Officials don't want to see the St. Louis Rams leave the City of St. Louis. It has been both rumored and feared for a few months now that the Rams were planning on leaving St. Louis for the new NFL stadium, which is being built in Los Angeles.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that the St. Louis Convention and Visitor Commission delivered a plan to a St. Louis Rams, which gives details of improvements officials argue would make the stadium ONE OF THE BEST in pro football.

If accepted, by the Rams, the Convention and Visitor Commission would have to put up $124 million, which would go to hanging a 96-foot wide and a 26-foot high scoreboard over midfield. Also, they would build a three-story structure on Baer Plaza that would connect to the Edwards Jones Dome. It would include a 20,000 square-foot lobby, rooftop beer garden, and a new entrance for fans who're heading into the dome.

They will also install glazed window panels that would allow natural light inside the Edwards Jones Dome, as fans/critics have complained that it's too dark inside the dome.

The plan would replace 1,800 existing seats and four suites with 1,500 new club seats. They would also replace the outdoor smoking area with a fan tailgate area, minus the cars.

With the plan, the Rams would fund 52% of the improvements, the average contribution by NFL teams in recent new NFL stadiums construction and renovation projects. The plan doesn't identify where the rest of the money would come from to fund the project, but it's said that the agency would likely turn to the dome's owner, the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, or the third so-called government sponsor, who paid to have the dome build.

The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission unveiled a plan Wednesday that calls for $124 million in improvements to the Edward Jones Dome in hopes of making sure the city doesn't lose another NFL team.

The commission had faced a Wednesday deadline to deliver the plan to the St. Louis Rams, which leases the dome.

The lease requires the dome to be ''first tier,'' or among the top 25 percent of all NFL stadiums in several categories. If not, the Rams can break the lease after the 2014 season and potentially move. Owner Stan Kroenke is a Missouri native, but has been non-committal about staying in St. Louis.

With Los Angeles organizers actively seeking a team, St. Louis fans are worried the Rams might leave, just like the Cardinals did after the 1987 season.

''There are a lot of people who say this can't be like Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium,'' CVC director Kathleen Ratcliffe said. ''We're confident this proposal meets the requirement of first tier.''

Messages left with a spokesman for Kroenke were not returned. The Rams confirmed they had received the proposal.

''The lease provides certain terms, a timeline and a process for this matter,'' said Kevin Demoff, the team's executive vice president of football operations and COO. ''We are reviewing the proposal and look forward to responding accordingly.''

Highlights of the plan include:

• Adding a 96-foot-long, 27-foot-tall scoreboard over the center of the field, nearly as large as the one at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

• Adding 1,500 club seats, along with new club lounges.

• New windows along the length of the field on both sides, creating more natural light.

• Adding a 50,000-square-foot attached building that would include a ''Geek Suite'' area for electronics buffs and fantasy football fanciers.

• Developing a massive courtyard between the dome and the adjoining convention center that would be ''almost like tailgating but without the cars,'' Ratcliffe said.

• Improvements to concessions and concourses.

Jeff Fisher and his band of merry men, pardon me...assistants, are finally assembled with the St. Louis Rams now that Brian Schottenheimer and Gregg Williams are in house as offensive and defensive coordinators respectively. For obvious reasons these three are the figures that most will focus on when it comes to the success of the Rams in 2012. However, not content to rest of this Fisher added another key piece shortly after these hires were made official.

Dave McGinnis worked with Fisher during his time with the Tennessee Titans and has a long coaching history under his belt. McGinnis will now be with Fisher once again assuming the role of assistant head coach and his near quarter century coaching pedigree provides a young Rams team with plenty of leadership from the top down.

Now that the revamped staff is locked and loaded, the Rams have three members of their coaching collection with head coaching experience in the past. Obviously Fisher brings his know-how with his from Tennessee, but Williams was in charge with the Buffalo Bills from 2001 to 2003 while McGinnis also had a stint as a head coach with the Arizona Cardinals from 2000 to 2003. This collective familiarity with the intricacies of the NFL will no doubt be quite useful in the rebuilding process.

