After a truly dismal 2011 season, the St. Louis Rams rang in the New Year by firing head coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney. The team ended the season 2-14 and I think the whole situation could push the team to move to Los Angeles. We’re eager to get a team here, with two competing stadium projects (Farmers Field and Los Angeles Stadium at Grand Crossing) ready to start construction, once a team is named. In addition to their poor record and recent personnel changes, the Rams have issues with their stadium and I think it could all combine to form a “perfect storm” that could bring the team back to L.A.

The Rams poor results speak for themselves and I agree with the decision to make changes. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is a smart businessman and didn’t get to be a billionaire by making bad decisions. The team was 10-38 in the three seasons under Spagnuolo and Devaney. Devaney has been there a bit longer than Spagnuolo, and the team was 12-52 in his four years as GM. After a horrible 1-15 season in 2009, the Rams seemed to make a comeback in 2010, going 7-9 and finishing second in the NFC West. But then after coming into the season with high expectations, the bottom dropped out and here we are.

Now that the 2011 regular season is over, I think we will see another big announcement from the team very soon, and that announcement just may be the return of the Rams to Los Angeles. The Rams left Los Angeles due to stadium issues, but now we’re looking at a situation that would bring them into a brand new stadium. I’m sure this is an attractive proposition, given the Rams are having issues with their current stadium. The Rams have played in Edward Jones Stadium since their move from Los Angeles in 1995. Although not very old, the stadium needs upgrades and is not comparable to a brand new facility. They currently have a deal that forces St. Louis to come up with a viable stadium renovation plan by March 2015, or the team is able to accept an offer to move. The city must inform the team of the plan by February 2012, which is rapidly approaching. The Rams have not yet been presented a stadium plan from the city.

AEG, the developer of the Farmers Field NFL stadium, proposed for downtown Los Angeles, has confirmed the Rams as one of the five teams they’ve had formal discussions with. Rams owner Stan Kroenke (who also owns the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets) has done business with AEG in the past, and has even bought teams from them. He is also friends with AEG owner Philip Anschutz, which would seem to make the deal easier to put together. Mr. Kroenke was part of the successful effort in 1995 to bring the team to St. Louis and helped put together a deal that had the city pay $260 million to get the team to move there. But if he can make a large profit on the the move and create much higher revenue for the team by moving them, I think he will do it. And as an L.A. football fan, I know the city would welcome their return, more so than moving a team here from another city.

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

More from this contributor:

Chargers move to L.A. looks more likely: Local’s look

What about the other Los Angeles NFL stadium proposal? Fan’s view

Farmers Field is Coming to Los Angeles: Local reaction

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Published: Jan. 2, 2012 at 1:00 PM

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Steve Spagnuolo was fired Monday as coach of the St. Louis Rams, who finished the 2011 season tied with Indianapolis for the worst record in the NFL.

St. Louis fell 34-27 Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers, a loss that left the Rams 2-14.

Although they had the same league-worst record as the Colts, the Rams will have the second overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft.

The Rams also fired General Manager Billy Devaney.

“I would like to personally thank Steve and Billy for their dedication to the St. Louis Rams organization over the past several seasons,” Rams owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement. “This was a difficult decision for many reasons. We have tremendous respect for Steve and Billy as people and football professionals.”

St. Louis was 10-38 in three seasons with Spagnuolo as coach. The Rams went 1-15 his first year and were 7-9 in 2010 before slipping back this season, which started with six consecutive losses.

According to a post-game report today by cbssports.com, St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo says the Rams have:

“character and fight…to build anything, the base has to have a rock-solid foundation and that’s there,” he said.  “We’ve got to wait eight months to play a game, but I’m glad that’s there.”

The question in St. Louis right now is who will be the head coach for that game in eight months?  

That decision is expected to be announced on Monday, according to a report by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who cites league sources.  

In three seasons under Steve Spagnuolo, the Rams went 10-38.  

Hopes were high in St. Louis entering 2011.  

Many picked the Rams to win the NFC West.  Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network asserted that St. Louis would be the league’s breakout team.  

