Jeff Fisher had to be fired now for the sake of the Rams’ future

It would be inaccurate to suggest that anyone was surprised the Los Angeles Rams decided to relieve Jeff Fisher of his coaching responsibilities on Monday. The Rams have struggled all season, and Fisher made excuse after excuse while the team failed to improve.

The timing, though, on a short week just before a Thursday night matchup against the Seattle Seahawks — a team Fisher has generally been successful against — was a bit unexpected.

Complicating matters was the news of Fisher’s contract extension, which became public about a week before he was terminated. Recent events forced the Rams’ hand.

”Had this just been a team that finished 7-9, 6-10 and had some close calls the way we did at certain points, I think we may have looked at it differently,” Rams COO Kevin Demoff said of the decision to fire Fisher. “The way we played the past few weeks really changed the barometer from that point.”

The announcement came on the heels of a humiliating loss at home against the Atlanta Falcons, which had to be a factor in the timing.

In the Coliseum in Week 14, the Rams turned the ball over on the very first play of the game, a muffed kickoff that was recovered by Atlanta on the Rams’ 3-yard line. It set the tone for the game.

Things went downhill from there, and the Rams turned the ball over a whopping five times to Atlanta. Los Angeles lost 42-14. Those 14 points scored by the Rams came in garbage time, after Atlanta took a 42-0 lead and subbed in backups.

Atlanta’s offense is explosive and difficult to defend, but the Rams caught a break with the Falcons’ top two receivers, Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu, out with injuries. The Falcons’ defense has consistently struggled this season and is ranked 28th in the league for yards allowed per game. It was an opportunity for the Los Angeles offense to at least begin to correct course, and Fisher’s Rams couldn’t even look competitive.

Huge swaths of seats were empty, and the fans who were in attendance booed the team loudly. It was the Rams’ fourth consecutive loss, and the team had been outscored 117-45 over Weeks 12, 13, and 14. The patience Los Angeles had with Fisher was wearing thin.

Although players continued to publicly support Fisher, frustrations began to boil over following the loss to the Falcons.

“We lose games. This team has lost more games than it’s been beaten,” offensive guard Rodger Saffold said, according to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times.

Linebacker Alec Ogletree pointed to issues that could be corrected with quality coaching as the reasons for the team’s performance.

“We’ve got a talented team, but penalties kill you, mistakes kill us,’’ Ogletree said, via Plaschke. “When you don’t know how to rebound from it, you get exposed and that’s what happens.’’

No player was more vocal than running back Todd Gurley, who compared the Rams’ offense to a “middle school offense.”

Gurley said the problem with the team wasn’t coaching, but player effort.

“Just going through the motions, I feel like everyone is just playing to get through,” Gurley said.

Something defensive end Will Hayes said in the locker room just hours after Fisher’s firing revealed even more problems there.

That’s a strong indication that Fisher had lost the locker room.

When a team has a losing record, and the head coach hasn’t had a winning season once in his five-year tenure with that team, one thing that head coach might want to avoid is a feud with one of the team’s most beloved alumni.

Jeff Fisher didn’t do that at all. Instead, a very public and embarrassing dispute between Fisher and legendary Rams running back Eric Dickerson unfolded.

Dickerson said Fisher wouldn’t allow him on the sideline because Dickerson had criticized the team, and Fisher didn’t deny it. It became a public relations nightmare for the team, with Demoff scrambling to refute the claim that Dickerson wasn’t welcome.

It was a bad look for Fisher, who shifted blame while ignoring the fact that Dickerson had valid reasons to criticize him and the Rams.

As Fisher approached the milestone he achieved with Sunday’s loss to the Falcons, tying Dan Reeves for the most losses of all time by any head coach, the end of his tenure in Los Angeles also came near.

The loss to Atlanta, the frustration of the players and Fisher’s feud with Dickerson piled on top of what seemed to be shaping up to be yet another season of, to quote Fisher, “7-and-9 bullshit” on the field.

Losses wear on every member of an organization. That has been the case for the Rams.

“We’re not having fun, we’re not enjoying it, it’s awful and it’s hard,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said following the loss to Atlanta.

Now it’s up to the Rams’ leadership to figure out how to restore hope in the locker room.

“Collectively we all felt this was the best chance to move forward and finish this season with some direction and hope and begin the process of building for 2017,” Demoff told reporters Monday.

Fisher gave the team no choice but to move on from him.