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Bernie: Rams need to improve on defense
• Bernie Miklasz •
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_c559743c-7197-51f2-bf32-32938016689e.html
For years now, offense has been the primary obsession with Rams football. From Air Coryell to the Greatest Show on Turf, we loved daring and accurate quarterbacks, big-play receivers, elusive running backs and sudden flurries of points.
We used to celebrate a good-times offense in St. Louis.
Now we’re just searching for one.
A football town where Mel Gray, Jackie Smith, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt once ran free and wild to pull in passes behind overwhelmed cornerbacks has been reduced to getting frothed over the addition of career-knucklehead wide receiver Kenny Britt.
We engage in endless screeching over the merits of quarterback Sam Bradford, take cheap shots at easy-target offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and wonder if coach Jeff Fisher will ever disavow his inner Bronko Nagurski.
If you’ll excuse me from the same old Rams talk, I’d like to look at another area of the team that failed to perform at a playoff-caliber level in recent seasons.
That would be the Rams’ defense.
Yes, thanks to Robert Quinn and the ravenous front four, the Rams’ defense finished third in the NFL with 53 sacks in 2013. But Quinn’s superb 19-sack season and a steady, disruptive surge of pressure on opposing quarterbacks concealed the unit’s weaknesses. The Rams’ defense ranked near the bottom of the 32-team league in too many important categories.
The Rams gave up a league-worst 8.06 yards per passing attempt and couldn’t get off the field with enough frequency. Despite having a ferocious pass rush, the Rams ranked 18th in stopping opponents on third down.
The Rams didn’t blitz enough, which was probably a good thing. They weren’t effective at it, getting ripped by quarterbacks for 10 touchdowns and a 100.8 passer rating when sending extra pass rushers.
The Rams gave up more touchdowns (15) and points (125) on drives lasting five minutes or longer than any NFL team. And 21.1 percent of the possessions against the Rams’ defense ended in a touchdown; that ranked 21st.
The Rams’ defense allowed 327 points last season. That doesn’t include points produced when the other team scored on takeaways or special teams. Defense, only.
The 12 teams that made the 2013 playoffs allowed an average of 305 points on defense. The Rams have designs on catching up to Seattle, San Francisco and Arizona in the NFC West. And while the challenge of that mission is almost always tied to the Rams’ offense, it’s also up to the defense to make up some of the ground.
Here’s the points-allowed totals (and league ranking) for each NFC West defense last season:
• Seattle, 217 points, No. 2.
• San Francisco, 270 points, No. 3.
• Arizona, 315 points, No. 8.
• St. Louis, 327 points, tied for No. 13.
I’m not saying the Rams’ defense is awful. There’s a lot to like here. NFL analyst Mike Tanier just wrote a piece and offered the opinion that the Rams have the NFL’s best front seven going into 2014.
I should also point out that the Rams’ defense would clearly benefit from a more potent Rams offense. Imagine the sacks that Quinn and his mates could rack up if they were given the chance to protect more leads during games.
And the Rams’ secondary was chewed up by injuries in 2013. That said, the defense has room for growth and improvement.
That’s where new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams comes in.
Other than No. 2 overall draft pick Greg Robinson, I don’t believe the Rams made a more valuable offseason addition than Williams. And ultimately — despite the soap-opera aspect to the hiring — Fisher made a wise decision to put Williams back in charge of the team’s defense.
Williams’ creativity and fondness for playing an aggressive, attacking style seem to be an ideal fit for the Rams’ talent.
As respected NFL analyst Bucky Brooks wrote recently at NFL.com: “This appears to be the perfect marriage of coach and personnel, the type of development that could make the Rams a dark-horse contender in the NFC West — and beyond.”
Williams isn’t perfect. Though his overall record as an NFL defensive coordinator is impressive, he’s had some clunker defenses along the way.
But the Rams will be going from working for an inexperienced coordinator (the departed Tim Walton) to being guided by one of the most heralded defensive strategists in NFL history.
I know this much: Williams won’t have his players just sitting there, getting picked apart for easy pass completions. He’ll line up his defenses in multiple looks to confuse and frustrate quarterbacks. The Rams won’t be passive or predictable.
“We’re going to probably be a little more creative,” Fisher said. “We hope to create some more problems, different types of problems for offenses. In addition to Gregg running the defense, our defense is significantly better just from a personnel standpoint right now.”
The Rams drafted six defensive players last month, including first-round tackle Aaron Donald, cornerback Lamarcus Joyner and safety Mo Alexander. They’ll join some other promising young defenders, including linebacker Alec Ogletree and safety T.J. McDonald. I can’t wait to see what Williams does with Ogletree and McDonald; he’ll be turning those guys loose from all angles.
The Williams attitude is already noticeable in the Rams’ organized team activities. Fisher has broken up a few scuffles.
“You can see the change,” Fisher said after Tuesday’s practice. “You can see the energy. I’ve had to back (Williams) down just a little bit.”
Williams is undoubtedly eager to redeem himself after his role in the New Orleans “Bountygate” scandal that resulted in his one-season NFL suspension in 2012.
Williams is hungry. His players are hungry. It’s a combustible mix. And unless you play quarterback for a Rams opponent, it should be a lot of fun.
