FOXBORO, Mass. — It’s difficult to overlook the irony that Jeff Fisher’s two-year contract extension was reported upon the same week he couldn’t name key members of the New England Patriots’ backfield.
It’s also the same week in which the Los Angeles Rams coach guaranteed his team another mediocre season.
The Rams are 4-8 after Sunday’s 26-10 loss to the Patriots. Fisher has yet to lead the franchise to a winning record, and he won’t in 2016.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick, on the other hand, hasn’t led his team to a .500 or losing record since 2000, and his first winning New England team — the Super Bowl XXXVI squad — was honored Sunday at halftime. The disparity in success between Fisher and Belichick was on full display this whole week.
Fisher was asked this week about the Patriots’ three-headed running back attack during a conference call with New England’s media and rattled off LeGarrette Blount, a player he coached with the Tennessee Titans back in 2010, Brandon (Bolden) and Danny (Amendola, a wide receiver). Because Fisher only referred to Amendola as “Danny” while answering a question about running backs, many presumed Fisher believed Danny Woodhead still was on the Patriots. They sadly weren’t too far off.
The Rams had to release a statement to clarify that the coach looks at a flipcard while on conference calls, as if that makes him look any better. Bolden is listed after Blount on the depth chart. Amendola is listed with the wide receivers. Fisher didn’t think to look up and see James White and Dion Lewis, the Patriots’ pass-catching backs, on another line, nor did he know them well enough to think of them himself.
So how did Bolden do in the game? He didn’t receive an offensive snap, as he hasn’t since Week 7. It probably was pretty easy for Fisher — who, by the way, has two assistant head coaches — to study Bolden’s offensive reps this week, since he has just 13 on the season.
Amendola caught three passes for 30 yards and didn’t receive any snaps in the backfield. Blount, White and Lewis combined for 132 yards on the ground and 161 total yards. Perhaps Fisher should have spent less time on Bolden and more on Patriots running backs who actually play.
“He already knew my name,” Blount told the media after the game. “I think he knows James and Dion now for sure, though.”
Sadly for new L.A. football fans, it wouldn’t be surprising if Fisher stayed on as coach past this season. He essentially bought himself another year by turning to rookie quarterback Jared Goff after beginning the season with a 4-5 record. Now Fisher has an excuse when his team tanks down the stretch and finishes with the worst record of his tenure.
Another good note on the Rams coach’s extension from The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin: Fisher’s agent is the father of Rams COO Kevin Demoff. Conflict of interest, much?
The ineptitude of Fisher’s team was easy to spot Sunday. Goff looked overwhelmed in his third NFL start, and the Rams had less than 100 yards on offense until their final drive. Meanwhile, the Patriots gained 402 yards without their top offensive playmaker, tight end Rob Gronkowski, on the field.
It would be easy to forgive Fisher’s gaffe as a simple mistake if his record didn’t allude to the lack of detail he displayed in answering that infamous question. But the Rams probably are stuck with him for at least one more season.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