However, the Rams faltered during an 0-6 start before winning two of three, including the season’s biggest win, an upset victory at the Edward Jones Dome over record-setting Drew Brees and the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints. 

But then they lost their final seven contests, including the finale today at home versus NFC West champion San Francisco.  

In Spagnuolo’s defense, however, the Rams players never seemed to quit and the roster was ravaged by injuries throughout the year.

Some notable players lost for the season include Sam Bradford’s top receiving target, Danny Amendola (as well as rookie Greg Salas), the teams’ top three cornerbacks (Ron Bartell, Bradley Fletcher and Jerome Murphy) and both starting offensive tackles (Rodger Saffold, Jason Smith)—among others.

The team also lost three-time Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson for several games before suffering long-term injuries to quarterbacks Sam Bradford and A.J. Feeley.

With that said, 2-14 is still 2-14. And 10-38 is still 10-38.  

In the NFL, it’s the bottom line that counts. And the bottom line doesn’t look good for Spagnuolo’s Rams. Expect him to be relieved of his head coaching duties as early as Monday.

According to a report by Albert Breer of the NFL Network, Jeff Fisher is ready to return to coaching. The St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers are listed as possible options for Fisher.  

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year round. To check out the rest of his work, go here.  You are also encouraged to follow him here on Twitter.   

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Good thing the San Francisco 49ers opened the playbook in the finale.

Record-setting kicker
David Akers
showed off a strong left arm to match his left leg in a 34-27 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday as
Michael Crabtree
bamboozled defenders on a perfectly executed trick play for a touchdown.

It appeared to be the icing on a dominating performance that wrapped up the No. 2 playoff seed in the NFC and a first-round
bye. Instead, it helped build just enough of a cushion against the usually offensive-challenged St. Louis Rams.

Crabtree caught scoring passes from Akers and
Alex Smith
for the 49ers, whose 24-point fourth quarter lead was in jeopardy before they sealed the victory.

Akers broke the NFL single-season field goal record last week and finished with 44, including five in the first half of the
two St. Louis meetings. He missed on a 48-yarder, but clicked from 36 and 42 yards.

Crabtree and
Vernon Davis
had big days for a team short of pass catchers and
Tarell Brown
had a pair of interceptions that led to touchdowns as the 49ers (13-3) beat the Rams (2-14) for the second time in five games.
The 49ers held St. Louis to just 157 total yards in a 26-0 victory that clinched the NFC West in Week 12 but were hanging
on at the finish of the rematch after the Rams scored two touchdowns in just 13 seconds.

Brandon Lloyd
caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from
Kellen Clemens
, the Rams recovered
Josh Brown
‘s on-side kick and Cadillac Williams scored on a 1-yard run with 4:39 to go one play after drawing an interference call on
Brown on an underthrown pass from Clemens in the end zone.

The Rams were rescued from the ignominy of landing the No. 1 draft pick for the second time in three years when the Colts
(2-14) lost 19-13 to the Jaguars. The Colts hold the tiebreaker based on opponents’ strength of schedule.

The 49ers’ record under new coach Jim Harbaugh is their best since another 13-win season in 1997 under another rookie coach,
Steve Mariucci.

The Rams scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, six better than their NFL-low game average, but were down to untested
Tom Brandstater
and third-and-17 after Clemens injured his right leg on a sack by NaVorro Bowman with 2:46 to go. Brandstater threw two incompletions,
the 49ers took over at their own 40 and needed just one first down to seal it – and exhale.

San Francisco seemingly had cemented the win in the final minute of the third quarter on Akers’ first career touchdown pass
for a 27-10 lead. The 49ers finished 6-2 on the road, the franchise’s best showing since 1996.

Harbaugh is just the fourth rookie head coach to win 13 games and third by the 49ers, topped by George Seifert’s 14-2 showing
in 1989.

Clemens ran for an 18-yard score to give the Rams the early lead. Clemens made his third straight start in place with
Sam Bradford
(high left ankle sprain) and A.J. Feeley (broken right thumb) both sidelined. Bradford, the top pick in 2010, missed his fourth
straight game and sixth overall.

