St. Louis Rams—Blueprint for Success Means Following the 49ers

For almost 30 years, from the 1950s through much of the 1970s, it did not get much better in the NFL than the rivalry between the Rams and 49ers. The Packers, Bears, and Giants earned their fair share of headlines across newspapers during that time, but for your money, you could not go wrong buying a ticket to watch L.A. and San Fran do battle.

Watching this current 49ers team has to bring back memories of the old days—Alex Smith slinging it in the name of Y.A. Tittle and Frank Gore bringing alive the ghost of John Henry Johnson as he pounds through the line of scrimmage.

Through it all, there are just as many Rams fans—like myself—who scream in frustration that their team has not held up its end of the bargain in keeping the rivalry alive.

Obviously, it is much easier said than done, and since the Rams don’t pay me to do it, I am forced to say it. In the spirit of keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer, there is a simple solution to fix what ails the Rams franchise—follow the 49ers blueprint.

There are three things the 49ers have accomplished over the last two years that have catapulted them from rebuilders to Super Bowl contenders. (1) maintain continuity amongst the starters, particularly on offense; (2) value toughness on defense; and (3) hire the right head coach.

From 2010 to 2011, the 49ers offense improved by less than five points a game. Adding five points a game does not turn a 6-win disappointment into a 13-win monster. Looking closer, the team’s rushing average per attempt remained the same both years, while the yards per passing attempt actually went down pretty significantly.

So what changed from 2010 to 2011 for the 49ers offense? Not to put too fine a point on it, but nothing changed. Smith, Gore, Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis all manned the top skill positions both years, and only one new member was added to the offensive line—center Jonathan Goodwin.

When you have that kind of continuity on the offensive side of the ball, something crazy happens—you become much more efficient.

An efficient offense protects the football (23 turnovers in 2010 down to 10 in 2011, including none after Week 12). An efficient offense completes passes (61.4% in 2011, up from 56.4% in 2010). An efficient offense means that you are never out of a game, and always able to come back for the win (6 times in 2011, up from 2 in 2010).

On defense, the statistics do not tell the whole story, but the 49ers made huge strides where it mattered. In both 2010 and 2011, the Niners gave up the same amount of yards per play (5.1), but they shaved about one-third off of both their total points (346 down to 229) and touchdowns allowed (34 down to 23, including allowing a ridiculously low three rushing touchdowns, all coming in Weeks 16 & 17).

The 49ers defense is not particularly overloaded with highlight-making, superstar play-makers. This past season, only one time did they take an interception back for a touchdown, after doing so three times in 2010.

What changed was that the 49ers got tougher where it matters most—in the red zone. The team improved to 4th overall in red zone defensive efficiency, refusing to let the opposing team put large amounts of easy points on the scoreboard.

Finally, and probably most importantly, to achieve the level of success the 49ers had this past season, the correct leadership was put in place. I am all for establishing offensive continuity and toughness on defense, but if you do not have the right coach to prepare the game plan for Sunday, it will all be for naught.

Considering there was a lockout-shortened offseason—with a wisp of a training camp—and a regular season schedule loaded with five road games calling for trips across three time zones (winning four), hiring first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh is arguably the best decision of any team during the entire 2011 NFL season.

Going into the 2012 regular season, it is not hard to see the comparisons between the Rams of 2011 and the 49ers of 2010. The Rams will enter next year with a reasonable amount of continuity at the skill positions on offense (Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson, Danny Amendola, Lance Kendricks).

The team has invested high draft picks recently at both left and right tackle on the offensive line, so assuming health, Roger Saffold and Jason Smith should provide the protection up front that can lead an efficient offense.

With another year of experience, the Rams’ defensive core (Chris Long, James Laurinaitis and Robert Quinn) should only get better—and tougher. Tying it all together is the hiring of new head coach Jeff Fisher.

In the NFL, more often than you think, a team goes from worst to first in their division. There is no reason why that can’t be the Rams in 2012, but only if they are willing to follow the blueprint of their enemy.