Rams' Defining Win over Broncos Gives Jeff Fisher Momentum He Needs for Future

If St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher is brought up in conversation, it won't be long before someone uses the phrase "well-respected."

During his 16 years in Tennessee, he built a consistent title contender, persevered throughout a brutal salary-cap crunch and rebuilt the team into a playoff team. Turmoil at the quarterback position—and, as Adam Fusfeld of Business Insider wrote at the time, conflicting rumors about internal discontent—led to his surprise parting from the Titans in 2011.

The well-respected coach was out of work for a proverbial five minutes. His arrival in St. Louis began an outbound parade of disappointing holdovers and influx of exciting young talent. Expectations have been high, despite playing in a meat grinder of a division.

David Richard/Associated Press

When quarterback Sam Bradford went down with a torn ACL for the second time in two years, the Rams' playoff dreams were deferred another season.

But apparently, Bradford's ACL kept every other unit together. 

The NFL's third-most prolific pass rush in 2013 had just one sack through 2014's first five games. Slumping sophomore tailback Zac Stacy was benched. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Rams' 28th-ranked offensive line has dramatically regressed in pass protection.

Sophomore sparkplug Tavon Austin, on whom Fisher blew a king's ransom in draft value to get, has been all but invisible. On an offense starved for weapons, top receiver Brian Quick was lost to an ACL injury. Even veteran backup Shaun Hill, signed specifically to cover for the oft-injured Bradford, lost his gig to 2012 undrafted free agent Austin Davis.

When a 31-17 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers dropped the Rams to 1-4 that was it for the 2014 season. Time of death: Week 6.

Fisher's record as head coach of the Rams dropped to 15-21-1, a winning percentage of .419. Rams fans and writers alike, such as TurfShow Times, began to question just how long Fisher could stand on just his reputation:

Since then...well, the Rams have been good. Maybe even really good. Kinda great, in fact. Their shocking 22-7 upset of Peyton Manning and the mighty Denver Broncos gave them a 3-2 record through one of the toughest five-game stretches any team will face this season.

They beat the Seattle Seahawks at home, lost at Kansas City, got revenge against the 49ers in their house, and lost to the Arizona Cardinals before beating the Broncos. That's five teams with a collective record of 32-12—when they aren't playing the Rams.

Maybe you aren't impressed.

Maybe the Seahawks, 49ers and Broncos were sleeping on the Rams despite all three teams being in the thick of competitive division races. 

Maybe Fisher and the Rams notching these wins are flukes, meaningless, or both, as noted by Mike Tunison:

Maybe, but no. Fisher's made tough decisions, necessary adjustments and controversial moves. The Rams have made great strides in all the problem areas, and they're playing solid football, Bradford or no.

After their anemic one sack in the first five games, the Rams have racked up 18 since. A fourth-down sack by sensational rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald, his fourth on the season, stopped a Broncos fourth-quarter scoring drive.

Fisher and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams have gotten more and more out of Donald and have begun using monster pass-rusher Robert Quinn in a myriad of ways. Early in the season, Quinn seemed hell-bent on using an outside speed move at every opportunity. In the sack above, though, he executed a perfect stunt in tandem with Donald, and the result was havoc.

Historians can debate the merits of signing veteran left tackle Jake Long and guard/tackle Rodger Saffold to massive deals before drafting raw tackle Greg Robinson No. 2 overall.

But when Long first underperformed, and then went down with an ACL injury for the second time in two seasons, Robinson was there to step in. His Pro Football Focus pass-block grade through his first two starts matched Long's season-to-date mark of minus-0.4.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Letting Hill sit on the bench with a minor injury in favor of Davis, the untested hot hand, seemed like Fisher waving the white flag. Yet Davis outperformed all the (nonexistent) expectations, racking up 2,001 yards passing and 12 touchdowns in just eight starts. However, back-to-back multi-interception games spurred Fisher to switch horses again.

"We looked at things Monday night in lengthy discussions with the offensive staff," Fisher told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "and just felt that the best thing to do at this point moving forward was to lean on the experienced quarterback."

His decision was vindicated. Hill completed 69 percent of his 29 attempts against the Broncos, per NFL.com, for 220 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. Rookie Tre Mason, who's been outstanding since Fisher vaulted him over the disappointing Stacy on the depth chart, added 113 yards on 29 carries.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Receiver Kenny Britt, known as a talented tease under Fisher in Tennessee, finally opened up the Rams' vertical game, hauling in a 63-yard bomb from Hill.

Fisher, directly or indirectly, has righted the ship in St. Louis. He's found answers to a lot of the hard questions being asked of him, and the Rams are playing quality ball against the very best of the NFL.

Of course, it's all too late. The win brings them up to 4-6, hopelessly behind the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals and way off the conference's wild-card pace.

Their next game is on the road against the San Diego Chargers. They close the season at the Seahawks' CenturyLink Field, and in between host the 9-1 Cardinals. Even if they snuck out a win in one of those three and swepte their other matchups, they'd be looking at 8-8—and there are already five NFC teams with at least seven wins.

As strong as the Rams have been over the last five weeks, they aren't playing relevant football.

That said, they've proved they've got the talent to beat anyone in the NFL, and Fisher's proved he's got a steady hand on the tiller. Down the stretch, the Rams will need to continue to see young players like Donald and Robinson improve, and they'll need to find out which, if either, of Hill or Davis are worth penciling in as the starter going forward.

If general manager Les Snead can get as much instant impact out of the 2015 draft as he did in 2014—and settle the long-term picture at quarterback—the Rams will be serious contenders for the crown of the NFL's toughest division.

Ty Schalter is a National NFL Lead Writer for Bleacher Report, and member of the Pro Football Writers of America. All stats are sourced from Pro-Football-Reference.com, except where otherwise indicated.