How bad is St. Louis' QB situation..

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Coach Mike Martz plans to start Jamie Martin at quarterback Monday night against San Francisco. But Martin's puffy left knee might not cooperate, which could lead to Scott Covington getting his first NFL start.

 

With Kurt Warner on the injured reserve list, and Marc Bulger already ruled out of the 49ers game, you will never guess who is behind Martin and Covington on the depth chart at quarterback.

 

Marshall Faulk.

 

"As a disaster quarterback, we're going to have Marshall ready to take snaps because he knows the running game," Martz said. "He can do all the handoffs. And he's got an arm. He throws the ball well enough to where he can throw some."

 

At first, reporters thought Martz was kidding. But he wasn't. Not even with quarterback Ryan Helming added to the practice squad Thursday, wide receiver Francis St. Paul being dropped to make room for Helming.

 

"We'll have a mini-package for Marshall," Martz said. "He's out there working on his drops as we speak. So he's excited about it. He knows our offense so well, and can take snaps.

 

"So that's an obvious thing for us to do. That way you don't have to teach somebody all the handoffs. You can run all of your running game, and still be able to throw the ball a little."

 

Faulk actually did some handing off during running back drills Thursday.

 

"The handoffs went OK," Faulk said.

 

Its quite funny, even if it doesn't matter any..

[Guest Will Scarlet]

That would actually be quite funny if, by some fluke, Faulk did play QB, and actually led them to a victory. I dislike the Rams, but I would love to see that happen.

[Guest Mad Dog]

They might as well just forfeit the game to the 9ers.

 

I don't see how they stand any chance of not being embrassed.

[Guest Choken One]

Ha! Ha! Ha!

[Guest Vern Gagne]

They could run the Wishbone. With Faulk, Gordon, and Canidate. Holt or Bruce could be the Wingback.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

or they could coax Eric Crouch out of retirement to be a double-threat.. he can be a reciever and a QB!

[Guest phoenixrising]

Actually in the 1960's something similar happened. The Baltimore Colts lost both Johnny Unitas and their backup QB, forcing them to start a running back for a key game that would tie them with the Packers and force a playoff (before the actual championship game). The Colts basically simplified the offense - mostly runs and rollout passes for the running back. He didn't do too badly, the Colts won the game to get into the playoff and almost won the playoff, Green Bay got a field goal in overtime (to this day it is still unsure if the kick was actually good or not). So a runner playing QB has happened before.

[Guest bravesfan]

The Rams could stand a good chance of winning.

 

I don't think the 49ers have anything scenario-wise to play for, so they'll stay put and rest the starters.

 

Terrell is already scratched from the game entirely, though.

[Guest redbaron51]

Somehow the 49ners would still fuck up.

 

But if Rams do win, then ESPN would be all over Martz ass, saying he's an original coach, kissing his ass saying he is a good coach and all...

[Guest phoenixrising]

Martz is an innovative offensive coordinator. Up until this year the Rams offense has ripped up NFL defenses. It's taken the NFL three years to adjust to the offense. So calling Martz an offensive genius is acceptable.

 

Head coaching wise, I think I can safely say that Martz has been the benefactor of great talent, and wasn't able to do much with that talent after all the injuries. Several of his coaching moves are questionable as well. So while Martz is a great offensive mind, I don't feel that he is an elite coach, even if he did manage to get a team into the Super Bowl.

[Guest NoCalMike]

They should do it, Rams are out of it....WHY NOT?

[Guest Vern Gagne]

The game also means nothing to the 49ers so the Rams wouldn't be accused of taking a game with playoff importance lightly.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

I say give Covington the start and let him play him for most of it, and use Faulk sparingly on first and second down plays to see what he can do.

[Guest DrTom]

So calling Martz an offensive genius is acceptable.

Like hell. He inherited a bunch of fast receivers, the best running back in the league, a QB with (until this year, at least) a very accurate arm, and a fast astroturf field. A monkey could design a successful offense in those conditions. That's like saying Brian Billick was an offensive genius in Minnesota because he "figured out" that throwing the home-run ball to Randy Moss every third play was a good idea. If Martz were such a genius, he would have gotten Faulk more involved in the offense sooner, instead of obstinately trying to passpasspass when that clearly wasn't working. There's also the issue of returning a banged-up and scrubby Kurt Warner to the starting job when he'd done nothing to deserve it.

 

As for the original topic... I don't really care who the Rams start at QB. Earlier this season, when Bulger was playing very well and the spectre of Warner's return was hanging over the team, the St. Louis QB situation was interesting. Now, I can't summon any interest in it at all.

 

BTW, the Colts' halfback who played QB for them was Tom Matte, who's also believed to be the first signal-caller to have the plays on his armband. The disputed field goal directly led to the NFL adopting taller goal posts the next season, since Colts coach Don Shula was on the league's Competition Committee, and was still pissed over a kick that very well might have been wide.

[Guest Flyboy]

Ugh.

 

If Marshall DOES start, I hope the Niners defense fuck him up. I hate his ass. HATE HIM. Just like I hate Ricky Williams.

 

I could understand Ricky going to the Pro Bowl, but Faulk? Give me a fucking break.

[Guest So what? I liked bubble boy]

Don't worry, the 49ers will-go-all-the-way!!!!

[Guest Flyboy]

If the Niners choke, I'll laugh.

[Guest El Satanico]

Well to actually choke you have to care about winning said game in the first place.

[Guest Flyboy]

You want to win going into the playoffs. They DO want to win.

 

Rams leading 20-24after it being 17-0 at half-time. Har.

[Guest El Satanico]

Beating a team with a losing record in a totally meaningless game isn't going to give you momentum.

 

49ers don't care if they win or lose this I mean hell Madden just said they were watching tape of the Giants last night.

[Guest Flyboy]

Believe what you will, ES.

 

A win is a win.

[Guest Flyboy]

Don't worry, the 49ers will-go-all-the-way!!!!

I bet you feel foolish.

[Guest El Satanico]

If a team NEEDS to beat a losing team in a meaningless game in order to get mentally ready for the playoffs then that team is in trouble no matter if they win or lose.

 

Yeah i know people are always spouting off lines like "every game matters" and "you play every game like it's your last". Lines like those are total bullshit. We all know players and coaches to a lesser extent will take it easy in a game if it's meaningless in terms of making the playoffs.