Steve Spagnuolo: Will Spags Feel the Heat If the Rams Lose on Sunday?

Prior to the season, if you said that Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo could be on the hot seat four games into the 2011 season, you would be called crazy.

Last season the Rams bounced back from a terrible 1-15 2009 season. They finished with a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs by one game and rookie quarterback Sam Bradford was the offensive Rookie of the Year. Also, the defense was ranked 12th in points allowed per game. 

But given the current state of the team, will Spagnuolo's job be threatened with a loss against the Washington Redskins this coming Sunday?

Logic says that Spagnuolo is safe, even if the Rams lose Sunday and fall to an 0-4 record. 

The Rams are still very much in the hunt for the NFC West title, with a much lighter second half of the season. Even if they lose Sunday, there is still time to cover ground in their embarrassingly weak division. 

The Rams enter their Bye Week after this Sunday. Then they enter a grueling three-game stretch against the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints.

However, they'll see some light at the end of the tunnel with two games against each of their woeful division opponents, as well as the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals. They also finish the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are the only clear playoff team on the second half of the Rams schedule.

But winning football games is not like riding a bicycle. If the Rams enter their Week 9 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals with six or even seven losses, can anyone really expect the demoralized team to just flip on a switch and win games? 

It might take the Rams some time to find a groove during the second half of the season, which could result in a very disappointing outcome when considering the city of St. Louis was fully anticipating a division title. 

You can blame it on the schedule or injuries, but truthfully a fanbase that has witnessed their team win only 13 games in the previous four seasons combined is not going to be very forgiving when it comes to excuses, especially considering the hype that surrounded the team entering the season.

The fans may call for blood. 

And honestly it might not even take until the end of the season. 

With a team that is showing very little emotion at the moment, and with three very tough losses to start the season, can owner Stan Kroenke stomach three or four more consecutive losses that are just as troublesome?

If the downward spiral continues, the Rams could perhaps turn to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel to finish the season as the interim head coach, given his coaching experience in Denver, and the team would likely find a new coach in the offseason. 

It's not as if it's too soon to pull the trigger, at least not by the standards of other teams. 

Jim Mora, Mike Singletary, Tom Cable and Eric Mangini were all fired by their respective teams. They were all hired in 2009, the same year Spagnuolo was hired by St. Louis.

But the best thing the Rams can do as a franchise is get back on track and win football games.

Continuity wins in the NFL, so bringing in a new coaching staff will only set the franchise back even further.

Not to mention, if the Rams clean house, Sam Bradford would be forced to learn his third different system in as many years, which is not good for a young quarterback, unless the team is fine with him turning into another Alex Smith.  

So if the Rams want to avoid disaster and several more years of setbacks, the team needs to figure out how to win—and soon.