The last item remaining on his checklist is for Fisher and company is to find a general manager that can assist with the task of creating a competitive roster for the upcoming year and seasons to come. The second overall selection in April’s NFL Draft will no doubt make that undertaking a much more attractive gig with plenty of flexibility given the league’s new salary structure for incoming rookies. Not too mention the growing fan fare for RGIII.  There is still a great deal of work left to be done in order to get the Rams back to a competitive level, but they now have the pieces in place to get everyone on the same page.

Let’s take a Look at those pieces.

Rams beat reporter Jim Thomas reports that the Rams have agreed to play a home game in London for each of the next three years, helping Roger Goodell build a fan base across the pond and uniting two of Kroenke's highest-profile business interests -- the Rams, and the Arsenal Gunners of the English Premier League.

Stanley Enos Kroenke's love of sports comes from his Missouri childhood, raised as a fan of the St Louis Cardinals and named after two of its all-time greats. But his business acumen comes from the Wal-Mart world, which is built on finding markets and seizing opportunities wherever you find them.

St Louisans cheered Kroenke's bid to take over the Rams, hoping to celebrate him as one of their own. But now they are running up against his business side, and his perceived lack of commitment to St Louis, who may lose the team in 2015. How does this move impact our city's chances of keeping the Rams?

The answer is complex, but for now it does not sit in Kroenke's hands: the ball is in the City of St Louis' court.

When Stan Kroenke personally introduced Jeff Fisher to St Louis as its newest football coach, he firmly deflected any questions about his team's long-term commitment to the city, saying: "I don't think for me to comment on that process is timely. I think the city has within its power, to present a propsal to us by Feb. 1. There’s a team in place to deal with that.

"We’ll see how it sorts itself out."

Such talk presents Kroenke as a man waiting to take action, but his London announcement with the NFL shows that he has hardly been sitting still.

For the St Louis CVC, which manages the Edward Jones Dome and the convention facilities within, the difficult task of presenting a proposal for upgrading the Dome to make it a "top tier" facility now has additional political complexity. For the Rams to move to London and have nationally televised games three weeks in a row represents a strengthening of the team's brand, but it helps the city little.

Economists have often debated the worth of professional sports to local cities, arguing that the limited job creation and recreational spending that are generated by pro sports are just borrowing from other jobs, other spending, that might be done on other local entertainments. Trying to quantify the value of sports usually falls to qualitative factors -- does wearing one's team colors boost civic pride? Does having a championship banner hanging from a hall drive up the perceptions of your city as a growing, thriving place? Do these factors help St Louis attract people and grow where similar-sized cities such as Oklahoma City or Omaha might fail to register?

And if such questions about keeping the Rams boil down to civic pride, how then should the CVC respond to Kroenke's slap-in-the-face deal with London and the NFL? Should they swallow their own pride and submit a good-faith offer? Or will they be tempted to invite Silent Stan to take the other seven home games where he will, if he finds other pastures to be so green?

For those St Louis fans who are asked to buy season tickets, year in and year out, this London deal is already unpopular and unsettling. A rabid few will book tickets overseas and cheer along with pints of bitters in hand. But for most of the Show-me state, they can only sit and stew unhappily as forces larger than they control the fate of their team.

Now that the coaching search is over we can begin to look more toward 2012. With Jeff Fisher now at the helm and the Rams with an identity moving forward it’s time to look at the personnel that will take the field for OTA’s and mini-camp before you know it.

While in Tennessee Jeff Fisher's Titans had the reputation for playing tenacious, tough football. The offense is often remembered as something out of the George Clooney movie , Leatherheads. Where the forward pass was unheard of or a novelty at best.

Yes Fisher had and used Eddie George as a focal point of his offense. However it has been noted that a pain point for Fisher in is time in Tennessee was the lack of ever having a true number 1 wide receiver. It’s not as if Fisher had Jerry Rice or even Tory Holt lining up yet elected to just hand it off repeatedly to George.

Fear not Rams fans there will surely be a role for Bradford on the 2012 Rams. And the QB will actually be allowed to throw the football down the field in an attempt to score touchdowns.

Some of what Fisher likes to do is, indeed, old-school when compared to the recent high-scoring trend that's turned NFL games into live action matches of Madden. Fisher does like to run the football and control the clock, field position and the game. He believes in competitive, maybe a bit rough around the edges men doing the blocking up front. He would like to see his guys punish opponents. He does not object to seeing opponents limping away in pain. This is the guy who got the most EVER out of Albert Haynesworth.

