We know the story lines in New England after the Patriots’ 26-10 victory at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Here are a handful of reactions from the City of Angels and beyond. The Rams lost for the seventh time in their last eight games. For what it is worth it is safe to say that Bill Belichick owns Jeff Fisher. In the last three games between the two head coaches the Hoodie’s squads are 3-0, outscoring Fisher’s clubs by a combined score of 130-17.<\/p>\n
News broke earlier that Fisher’s contract has been extended for two years. That perplexing decision is not surprisingly the focus of attention for those dedicated souls that follow the Rams.<\/p>\n
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First, an interesting piece from a forgotten name. Remember the doctor that operated on Tom Brady after his knee was demolished in the 2008 season opener? He was excoriated at the time by some after news of post-operation infections, but it turns out that he and Brady are BFFs.<\/p>\n
LA Times<\/em>: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s biggest fan works for the Rams<\/a><\/p>\n One of Brady\u2019s best friends and most devoted supporters will be watching from a prime vantage.<\/p>\n The visitors\u2019 sideline.<\/p>\n Neal ElAttrache, team physician for the Rams, helped save Brady\u2019s career. ElAttrache reconstructed the left knee of the future Hall of Famer, who suffered a three-ligament tear in a 2008 season opener.<\/p>\n \u201cAt a pretty critical moment in my career, he was someone who was right there by my side,\u201d Brady recently told The Times. \u201cI\u2019m forever grateful to him and his commitment to me, and we\u2019re lifelong friends because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n ElAttrache, who met Brady 15 years ago when a mutual friend introduced them for a golf round at Pebble Beach, remains his personal doctor from 3,000 miles away. He consults from afar with the Patriots medical staff and trainers on garden-variety injuries, and is always prepared if something more serious were to occur.<\/p>\n In an era of heightened scrutiny on the complex interaction among doctors and teams and players, the friendship that has emerged between ElAttrache and Brady extends beyond the sacrosanct physician-patient relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s safe to say that I will never root for another person against Tom Brady,\u201d said ElAttrache, who serves as chairman of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Foundation and director of medical affairs for the Kerlan-Jobe Institute.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n SB Nation<\/em>: Jeff Fisher’s problems are never his fault, and he has a contract extension to prove it It\u2019s turned out to be a tough season for Fisher and the Rams; this week was the worst of it so far. Sean Payton and the Saints gave them a revenge game beatdown, a public fight with the team\u2019s most prominent alumni left Fisher looking petty, and a conference call in which Fisher didn\u2019t seem to know who the Patriots running backs were.<\/p>\n Yet, somehow, the Rams still came out in support of their head coach. COO Kevin Demoff spent the week parroting the team\u2019s party line on Fisher, that it\u2019s unfair to judge him by his record. They\u2019re paying him $7 million per year to not be judged by his perpetually mediocre results.<\/p>\n The Rams\u2019 team headquarters is such a judgment-free zone that the Rams gave Fisher a two-year contract extension earlier this season, one that will pay him $7 million in 2017 and $9 million in 2018.<\/p>\n Nothing new for Teflon Fisher. He\u2019s coached 22 years with only six winning seasons and three losses away from having more than any other head coach in NFL history. When a nuclear explosion rids the world of humanity, there will only be Jeff Fisher organizing a group of 53 cockroaches into a 7-9 insect football team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Turf Show Times<\/em>: Los Angeles Rams 10, New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> 26: Overmatched<\/a> The talent level on the Rams\u2019 offense, especially along the offensive line, is entirely insufficient to be able to operate an offensive gameplan consistently.<\/p>\n The physicality and aggression, let alone the quality of tutelage, lends itself to an unusually high number of penalties. Today, that didn\u2019t manifest itself to nearly the degree it tends to. No matter.<\/p>\n But most overwhelmingly, the 2016 Los Angeles Rams, much like their previous versions the last four years in St. Louis, are overseen by Jeff Fisher, a master in finding ways to limit his teams to a very low level of capability and not get fired.<\/p>\n Today isn\u2019t so much about losing to the Patriots. Lots of good teams have done as much.<\/p>\n Today isn\u2019t even about the manner in which they did it with a horrendous offensive output capped with a garbage time touchdown that came on the back of the Patriots\u2019 lone defensive failing of the day.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about the entirety of Fisherball. It\u2019s about five years of it. Five years of losing. The excuses. The complete lack of accountability.<\/p>\n With the loss today, Jeff Fisher is one loss away from tying Dan Reeves for the most losses of all-time of any NFL head coach<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n LA Times<\/em>: Rams Coach Jeff Fisher receives contract extension<\/a><\/p>\n Rams Coach Jeff Fisher has received a contract extension, a person with knowledge of the situation said.<\/p>\n Fisher is in the final season of a five-year contract that pays him $7 million a year. The Rams are 4-7 this season and Fisher has a 31-43-1 record with the Rams heading into Sunday\u2019s game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n General Manager Les Snead also received an extension, said the source, who requested anonymity to avoid getting ahead of the expected official announcement.