Rams' Decision to Start Shaun Hill Indicative of Disconnect with Fans

It's not to say that they aren't making tough, crucial decisions. It's not as if teams don't routinely face injuries and tough situations about who should play, all the time.

But for the St. Louis Rams, what they have on their plate is much bigger and means a lot more than just seeing if someone can fill a spot. Someone call Guinness, Ghostbusters, or whoever verifies anything anymore; the Rams found a quarterback that looks great.

And not just because he won the game. Not just because he had no interceptions while doing so. St. Louis Rams backup quarterback Austin Davis looked like a veteran in the pocket, standing firm around sound protection, progressing through reads and delivering the ball with incredible pace and accuracy.

Part of me was thrilled for St. Louis at the end of what I feel was one of the most important wins for them in the past 10 seasons. But then another part reminded me of something that I couldn't stop thinking about. "They're going to start Hill and not Davis," I said to myself as the team was celebrating on the field. And why? Because it's just something the Rams would do.

Concurrent with all fears, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher announced at the Monday press conference that Hill would be the starter.

 “When Shaun comes back, he’s our starter. I’m really proud of Austin, but Shaun’s our starter when he can play," Fisher told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I can appreciate that Fisher knows how good his quarterbacks are in ways that the fans and media can't understand. But I also saw one of the best performances that I've seen from a Rams quarterback in years this past Sunday. With regard to what Fisher said, and not really even acknowledging the leadership, poise and utter fight that Davis played with, I question whether or not he was even watching the same game.

"I'm really proud of Austin," for me, does not sum up and explain what was one of the best franchise games in recent history.

I will say that for Hill, he was instrumental in helping coach Davis and give him advice during the game. But it was in fact Davis who played with the quality intangibles on the field.

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So where does this leave us? Is the quarterback job Hill's to lose? If he suffers a single loss, will Fisher go to Davis? All of this is right in line with a much broader problem that the Rams have had—complete disconnect with the views of the fans.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly thankful for people in certain positions with the Rams. Majority owner Stan Kroenke is someone who does an excellent job avoiding the limelight.

The Columbia, Missouri, billionaire also owns soccer team Arsenal FC of the massively popular English Premier League, one of the most well-recognized teams in the world. His skill and finance make the Rams a contender in today's big-money game.

In truth, no one will know who is responsible individually for drafting the wave of offensive tackles instead of quarterbacks while Sam Bradford struggled. I'm sure not one peep will come out about who brought the final hammer down about cutting Michael Sam. But the thing that these and countless other items have in common with Hill starting over Davis is that the move represents perfectly that the organization will never bend to what the fans want, and almost even seem to do the opposite of what's expected, every single time.

I understand that teams don't win because they listen to the fans. But today's fans are smarter, and fans in St. Louis are a pretty "with-it" bunch in general. The situation at hand has put Fisher in a very tough situation. If Hill is the starter and St. Louis loses at home, Fisher will without question take heat. If Davis were the starter and lost, Fisher at least looks good for making a move people generally agreed was better.

Not to mention, if Davis looks bad, Fisher can put Hill in and still look good, like he knew what to do the whole time.

For now, the Rams are sticking with Shaun Hill, who could step out and make this whole article irrelevant next week by beating the Dallas Cowboys by 20. But without question, the player who has shown much better ability in his chance to start, will not be.

Follow Dan Irwin on Twitter @irwinsports or on Facebook.