You know…that boring style of football that has the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens all one win away from the Super Bowl. Four Pillars beware.

Despite the league’s best efforts to turn today’s NFL into a game of touch-football, there's still a place for ground-and-pound. But if your worries are that Fisher's offense will be one-dimensional and predictable, just simmer down.

In listening to his press conference, Fisher noted Bradford as a key factor in wanting to take the Rams job.  Fisher should be very good for Bradford's physical and mental health and overall development. If the Rams can find a playmaker or two, Bradford should rebound from the battering he absorbed in 2011.

The 2011 Rams gave up more sacks than any NFL team. During coach Steve Spagnuolo's three seasons, otherwise known as SpagBall only two NFL teams allowed more sacks than the Rams. That is bad. Bradford was sacked 36 times in his 10 starts and pressured on 35 percent of his dropbacks. That's not taking into consideration the number of times he was hit while throwing or knocked down.

With Fisher running the show this will be a focus for sure. In his full 16 seasons as the head coach in Houston/Tennessee, Fisher's teams had the league's third-lowest sack rate. In quarterback Steve McNair's time as the starter for Fisher, the Titans ranked among the league's top 10 for fewest sacks allowed in six of nine seasons.

Granted this will not happen overnight but rest assured Fisher will address the situation and hold those accountable in a way Spagnuolo and company never did.

Bradford, to the delight of the fans as well, will soon realize he'll be given the opportunity to make plays downfield. Fisher's passing game in Tennessee was more effective than given credit for. For Rams fans a bit confused by this concept. Downfield usually is defined by attempting a pass beyond the first down marker. Often of 20 yards or more. I know, I know, I had to look in the rule book too. But apparently it IS allowed.

McNair started under Jeff Fisher from 1997 to 2005 and was voted the NFL's co-MVP in 2003, made it to three Pro Bowls and of course one memorable Super Bowl.  Tennessee's passing game over that period will never be confused for the Madden type stats Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford and Drew Brees have been putting up. But there was a lot to like.

In his time as the starter in Tennessee the Titans ranked  10th in the league in completion percentage, 10th in passer rating, fifth in average yards at the point of the catch, 10th in passing yards, 12th in touchdown passes, and 10th in yards per attempt. The Titans also had the NFL's third-lowest interception rate over that period.

Making these numbers all the more impressive considering the Titans' cast of receivers. Something Bradford and Ram Nation can relate to. McNair top guys were wide receivers Derrick Mason, Kevin Dyson, Drew Bennett (yeah, that Drew Bennett) and tight end Frank Wycheck (are you listening Lance Kendricks!).

I cannot speculate if Fisher will modify his approach in St. Louis; a lot will depend on who he brings in as offensive coordinator and the direction the Rams go in both the offseason free agent market and the NFL draft . But this much seems certain: Fisher will do what's best for Bradford.

Gregg Williams' expected departure from New Orleans to become the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator should caution Rams fans.

Williams is well known for coming after opposing quarterbacks without caution. The New Orleans Saints brough five or more pass-rushers 51.1 percent of the time in 2011, leading the NFL. The percentage was also an NFL best in 2010 at 49.5 and in 2009 the Saints defense came in second at 48.2.

According to John McTigue of ESPN Stats & Information the Rams, meanwhile, came with added pressure 32.5 percent of the time during that period, 15th-most in the league.

Fans and players tend to favor aggressive play, but as this chart indicates, NFC West quarterbacks have essentially had their Williams' New Orleans defenses in the postseason over the past two years. And we're not exactly looking at Brady and Rodgers here.

*chart courtesy of ESPN

Matt Hasselbeck's four touchdown passes led Seattle past the Saints in the wild-card round a year ago. Alex Smith's four total touchdowns (one rushing) were the difference for the 49ers in the divisional round Saturday.

Most schemes will work with the right players, of course. In these cases, veteran quarterbacks made the Saints pay for their aggressive tactics. Hasselbeck and Smith fared well, in general, regardless of how many rushers the Saints sent.

The following is a quote given to Mike Sando who blogs about the NFC West for ESPN.

"A lot of defenses are unsound in how they do things," Hasselbeck said when I caught up to him following his Tennessee Titans preseason debut, in St. Louis. "These guys (the Rams) are really sound. They might not lead the league in sacks up front, but they do a nice job getting pressure. They play together as a defense. They don't give up big plays. Even when you get them, it's for 20 yards instead of for a touchdown."

