My Defensive Theory

[Robocop]

Obviously our defense has been getting a lot of heat for their lackluster season thus far even with getting dozens of holds not called for them. so what's the problem and what's changed.

- front 7 can't stop the run or get pressures or sacks on the QB when we were once considered the best font 7. two reasons. one is fighting against constant holds on our Pro Bowl DE BUT another is how fast the ball is coming out in the opposing QB. and some problems shedding blockers...

- surprisingly the secondary has been solid overall matching up one on one with big name receivers and holding their own. plus solid tackling coming up on the run.

why the flip? Gregg Williams. his formation and blitzing schemes are making things worse because of the run slipping the blitz and getting in open territory. but the secondary is doing well playing aggressive man to man especially since the ball comes out quick.

I believe we need a little taste of Walton back in the scheme meaning keeps things base and tight up front. but don't drop the secondary back be aggressive. there have been plenty of times the Rams have shut down elite backs this year with AP and Murray at certain times. the ability is difinitely there. bottle up the run like last year and force the throw. I believe our rising second is up to the task (if the fucking officials wanna play fair) and cause some coverage sacks like last year considering most sacks were with just the front four. Williams needs to ease up on the exotic blitzes and add just the right amount of aggressive balance. but just my opinion I'm no fucking NFL coach.

Thoughts?

 

[badnews]

I don't disagree with you but I think it might be a case of shaking off some rust for Gregg Williams.
2 seasons out of the game for a play caller is a considerable amount of time.
Coach has been very good in these situations thus far, making necessary adjustments and sometimes bold changes. This time I think some relatively minor tweaks can be made to help get our defense in order.

 

[TexasRam]

Definitely. Probably the exact thing Fish and Will are discussing. The need to shift focus from heavy blitz to front 4 pressure while maintaining aggressive press by the corners.

But I see three more reasons for the defensive issues:
1. No Chris Long - Say what you want about sack master Quinn. Long is the real QB pressure king of the NFL. Every Year he's at the top. He also plays the run real well. Without Long the focus on Quinn makes an offensive plan much easier.
2. Penalties - The Defensive penalties are extending drives that are otherwise stopped on 3rd down. Take away the penalties vs the Cowboys and it remains a Blowout win for us. We are 2-1 and the talk of NFL network.
3. Talent = The talent is just not quite there yet. Mcloud is an Epic fail allowing the deep ball wide open and our Linebackers are exposed as bad run stoppers.

 

[PA Ram]

I do think the linebackers are somewhat underachieving right now.

It's a combination of things but I did notice that against Dallas, Romo was able to step up time and again to a clean spot in the pocket. The middle seemed open for him and something seemed amiss---someone has to press that so he doesn't have that simple luxury. If he steps up it should be into a Ram waiting for him. I don't know what it was, maybe the defense is trying to be too fancy--leaving openings and getting caught in bad spots, maybe the players just aren't getting there but not only does Quinn get held he also gets double teamed. Williams has to find a way to take advantage of that and he hasn't unlocked the right combination yet.

But the final result is that the Rams are 3rd against the pass.

Why?

Because there have only been 69 pass attempts against them this season. No team has a lower amount of pass attempts against them. They are the only team with UNDER a hundred pass attempts against them.

They have fewer opportunities to get to the quarterback.

Because they are 30th against the run. Teams prefer to run on the Rams. Because they can. They have given up the third most rushing yards per game in the league, behind only Oakland and Green Bay.

They HAVE to fix the run defense and there will be more "shots" at the quarterback.

But yes--they do have to tinker with some things as well to make those opportunities count. Hopefully the bye week gave them the chance to fix what was broken.

 

[PA Ram]

On quick thing--just looked up the team that had the most pass attempts against them and it's the Jags who have 163 attempts.

They are tied for second in the league with 12 sacks.

 

[Thordaddy]

I have a bit of a different take on this SO FAR we've faced AP, the Kid from Tampa and Murray, we limited AP and Murray to circa 100 yards which is 18 yards lees than Murrays next lowest total against San Fran (known for their run defense) and 1.2 ypc less as well.
We've got another "super back" to face Sunday and we could get gashed again but JMO we're not as bad as all that and we've forced a lot of third and longs and the pass defense didn't get the run defense off the field so when they have gotten it done they've just been faced with having to do it again.

 

[Warner4Prez]

Well I don't know how many times the "G. Wiliams Playbook is Super Advanced" article was reposted, but compound that with youth, injuries and penalties and yeah it'll take a bit of time. I think the offense would be forgiven if they were learning a new playbook still, yet no one seems to give the same leeway to the opposite side of the ball.

There have been some encouraging individual performances so far, but as a unit they just haven't put it all together yet.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Obviously our defense has been getting a lot of heat for their lackluster season thus far even with getting dozens of holds not called for them. so what's the problem and what's changed.

- front 7 can't stop the run or get pressures or sacks on the QB when we were once considered the best font 7. two reasons. one is fighting against constant holds on our Pro Bowl DE BUT another is how fast the ball is coming out in the opposing QB. and some problems shedding blockers...

- surprisingly the secondary has been solid overall matching up one on one with big name receivers and holding their own. plus solid tackling coming up on the run.

why the flip? Gregg Williams. his formation and blitzing schemes are making things worse because of the run slipping the blitz and getting in open territory. but the secondary is doing well playing aggressive man to man especially since the ball comes out quick.

I believe we need a little taste of Walton back in the scheme meaning keeps things base and tight up front. but don't drop the secondary back be aggressive. there have been plenty of times the Rams have shut down elite backs this year with AP and Murray at certain times. the ability is difinitely there. bottle up the run like last year and force the throw. I believe our rising second is up to the task (if the freaking officials wanna play fair) and cause some coverage sacks like last year considering most sacks were with just the front four. Williams needs to ease up on the exotic blitzes and add just the right amount of aggressive balance. but just my opinion I'm no freaking NFL coach.

Thoughts?

Personally I think the lack of Chris Long is showing!! And I believe if we used Donald a little more, to get Push-up-the-middle, it would improve our 'Sack Attach'. JMHO

 

[BigRamFan]

Well I don't know how many times the "G. Wiliams Playbook is Super Advanced" article was reposted, but compound that with youth, injuries and penalties and yeah it'll take a bit of time. I think the offense would be forgiven if they were learning a new playbook still, yet no one seems to give the same leeway to the opposite side of the ball.

There have been some encouraging individual performances so far, but as a unit they just haven't put it all together yet.

You beat me to this point @Warner4Prez . I agree!

 

[iamme33]

Personally I think the lack of Chris Long is showing!! And I believe if we used Donald a little more, to get Push-up-the-middle, it would improve our 'Sack Attach'. JMHO

yea also go with 4 down line men instead of three in passing situations

 

[Rams and Gators]

Well I don't know how many times the "G. Wiliams Playbook is Super Advanced" article was reposted, but compound that with youth, injuries and penalties and yeah it'll take a bit of time. I think the offense would be forgiven if they were learning a new playbook still, yet no one seems to give the same leeway to the opposite side of the ball.

There have been some encouraging individual performances so far, but as a unit they just haven't put it all together yet.

It's a problem of Fisher's creation imo. Couldn't we have found a competent DC back in 2012 so we'd be in the third year rather than chopping and changing every season?

 

[Alan]

PA Ram with the gift of understatement:
I do think the linebackers are somewhat underachieving right now.