• Bernie Miklasz •
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_c559743c-7197-51f2-bf32-32938016689e.html
For years now, offense has been the primary obsession with Rams football. From Air Coryell to the Greatest Show on Turf, we loved daring and accurate quarterbacks, big-play receivers, elusive running backs and sudden flurries of points.
We used to celebrate a good-times offense in St. Louis.
Now we’re just searching for one.
A football town where Mel Gray, Jackie Smith, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt once ran free and wild to pull in passes behind overwhelmed cornerbacks has been reduced to getting frothed over the addition of career-knucklehead wide receiver Kenny Britt.
We engage in endless screeching over the merits of quarterback Sam Bradford, take cheap shots at easy-target offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and wonder if coach Jeff Fisher will ever disavow his inner Bronko Nagurski.
If you’ll excuse me from the same old Rams talk, I’d like to look at another area of the team that failed to perform at a playoff-caliber level in recent seasons.
That would be the Rams’ defense.
Yes, thanks to Robert Quinn and the ravenous front four, the Rams’ defense finished third in the NFL with 53 sacks in 2013. But Quinn’s superb 19-sack season and a steady, disruptive surge of pressure on opposing quarterbacks concealed the unit’s weaknesses. The Rams’ defense ranked near the bottom of the 32-team league in too many important categories.
The Rams gave up a league-worst 8.06 yards per passing attempt and couldn’t get off the field with enough frequency. Despite having a ferocious pass rush, the Rams ranked 18th in stopping opponents on third down.
The Rams didn’t blitz enough, which was probably a good thing. They weren’t effective at it, getting ripped by quarterbacks for 10 touchdowns and a 100.8 passer rating when sending extra pass rushers.
The Rams gave up more touchdowns (15) and points (125) on drives lasting five minutes or longer than any NFL team. And 21.1 percent of the possessions against the Rams’ defense ended in a touchdown; that ranked 21st.
The Rams’ defense allowed 327 points last season. That doesn’t include points produced when the other team scored on takeaways or special teams. Defense, only.
The 12 teams that made the 2013 playoffs allowed an average of 305 points on defense. The Rams have designs on catching up to Seattle, San Francisco and Arizona in the NFC West. And while the challenge of that mission is almost always tied to the Rams’ offense, it’s also up to the defense to make up some of the ground.
Here’s the points-allowed totals (and league ranking) for each NFC West defense last season:
• Seattle, 217 points, No. 2.
• San Francisco, 270 points, No. 3.
• Arizona, 315 points, No. 8.
• St. Louis, 327 points, tied for No. 13.
I’m not saying the Rams’ defense is awful. There’s a lot to like here. NFL analyst Mike Tanier just wrote a piece and offered the opinion that the Rams have the NFL’s best front seven going into 2014.
I should also point out that the Rams’ defense would clearly benefit from a more potent Rams offense. Imagine the sacks that Quinn and his mates could rack up if they were given the chance to protect more leads during games.
And the Rams’ secondary was chewed up by injuries in 2013. That said, the defense has room for growth and improvement.
That’s where new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams comes in.
Other than No. 2 overall draft pick Greg Robinson, I don’t believe the Rams made a more valuable offseason addition than Williams. And ultimately — despite the soap-opera aspect to the hiring — Fisher made a wise decision to put Williams back in charge of the team’s defense.
Williams’ creativity and fondness for playing an aggressive, attacking style seem to be an ideal fit for the Rams’ talent.
As respected NFL analyst Bucky Brooks wrote recently at NFL.com: “This appears to be the perfect marriage of coach and personnel, the type of development that could make the Rams a dark-horse contender in the NFC West — and beyond.”
Williams isn’t perfect. Though his overall record as an NFL defensive coordinator is impressive, he’s had some clunker defenses along the way.
But the Rams will be going from working for an inexperienced coordinator (the departed Tim Walton) to being guided by one of the most heralded defensive strategists in NFL history.
I know this much: Williams won’t have his players just sitting there, getting picked apart for easy pass completions. He’ll line up his defenses in multiple looks to confuse and frustrate quarterbacks. The Rams won’t be passive or predictable.
“We’re going to probably be a little more creative,” Fisher said. “We hope to create some more problems, different types of problems for offenses. In addition to Gregg running the defense, our defense is significantly better just from a personnel standpoint right now.”
The Rams drafted six defensive players last month, including first-round tackle Aaron Donald, cornerback Lamarcus Joyner and safety Mo Alexander. They’ll join some other promising young defenders, including linebacker Alec Ogletree and safety T.J. McDonald. I can’t wait to see what Williams does with Ogletree and McDonald; he’ll be turning those guys loose from all angles.
The Williams attitude is already noticeable in the Rams’ organized team activities. Fisher has broken up a few scuffles.
“You can see the change,” Fisher said after Tuesday’s practice. “You can see the energy. I’ve had to back (Williams) down just a little bit.”
Williams is undoubtedly eager to redeem himself after his role in the New Orleans “Bountygate” scandal that resulted in his one-season NFL suspension in 2012.
Williams is hungry. His players are hungry. It’s a combustible mix. And unless you play quarterback for a Rams opponent, it should be a lot of fun.