Looking closer one can see even more cracks. The high-and-mighty Saints gave up an NFL worst 14 pass plays covering at least 40 yards during the regular season. Our downtrodden Rams gave up 12, but they also lost an astounding 10 of their top cornerbacks to injury.

And one final note. The Rams won only twice in 2011. One of those victories came against New Orleans, with A.J. Feeley at quarterback.

Fisher Watch 2012 is in full effect. With updates on everything from his sandwhich choice to contract demands. For a guy who stands to bring in roughly $7 million a year he is flip-flopping more than someone running for re-election.

Confident that Jeff Fisher would make a decision, NFL observers and fans of the Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams prepared to hear word the former Tennessee Titans coach would be leading their teams in the 2012 season. Didn't happen.

Fisher left everyone hanging as Thursday arrived, with reports he is torn between the Dolphins and Rams. Sunny Miami or snowy St. Louis. There also were suggestions he might be waiting to see what happens with other teams, with the Indianapolis Colts mentioned.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that despite the long wait, a decision should come either Thursday or Friday.

A source close to Fisher told ESPN.com that he is not using the teams against each other in a leverage play and that neither side has made an offer.

"This is not about money," the source said. "This is not about negotiating. This is about winning."

Okay then Jeff, in the words of the elequent Judge Smails..."well...we're waiting"

Per a report from Ron Clements of CBSSports.com The Rams have requested permission to speak with Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden for their open head coach position, according to Bernie Miklasz of 101ESPN and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Bengals had the NFL’s 20th-ranked offense this season under rookie QB Andy Dalton.

Not willing to be held hostage by Jeff Fisher the Rams area clearly doing more than just their due diligence. While Fisher is still their first choice the Rams are playing it smart, not sitting on their hands while other options catch on elsewhere. This would also mark a move in the opposite direction and from Spagnuolo’s defensive first mentality.

With QB of the future already in place and a couple of years left in Steven Jackson’s legs it would be wise to utilize both resources while you have them together. Also with A.J Green in Cincinnati it is likely that Gruden understands how important it is to arm a young QB with weapons. An idea pleasing to Bradford and Rams fans alike.

A former QB himself, Gruden knows and understands what it takes to succeed at the position.  The 43-year-old Gruden was a quarterback at Louisville, throwing for more than 7,000 yards and 44 touchdowns from 1985 to 1988. He also was a quarterback in the AFL, guiding the Tampa Bay Storm to four titles between 1991 and 1996. He also played for the Predators, resigning as coach to return to the field. In the league's 20th anniversary, Gruden was named No. 4 on the AFL's list of its top 20 greatest players.

Gruden is one of the hottest coordinators in the NFL these days after his success with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. Perhaps the Rams think he could do the same with quarterback Sam Bradford who struggled mightily in his second NFL season.

Having done a superb job in his first season has offensive coordinator for the Bengals, Gruden has every right to seize this opportunity to become a head coach of an NFL team.  Nobody expected much from Cincinnati this season, but Gruden helped Andy Dalton have a successful season, finishing 9-7 and earning a wild-card spot.

Gruden's ties to football area are strong. He spent seven seasons on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff under his brother Jon, who was the head coach. Jay Gruden also served as head coach of the Arena League's Orlando team and UFL's Florida franchise before joining Cincinnati this season.

He coached the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League in 2010 after leading the UFL's Florida Tuskers in 2009. He also has coached in the Arena Football League, winning AFL titles with the Orlando Predators in 1998 and 2000.

While I was manning the Twitter helm at @ThisGivenSunday yesterday afternoon, during the Houston-Cincinnati playoff matchup, I couldn't help but draw parallels between the 2011 Bengals and the 2010 Rams. And that makes me wonder if they might be heading down a similar path of disappointment next season, like the 2011 Rams did.

Why would I want to rain on the Bengals' parade ilke this? Not out of hate or spite, I assure you. Andy Dalton impressed the hell out of me in the first half, playing with composure and accuracy while the Houston Texans' home crowd was busy losing their minds at their first home playoff game in 18 years. AJ Green is the real deal, and defensive lineman Geno Atkins is a force to be reckoned with.

