Why Rams have no illegal contact penalties so far

[SalishHawkFan]

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/08/18/san-franc ... -debuts/2/

The one team that’s hammered the point home effectively through two weeks of games is St. Louis. The Rams have their defensive backs practicing in pass coverage while holding two tennis balls, to limit the temptation to hold receivers’ jerseys and to grab their arms beyond the five-yard bump zone. In two games the Rams have zero defensive pass interference penalties, zero illegal-contact penalties, and two defensive holding penalties on defensive backs—both by rookie nickel back LaMarcus Joyner.

That's impressive and I would love it if Pete tried the same coaching method with our secondary.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Yeah, when I read that on Monday I thought that was very clever. The Stache® is a wily guy, for sure...

 

[kearly]

Hard to say how smart it is when both the Packers and Saints carved that secondary up in the first two preseason games. Brees didn't even play and his backups led the team to 26 points. Aaron Rodgers went 11/13 for 128 yards, a TD and no picks. With the current rules emphasis these preseason games have basically been glorified 7 on 7 matches. Even Brock Osweiler and Mark Sanchez have looked damn good.

I suspect the new emphasis will be far less pronounced in real games. The NFL is getting an earful from pretty much everyone regarding the humungous spike in penalties. And if they have eyes in their heads they will probably have noticed that the new environment has basically made quality pass defense almost impossible.

 

[RedAlice]

Secondary has looked better than I expected them to look in pre-season. Is very much a weakness, but perhaps not as bad as I have built it up in my mind.

As to Fisher doing even more than the tennis balls in training to keep the penalties low: he told the team that he would end camp for the week after the game on Saturday if they had 7 or less penalties. They had 10. So, camp continues through Wednesday.

Keep in mind that Rams were second only to you Hawks in penalties last year. While you won the SB, Rams were under .500. Penalties matter for this young team and they need discipline. I like his methods here.

 

[Scottemojo]

Lets keep in mind that our in division rival coach Fisher is one of the idiots on the rules committee that approved this new "emphasis".

 

[Largent80]

If St. Louis is using tennis balls, what kind of balls are the 9ers squeezing?

 

[the ditch]

It will be interesting to see how it translates into the regular season. What's the point of not getting any penalties when you get lit up. Sometimes taking the penalty will result in a field goal or a non-score in the end instead of a touchdown.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Secondary has looked better than I expected them to look in pre-season. Is very much a weakness, but perhaps not as bad as I have built it up in my mind.

As to Fisher doing even more than the tennis balls in training to keep the penalties low: he told the team that he would end camp for the week after the game on Saturday if they had 7 or less penalties. They had 10. So, camp continues through Wednesday.

Keep in mind that Rams were second only to you Hawks in penalties last year. While you won the SB, Rams were under .500. Penalties matter for this young team and they need discipline. I like his methods here.

I have no idea how well it will translate into the regular season but I'm all for anything that teaches the Rams to knock off their dirty play.

 

[tom sawyer]

Last year we led in penalites and won the superbowl

That's my math!!

 

[kearly]

Secondary has looked better than I expected them to look in pre-season. Is very much a weakness, but perhaps not as bad as I have built it up in my mind.

Cheer up, every team's secondary has looked way worse this preseason.

Well, other than whichever team happens to be playing SF.

 

[lsheldon]

If St. Louis is using tennis balls, what kind of balls are the 9ers squeezing?

Not sure about Santa Clara, but the Donko's are using Mannings.

 

[UK_Seahawk]

I bet they have had the same amount of interceptions as flags.

 

[mikeak]

I looked for some stats that tied number of penalties to number if wins in a season, but couldn't find it....

 

[RedAlice]

I bet they have had the same amount of interceptions as flags.

Who? Title of thread is Rams and you don't give much info here.

You're like a fast little one liner dude.