<\/p>\n Despite his record, Fisher before the season was thought to be in line for an extension for helping to oversee the Rams\u2019 move from St. Louis to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n But the Rams did not announce it before a season-opening loss against the San Francisco 49ers or after the Rams got off to a 3-1 start.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Sports Illustrated<\/em>: Rams overlook obvious problems and extend coach Jeff Fisher’s contract<\/a><\/p>\n Say this much about the Rams: They don\u2019t easily cave to outside noise.<\/p>\n Despite the increasing calls for Los Angeles to move on from coach Jeff Fisher as the franchise steamrolls towards its fifth straight sub-.500 record under his leadership, the front office apparently thinks highly enough of Fisher to keep him around. The NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that the Rams and Fisher had, in fact, signed a two-contract extension through 2018.<\/p>\n Rumors of such an extension had been floating since earlier this season\u2014the Rams\u2019 first back in Los Angeles. SI\u2019s Jonathan Jones even speculated last week that Fisher may know something the general public did not about his job status.<\/p>\n Turns out, that was true. Which is enough to make you wonder why the Rams kept this all so hush-hush.<\/p>\n The obvious answer is that the backlash for the front office rewarding Fisher in the midst of a disappointing 4\u20137 season would have been (and now will be) swift. The Rams finished 7-8-1 in Fisher’s first year in St. Louis (2012), but they have not been able to match even that mediocre finish in the years since. Headed into Sunday\u2019s game at New England, Fisher was just two away from tying Dan Reeves for the most losses (165) in NFL coaching history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Los Angeles Daily News<\/em>: Rams have a ways to go to totally win back hearts of Los Angeles<\/a><\/p>\n What, you thought this was going to be a perfectly seamless transition? The Rams were just going to waltz into town after abandoning us all those years ago and just slide right back into our hearts and souls?<\/p>\n Sorry, that was never going to happen. It was inevitable there would be hiccups and bumps in the road. This was as awkward as awkward gets, them walking out on us 21 years ago like a dad kicking his family to the curb and us eventually writing them off for good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Former Ram running back Eric Dickerson is not a fan of Fisher’s contract extension. For a detailed review of the conversation between the Hall of Fame RB and Fisher, see Eric Dickerson says he will not go to Rams games as long as Jeff Fisher is the coach<\/a> from the LA Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n Washington Post<\/em>: Eric Dickerson says Jeff Fisher banned him from sideline, Rams deny it<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier Monday, on Dickerson\u2019s own Los Angeles-based radio show, he said, \u201cSomeone from upper management called me and said that I make the players feel uncomfortable about some of the stuff I\u2019ve said on the radio, and they don\u2019t want me on the sidelines. Basically, they didn\u2019t want me at the games.\u201d<\/p>\n (Dickerson) told Liz Habib<\/a>, a sports anchor at KTTV in Los Angeles, that Fisher had called him and said, \u201cAs long as I\u2019m head coach, you\u2019re not welcome on the sideline.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as you\u2019re head coach, you don\u2019t ever have to worry about ever seeing me at a Rams game again,\u201d Dickerson said he told Fisher, in comments made to Jason Smith of Fox Sports Radio<\/a>. He said that he\u2019d gotten the call about 10 days ago, and that he told the coach, \u201cFirst of all, I wore the Rams uniform. You could get fired, [General Manager] Les Snead could get fired, Kevin Demoff could get fired, but I will always be Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow dare you have the audacity to call me with that nonsense,\u201d Dickerson said of Fisher to Smith. About the coach\u2019s \u201creally good conversation\u201d comment, Dickerson said, \u201cThe good conversation came after I let him know what time it was. \u2026 Then he backed down.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n And the topic devolves from there.<\/p>\n Washington Post<\/em>: Eric Dickerson wonders about naked pictures and Jeff Fisher\u2019s contract extension<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI asked Kevin Demoff [the team\u2019s V-P of football operations and chief operating officer] point-blank last night, I said, \u2018So, are you bringing Jeff Fisher back? Does he have an extension?\u2019\u201d Dickerson said on \u201cThe Herd with Colin Cowherd.\u201d \u201cHe said, \u2018We\u2019re talking about it.\u2019 He asked me, \u2018What do you think?\u2019 I said, \u2018My honest opinion? No. Look, he\u2019s had five years. Five years of losing. Enough is enough.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018If I\u2019m a fan, I feel like all these Rams fans, I\u2019m their voice. I mean, why would you bring him back?\u2019 I asked him, \u2018Where are the naked pictures at?\u2019 He must\u2019ve got something on someone because five years is enough. It really is. You can\u2019t subject all the Rams fans to this for another year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n And with this being SoCal, a former celebrity has an opinion as well.<\/p>\n
\nNobody in the NFL is as good at being bad at their job as Jeff Fisher, but he\u2019s got a million excuses for that<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIt was never going to be anything other than what it was<\/em><\/p>\n