Kam Kinchens on the safety blitz was a thing of beauty. Heck, even Darnold had a look on his face like, "We didnt know you had that in ya". That's the kind of aggression I 'd like to see more of
Chris Shula...
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I prefer aggressive defense, no doubt. But I think there's some around here who don't realize that getting aggressive up front is much more complementary with good coverage on the back. A corner who can man up on a top draw frees up a safety. And so on.
Well this fan believes that predictability is predictability whether it works or not.
For example.
90-95% 11 personnel on offense. Predictable. A move more towards 13 personnel sets was not. The Rams TEs didn't all the sudden morph into superstar talent, but the offense took off.
3rd and Kupp or Puka. Predictable. Once defenses stop that I'm not going to put all the blame on the WRs.
Sure there are changes needed in the secondary. But, some fans seem so quick to absolve Shula and the coaching staff when WRs were running wide open in the secondary. Sure players play, but coaches still have to help them out and make adjustments and take note of what other teams have done to stymie opponents.
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El Chapo Jr
Legend
Totally get that but shouldn't we try that every now and then as the defense was getting beat on the regular anyways? That's all most of us want is to mix it up and be a creative aggressive every now and then.
Defense is a little different is all. It's reactionary and everyone runs the same shit, just in different percentages based on philosophy and where the quality is in their personnel. Offense has a lot more examples of route combinations changing, schemes shifting up front, etc., where the trends then get taken up as people copy the innovators.
So with the Rams the quality being in the front dictates the preferences. What Shula is capable of with a good secondary we'll see. Because the Rams are not stupid. They're gonna fix it.
But, inexperienced or not, he shouldn't be absolved of his part in the problem. That doesn't mean he can't improve. But, to put it all on the personnel just isn't fair.
Where have I put it all on the personnel. The only thing I have said is that the corners are dogshit. And they were absolutely, with zero doubt about it whatsoever, dog shit.
But I have questioned Shula plenty. I went on about it in a post somewhere around here recently. Have questioned him more than once.
The thing is, though, that only a bad organization would fire a young DC who put up the 10th best defense in scoring with that corner room. What a good organization would do is fix the deficiency on the depth chart and improve the defense, then see how the young DC performs.
Agree.
Is it me or did Shula call a more aggressive style last season?
I recall him sending an extra rusher instead of dropping extra guys in coverage at the end of a game or half one time and getting a sack. The announcers were both surprised and impressed.
Wasn’t it Lake who strip sacked Darnold last year in the playoffs? The play resulted in a Verse TD return.
It just seems as though the defense was more aggressive. Then again, like you said, he’s become predictable and nobody is surprised anymore. I did notice how much more screens were against this defense this year.
Still, the Rams need more talent in the secondary. I like Lake. I think he has become an above average player who deserved to be extended, but this defense should not have fallen off of a cliff when he went out.
^^This.
Draft a legit starting CB and sign/trade for another. Develop a day 3 pick while he plays STs. The secondary killed us this year. Bryce young is not that good.
Still haven’t been able to understand how the defense could have gone from being pretty good to pretty weak
Sorry but I must have missed those post. I've only focused upon your responses to my posts. And I haven't seen any calls to fire Shula, but if McVay wanted to make a change and bring in someone like Jim Leonhard, I'd be all for it.
And if the Rams CBs are so-called "dogshit" then the same can be said for CBs on other teams. I go back to my Vikings example. Their DC didn't sit back and let them get picked on. He helped them by sending pressure or simulating pressure to get in the QBs head.
Besides, I may be in the minority that noticed the competition when Shula and the defense were riding high.
vs. a struggling Stroud learning a new offense with a new Oline
vs. rookies QB Cam Ward and Tyler Shough
vs. a Ravens team minus Lamar Jackson
vs. an injured Baker Mayfield minus Mike Evans and Chris Godwin a shell of himself playing his first game back from a long absence.
Shoot the Colts would have score 27 if Adonai Mitchell doesn't drop the ball prior to crossing the goal line.
What a difference a year makes as last season everyone loved Shula and his defense now Everybody Hates Chris.
Agree 100%.
I am as guilty as many posters here in voicing opinions as to what went wrong and what should be changed, but facts are facts.
The defense was terrible down the stretch. They struggled to get off the field unless the other team shot themselves in the foot with a penalty, bad snap, or drop. I said all week to anybody who would listen that the Rams had to score over 30 points to beat the seahawks or else they would lose. That’s how little faith I had in this defense going into the that game.
SteezyEndo
The Immaculate Exception
Why draft we need someone who is more experienced to show the crew we got now the ropes. Need vet CBs that still got it. Our DBs need a mentor on the field that can push and motivate.
Started out the year being able to outperform the limitations of the secondary?
As I posted earlier in this thread. The decline of the defense is likely a combination of different factors. Shula doesn't get absolved of blame, but can't ignore the fact that the defense is the lowest paid in the league. However, the fact that they got worse over the season doesn't reflect well on the coaching staff.
Byron Young is good and a pillar on that D-line.. but not great. It's gonna be interesting how the Rams handle his contract next year. At mid-season he was looking at getting 40 million+ per year... now... not so much. Josiah Stewart is an exciting prospect but he's not there yet.