Coach Steve Spagnuolo is just 10-38 in three seasons and his job is in jeopardy coming off a total bust this year on the heels
of a six-win improvement last season. Attendance was announced as 55,990, about 9,000 shy of capacity at the Edward Jones
Dome, but the stadium appeared no better than half-full and drained quickly in the second half.

The 49ers won without injured wide receivers Ted Ginn Jr. (ankle) and
Kyle Williams
(concussion), and with
Frank Gore
mostly watching and gaining just 9 yards on seven carries. Crabtree had 92 yards on nine receptions and Davis had 118 yards
on eight catches, his second 100-yard game of the year.

Crabtree appeared to be walking off the field with the 49ers in field goal formation but stopped just shy of the sideline
and lined up alone, allowing him to amble into the end zone on a 13-yard catch on Akers’ first career touchdown pass in 205
games.

Steven Jackson
had 76 yards on 16 carries, a huge improvement over the first meeting against the 49ers in early December when he was held
to 19 yards on 10 carries, before injuring his left arm in the third quarter. It appeared Jackson was hurt after dropping
a low screen pass and then tackled hard by a pair of 49ers.

The 49ers began drives inside the St. Louis 35 on their first two touchdowns, and capitalized on Terrell Brown’s interception
of a flea flicker from running back
Jerious Norwood
to Clemens on the go-ahead score. Two plays after the pick, Crabtree slipped
Josh Gordy
‘s tackle on a sideline pattern and
Quintin Mikell
also missed on a 28-yarder that made it 14-7.

Clemens showed some nifty moves while dodging tackles on an 18-yard scramble for the Rams’ first rushing touchdown in three
weeks and the early lead, and Smith matched him on an 8-yarder in the final minute of the first quarter. Smith slipped and
fell in the pocket but recovered in plenty of time and benefited from Gore’s nice block on linebacker
Chris Chamberlain
at the goal line.

Notes: Gary Pinkel, who coached the 49ers’
Aldon Smith
and the Rams’
Danario Alexander
at Missouri, was on the sideline before the game. … The Rams cancelled the usual pregame pep rally and live music outside
the stadium because of high gusting winds. … 49ers FB
Bruce Miller
(left knee) was sidelined in the second quarter, but was in uniform testing it with sprints before halftime.

© 2011 STATS LLC

ST. LOUIS — A month ago, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to clinch its division, shutting out the St. Louis Rams to win the NFC West. Beat them again in the finale, and there’s a nice bonus for the Niners: the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye.

Sure, they’re in. There’s still plenty of incentive for a franchise that’s made a rapid rise to the top under rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Anytime you could lock up a bye, you’d take it,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “Great opportunity for us, we’ve just got to go seize it.”

They couldn’t have picked a more vulnerable opponent.

The bedraggled Rams (2-13) are in danger of a dubious honor – landing the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second time in three years. All it’ll take is dropping their seventh in a row and the Colts winning at Jacksonville and again they will be at the bottom of the barrel.

St. Louis, just 10-37 under third-year coach Steve Spagnuolo and 12-51 with fourth-year general manager Billy Devaney, could be on the verge of a housecleaning. That’s led to a lot of questions this week about trying to save Spags’ job.

“We don’t worry about things we can’t control,” middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “He’s that way, we’re that way. We’re just going to go out there and play our rear ends off.”

Owner Stan Kroenke has been silent on the subject of what comes next for the Rams, who had been viewed as a franchise on the rise after last year’s six-win improvement. Now they’re playing to a half-full stadium and reduced to muttering about injuries that have decimated the secondary and offensive line besides a persistent high left ankle sprain that almost assuredly will knock out quarterback Sam Bradford for a sixth game.

Attendance is likely to be more sparse than usual given the noon CST start coming off New Year’s Eve partying. The Rams asked Thursday for a 24-hour extension to meet NFL sellout requirements.

