for a job.
This Week's Victor: John Norman