But that said, there are some disturbing parallels between the Bengals' rise this season and the Rams' rise of 2010:

• An easy schedule that gets a lot harder next season.
• An offensive coordinator (Jay Gruden) getting a lot of pub as a possible head coaching candidate.
• An offensive system predicated on an aging running back (Cedric Benson just turned 29).
• A defense that's strong up front but particularly weak in the secondary.
• A defensive-minded head coach (Marvin Lewis) who struggles badly in game-management situations.

A nugget on the Bengals' 9-7 season: all nine wins came against teams that failed to make the playoffs. All seven losses came against teams that did make the playoffs. Eerily reminiscent of the Rams' inability to beat better teams, even in their resurgent season. 

While everyone was focused on the Rams' injury madness and their at-times inexplicable coaching decisions, the much tougher schedule remains the most obvious factor in their downfall from last year to this. We just assumed that they would be ready to play with the big boys, and we were wrong.

And after rotating through the two easiest divisions in football -- the NFC West and AFC South -- the Bengals now get matched up against the highly competitive NFC East and AFC West in 2012. They have only four away games against teams with losing records in 2011, and of course they have to compete against the toughest division opponents in football in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

With that in mind, Mike Brown should do everything in his power to make sure that Jay Gruden sticks around. Because as any Rams fan can tell you, the nightmare begins with that loss of offensive continuity.

How much time will Josh McDaniels spend looking back on his time as a Ram? 30 seconds, give or take.

Well, that was quick.

For a few days, Josh McDaniels was the lone member of the St Louis Rams coaching staff, after all of his bosses and co-workers were relieved of their duties. For the embattled offensive coordinator, that could have been a blessing or a curse. After all, any incoming head coach would want to have their choice of coordinators, and the last thing McD needed was another year of struggling with a team that was simply unprepared to play offense the way he envisioned.

Kevin Demoff, the last remaining member of the Rams' brain trust, decided to play the nice guy, letting McDaniels know that the team would not hold him to his contract, if he wanted to look elsewhere for work.

I guess you could say he managed to land on his feet.

Pro Football Talk reports that the Patriots are expected to hire McDaniels right away, and put him to work alongside Bill O'Brien while the team prepares for its playoff run. It's not too often you see the architect of the lowest-scoring offense in the NFL hired away and given the play-calling duties for a perennial Super Bowl contender. But that's just a reflection of the Bizarro world that the Rams are apparently living in.

Will the move work out for the Patriots? It's a desperation play, with O'Brien ready to accept the head coaching job at Penn State. The Pats under O'Brien have shifted to a dynamic two-TE offense, one that McDaniels admired but never replicated here. And for Belichick, this recidivism is unusual - seldom have any of the withered fruits of his coaching tree come back to the branch. He never established much of a play-calling groove here with the Rams. We'll get to see how much of that was a reflection on the coach, or the team he was working with. 

But the swiftness and sureness of the Pats move - preempting the Chiefs, Jets, or any other team about to develop an interest in McDaniels - makes one thing clear: somebody still believes in the young offensive mind. And that somebody is willing to bet a Super Bowl on it. 

Steve Spagnuolo approached his job as head coach of the Rams with a simple mantra: do the little things right, and the rest (i.e. winning) will take care of itself.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't get the little things right. And the rest did not, in fact, take care of itself.

Bernie Miklasz wrote yesterday about the Rams and their culture of "Try," which was the first and most important brick that Spagnuolo had to build his team with. He and Billy Devaney inherited a team that was full of dead weight -- veteran players light on talent and lighter on effort. Guys who were physically or mentally battered to the point of uselessness.

Notable: Very few Rams from 2009's cuts went on to be productive elsewhere, unlike more recent ex-Rams like Laurent Robinson and Daniel Fells.

Spagnuolo and Devaney succeeded in restocking the roster with players that had a coherent work ethic, a visible hunger. Some of these were blue-collar players, low on the talent scale, special teamers upjumped to starting jobs (think Danny Amendola and Craig Dahl). Others were pedigreed veteran players with a known work ethic (think Na'il Diggs and Jason Brown). And a precious few (Sam Bradford, Robert Quinn) were young foundation players with elite potential.  

As far as little things go, getting the "Try" right is a big thing. A crucial foundation to everything else. But it's far from the only thing. Failings in several other "little things" turned out to have a huge impact on the team's regression.