In a similar situation after the chiefs made the playoffs but loss the opening game in a high scoring game. The defensive needed changes, but Vermeil stuck with his guys. After that 1 playoff game, the Kansas City Chiefs never returned to the playoffs and the defensive really didn't get addressed. The Chiefs actually regressed more than the Rams did and while the Rams defense improved enough to be a playoff team, the Chiefs fell short of the playoffs even with the dominant offensive line and excellent offense.
It is my belief, that not only would the Rams have never won another superbowl had Vermeil stayed because of that evaluation, I feel that the team may not returned to the playoffs because the 2001 defense that was #1 in the conference would never have been.
I agree on Kurt, the issue with him was health and he was great for 3 years in the Rams and great the last 3 years with the Cardinals, but had that donut hole in the middle of his career for about 5 years that he wasn't healthy and didn't play well. If he had played healthy and put together like 11 years like the first 3 with the Rams and last 3 with the Cardinals, he be considered up there with Manning, Brady, Farve, and the greatest of all time, Aaron Rogers.
Some like to blame Martz, but he isn't a magical doctor. Had Martz not benched Kurt after the poor play and the concussion in 2003, Kurt may never have played beyond that season. Martz's mistake was playing him with the broken hand in 2002. He put winning above a person's health in that game, but who knows what kind of information he was given from the doctors on the hand.
But to Blame Martz for benching Kurt when he wasn't playing well is wrong, because
Coughlin
Green
Whistenhunt
All benched Kurt (did the same thing) after he had turnover issues and played a lesser player in front of him.
Games started in that 5 year stretch
6
1
9
10
5
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2017 04:27AM by Rams_81.
