The Rams’ win over the Seahawks actually reveals how badly Jeff Fisher has failed

The Rams are a good football team. They prove that a few times a year, specifically whenever they play the Seahawks. Los Angeles has now won four of five against a team that has been one of the NFL’s elite over that time.

Since 2012

0.768: SEA v. rest of NFL (43-13)
0.556: Rams v. Seattle (5-4)
0.444: Seattle v. Rams (4-5)
0.402: Rams v. rest of NFL (22-33-1)

— Football Perspective (@fbgchase) September 18, 2016

The  ugly 9-3 win over Seattle will likely give the Rams front office enough confidence to announce a contract extension for Jeff Fisher,which has reportedly been in the works throughout the offseason. But this win shouldn’t secure Fisher’s job. No, it’s a sign of the mediocre job he has done with a talented Rams roster that has clearly underachieved over the last four seasons.

This may be a bit reductive, but there are three major aspects of an NFL coach’s job: game planning, managing games and motivating players. Does Fisher excel in any of those areas?

You have to question his motivation skills with the way the Rams repeatedly give the NFL’s best teams tough games and then lay eggs against weaker competition. If a defense can routinely give an offense as talented as Seattle’s trouble, it should not be giving up 28 points to Blaine Gabbert, as it did in Week 1.

Fisher isn’t known as much of a tactician, either. Fisher told USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell in 2014 that 80% of his time is spent on “dealing with the culture of the team” and only 20% is spent on X’s and O’s.

He’s employed a variety of defensive coordinators who have brought in their own defensive philosophies. Former defensive coordinator Tim Walton ran a conservative, Tampa-2 style defense for him in 2013. Current defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is now running an aggressive, complex scheme. If Fisher does have a defensive philosophy, he’s not imposing it on his defensive play-callers.

Jeff Fisher had one top-10 defense in three years as Eagles defensive coordinator with Reggie, Clyde, Seth, Andre, Wes, B&E and Eric Allen.

— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) September 13, 2016

The Rams offense has been a bit more consistent under Fisher — schematically, at least. As the rest of the league has spread things out, going with more three- and four-receiver sets, the Rams have gone the other way, favoring base two-receiver personnel groupings. That has worked for teams with better offensive lines — like the Jim Harbaugh-era 49ers and the Panthers — but the Rams have had little success with the strategy, finishing 20th, 27th, 25th and 31st in total offense since Fisher was hired.

The offensive ineptitude cannot be blamed entirely on the offensive play-calling. The Rams haven’t had a good (and healthy) quarterback in quite some time. They tried to solve that issue by sending a bushel of draft picks to the Titans for the right to draft Jared Goff first overall in the 2016 draft. Of course, Goff has yet to make a start as he continues to struggle learning the offense.

That the rookie hasn’t fully grasped the scheme tells us one of two things: Goff lacks the mental ability to play the position and trading so much for him was a terrible decision (I doubt it) or the Rams offense is needlessly complicated and the coaching staff did a poor job getting him ready this offseason.

Either way, it reflects poorly on Fisher’s staff.

Now Los Angeles is stuck with the league’s worst starting quarterback, Case Keenum. The Rams have no vertical passing game and defenses are fully aware. Opposing teams are able to load up the box with eight and sometimes nine men. The result? Todd Gurley is averaging a Trent Richardson-esque 2.7 yards-per-carry through two games.

This has become Gurley’s reality:

That’s 10 defenders within four yards of the line of scrimmage.

Will the Rams adjust their offense to give their franchise back some more breathing room? Of course not. Will the defense stop blitzing even though it has one of the best defensive lines in the league and doesn’t need to send extra guys to create pressure? Not a chance.

Fisher is more concerned with building a “tough” football team than he is with building a team that can win in today’s NFL. So the defense underachieves, the offense remains stagnant and nothing ever changes.

That’s how a talented football team with special players like Gurley, Tavon Austin, Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, Robert Quinn and Trumaine Johnson goes 7-9 over and over again.