ST. LOUIS â" A large part of Jeff Fisherâs rebuilding job with the St. Louis Rams is getting players accustomed to failure to believe they can win.
So far, itâs working.
The Rams are 1-1, already halfway to last seasonâs win total, heading into this weekâs game at Chicago. Theyâre playing with the same attitude their coach brings to the job, too, having fun and getting the job done.
âWhen youâre here, you expect to win,â Fisher said Monday, a day after the Ramsâ 31-28 win over Washington in the home opener.
âThatâs kind of the attitude that they have and that goes back to our first little scuffle in the first play of our OTA.â
The Rams won their home opener for the first time since 2006.
They rallied from a 15-point deficit to win for the first time since beating the Texans in Houston on Nov. 27, 2005.
Theyâve scored 23 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since 2006.
The offense was 7 for 12 on third down behind Sam Bradfordâs fourth career 300-yard passing game and Danny Amendolaâs 15 catches.
The defense held the Redskins, who scored 40 points in their opener, to one touchdown after halftime.
âItâs a great feeling,â defensive end Chris Long said. âBut thatâs why we put in all the hard work, to see the product of Sunday.
âIt just makes us more hungry to come out and prepare for next week.â
Cornerback Cortland Finnegan played for Fisher in Tennessee and was the Ramsâ biggest free agent pickup in the offseason. Fisher loves Finneganâs feisty nature and counted on him leading by example.
The numerous scrums against the Redskins, well, a lot of that is coming from Finnegan channeling Fisher.
âWeâre going to credit âCortâ with an awful lot from an attitude standpoint,â Fisher said. âBut these guys, they all had it deep down inside of them.
âWe just had to bring it out of them.â
Finnegan said Fisherâs passion for the game, and for his players, rubs off on everyone.
âYou know what, I think thatâs just the attitude of our head coach and everything that weâre about,â Finnegan said. âWe want to be a physical defense, we donât want to back down or take anything from anybody.â
Finnegan made an invaluable contribution late in the game when he gave Josh Morgan an extra little push after tackling him just shy of a first down at the Rams 29.
Morgan retaliated by throwing the ball at Finnegan and got whistled for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that left the Redskins, hoping to force overtime, with a last-gasp 62-yard field goal attempt by Billy Cundiff that was not close.
âI think going into it both defenses knew it was going to be physical,â Finnegan said. âThey like to run the football, so do we. Who was going to be the tougher defense?â
Then he paused just a beat before adding, âYou just donât want to ever hurt your team with a personal foul or something like that.â
Amendola caught passes on the Ramsâ first five plays and seven of the first eight. He tied an NFL record with 12 first-half catches.
âItâs a great example for the team that things donât always go perfect. They play, too. They get coached and paid, too,â Fisher said of the Redskins.
âSo youâre going to win some downs and lose some downs, but just bounce right back. Put it behind you.â
Long was the second overall pick of the 2008 draft and has yet to play on a winning team. He enjoys this new style of playing with an edge.
âIt was a lot of chippy stuff, but thatâs to be expected,â Long said. âItâs football and grown men out there playing, so thatâs how itâs going to go.â
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