The 49ers (12-3) have already doubled their win total from a disappointing 2010 season, and even with a loss can get the No. 2 seed and bye if the Saints lose at home against the Panthers. If they can repeat the performance from the 26-0 whipping they handed out in San Francisco, Harbaugh would be just the fourth coach in NFL history to win 13 games in his first year. Two 49ers coaches have already done it, George Seifert going 14-2 in 1989 and Steve Mariucci at 13-3 in 1997.

San Francisco could also land its first 13-win season since ‘97. A sixth road win would match their total from the previous three seasons, rewarding them for attention to detail.

“The biggest thing that I’d point to is a lot of little reasons that a lot of people think are the minutia that aren’t important that add up to make all the difference,” Harbaugh said. “And our guys continually do the little things, and they stack on each other and they build on each other. And lo and behold, you win games in high pressure situations, or find ways to do enough things right to win games and get better.

“Enough of those things lead to championships.”

The 49ers are stout on defense, on pace for a franchise record while allowing a league-low 13.5 points per game, and sound on offense behind come-back quarterback Alex Smith. They lead the NFL with a plus-26 turnover ratio, with the most takeaways (36) and the fewest turnovers (10) in the league.

Aldon Smith has 14 sacks, one shy of the NFL rookie record. Cornerback Carlos Rogers and free safety Dashon Goldson, two of the 49ers’ four Pro Bowl starters on defense, have six interceptions apiece.

Kicker David Akers, who has set an NFL record with 42 field goals, and punter Andy Lee are both Pro Bowlers, too.

They’ve stayed healthy, too, with 30 players appearing in every game and 12 making every start. That dwarfs the Rams’ totals of 14 and four. The 49ers have eight Pro Bowl representatives, the Rams none.

“They’ve put it together and you get on a roll,” Spagnuolo said. “It works both ways. You get on a roll winning, confidence and boom, boom, things are working and clicking.

“It happens the other way, too, where you can’t really find any continuity.”

The 49ers have won six of seven in a series knotted at 61-61-2, and Frank Gore always seems to get some of his best days against the Rams, totaling 832 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games. He’ll be facing a defense in danger of setting a franchise record for rushing yards allowed in a season.

The Rams have been giving up an NFL-worst 154.5 yards per game and if they surrender 159 yards it’ll break the previous franchise worst in 2008. The 49ers got 144 yards the first time around.

The 49ers’ biggest worry might be encountering an opponent trying anything and everything to finish with a good taste.

“They have nothing to lose, so they can come out with whatever,” linebacker Patrick Willis said. “For us, there’s a lot riding on this game. We have to come out and play like we have all season. We know what’s at stake.”

Most every week, the Rams stay in it for a while and then a key play or two goes the wrong way and it snowballs to the finish of another failure. That was the case in the first meeting when the 49ers were held to three field goals in the first half, then busted loose with a pair of big plays – pass plays of 52 and 56 yards to Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams.

Special teams have sprung several leaks in recent weeks, and the offense is the NFL’s worst, averaging just 11 points with 15 touchdowns in 15 games. They’re coming off a 27-0 loss at Pittsburgh, the second time they’ve been shut out the last month.

It’s been a complete bust of a comeback season for new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

“No regrets, no regrets,” McDaniels said. “Every year is different, every year is a challenge in this league. You have to do everything you can to try to help the team win.”

More slogging lies ahead. The Rams totaled just 157 yards and were just 3 for 13 on third down in the first meeting against San Francisco.

Steven Jackson became the seventh player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in seven straight seasons last week. Against the 49ers, he got just 19 yards on 10 carries.

“It was what we expected and they gave us exactly that,” Jackson said. “We’re going to have another tough time on Sunday but as long as you keep them balanced, and keep them out of what they want to do, we’ll be fine.”

Journeyman Kellen Clemens is expected to get his third straight start at quarterback. He passed for 91 yards last week in a 27-0 loss to the Steelers after throwing for 229 yards and a touchdown the previous week in a 20-13 loss to Cincinnati.

“If there’s a defense that’s better than Pittsburgh,” Clemens said, “we’re playing them this week.”