Unlike Al Davis and the Raiders, the St. Louis Rams follow through on their word to fire their head coach after a loss. Scott Linehan was let go Monday after the Rams dropped their fourth straight game Sunday, a 31-14 loss to the Bills.

Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett will replace Linehan on an interim basis. The Rams scheduled a news conference later Monday.

The Linehan era was mostly a dreary time for the franchise, especially on the heels of the wild highs and lows of predecessor Mike Martz, who helped the Rams win their lone Super Bowl after the 1999 season and led them to a second Super Bowl as coach in the 2001 season.

The Rams were 8-8 in 2006, Linehan’s first season. The team rallied to win four of its last six games after Linehan turned over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Greg Olson.

Numerous offensive line injuries, beginning with seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Pace’s season-ending shoulder injury in the opener, paved the way for last year’s poor season. Linehan reclaimed play-calling duties that year after three games.

Linehan, 45, again relinquished the play-calling this season after replacing Olson with Al Saunders, among several moves in a staff overhaul. Other changes were made, with training camp moved to a remote location in Mequon, Wis., and Linehan attempting to inject more energy into a his low-key personality.

On Sunday, he benched quarterback Marc Bulger, the highest-paid player in franchise history, and went with 38-year-old backup Trent Green. That was one of six lineup changes for the Bills game.
None of it worked.

Linehan seemed overmatched these last two years and that’s usually a telltale sign that someone wasn’t ready to become a head coach. Even when a team is losing, the mark of a good head coach is to keep things from falling apart. Given how much the players spoke out in criticism of Linehan’s personal decisions, Linehan didn’t do his job in keeping the team together. The team really has no choice but to remove the head coach and attempt to start over.

Haslett is a good choice as the interim. He has experience as a head coach and when he was in New Orleans, his teams didn’t always win, but his players respected him. He should at least be able to get the players re-focused and make the most out of the 2008 season. What’s left it, that is.