BenFred: Rams defense must shoulder load early/PD

[RamBill]

BenFred: Rams defense must shoulder load early
• By Ben Frederickson

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_aba34120-ab85-5857-b2ae-e82b1e3891e3.html


Gregg Williams wants it burned into their brains.

If there's a screen in the meeting room, the favorite phrase of the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator is coming.

"The first little PowerPoint he puts up is "Start Fast'," third-year linebacker Alec Ogletree said Friday. "It's in every presentation we have. It's always 'Start Fast.' Then, he gets on to whatever else he has to say. He's going to have it there on game day, too."

It's not just an overall concept for a team that's stumbled out of the gate the past two seasons.

It's a must for a loaded defense that will need to carry an offense with some serious questions.

"I’m not anticipating struggles on offense, but in the event that there are, the defense is going to have to find a way to play well and keep people out of the end zone," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Friday.

That's optimistic, but let's face it. There are going to be struggles on offense when Seattle comes to the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.

The Rams are starting new quarterback Nick Foles behind a reshuffled offensive line. Frank Cignetti's offense is supposed to be ground-and-pound, but it has to roll with Bennie Cunningham and Isaiah Pead for now. And the Seahawks' defense, which last season ranked first in total defense, is still plenty nasty. Even without Kam Chancellor.

But here's the thing. The Rams' defense should be just as good. Maybe better.

"We definitely feel like we are kind of the backbone of the team, because we have lot more older guys, a lot more experience on the defensive side of the ball," Ogletree said.

"One of our goals is to be a top-five defense in every category."

If Williams' crew would have started last season like it finished, it could have been up there. Through the final eight weeks, the Rams ranked fourth in average rushing yards allowed per game (84.4), fourth in sacks (26), fifth in points allowed (16.8) and sixth in takeaways (15).

Compare that to some statistics from entire season: 17th in average total yards allowed per game (351.6), 19th in passing yards (241.3), 14th in rushing yards (110.3) and tied for 13th in sacks (40).

"Defensively, we have always started slow," James Laurinaitis said.

He should know. He's 15 tackles short of claiming the franchise record.

"It's not just the team," the seventh-year linebacker continued. "We have always started slow, especially against the run. Then all of a sudden, at the end of the season, we are getting after it. Why not start fast? It's something that needed to be addressed, and Gregg has done a great job all off-season of addressing it."

There are reasons for optimism.

"From a talent aspect, the makings are there to be pretty doggone good," Williams said.

The coordinator's 4-3 scheme is familiar now. All defensive starters but one (outside linebacker Akeem Ayers) returned. A unit that surrendered just 30 touchdowns last season -- yes, the Rams' offense gave up nine touchdowns on interception and fumble returns; special teams allowed one -- should be even more stingy.

"I've always been a part of the idea that if the offense gets us three (points), we have to pitch a shutout," Laurinaitis said. "If the offense gets 10, we have to hold them to nine. That's kind of the way I've been brought up. That was kind of (Jim) Tressel ball at Ohio State. He didn't care if you were beating Youngstown 13-10. You won the game."

His teammates would be wise to adopt that mentality. Fast.

 

[Mikey Ram]

Fisher says I don't anticipate the offense struggling but if they do, the defense must, dadada.....Didn't hear him say If the defense struggles the offense needs to put up some more points...Seems to me that he kind of thinks the offense might struggle...DUH !!! Sometimes his Martzlike (Oh heck, we'll just fix that) attitude kind of rubs me the wrong way...

 

[Amitar]

Fisher says I don't anticipate the offense struggling but if they do, the defense must, dadada.....Didn't hear him say If the defense struggles the offense needs to put up some more points...Seems to me that he kind of thinks the offense might struggle...DUH !!! Sometimes his Martzlike (Oh heck, we'll just fix that) attitude kind of rubs me the wrong way...

If the offense struggles that means they are not on the field and the defense is on the field...all the time. And Fisher expects the defense to carry the offense? The defense will do their job but defense can be expected to be on the field all day and do well. Ignorant statement by Fisher IMHO.

 

[jjab360]

If the offense struggles that means they are not on the field and the defense is on the field...all the time. And Fisher expects the defense to carry the offense? The defense will do their job but defense can be expected to be on the field all day and do well. Ignorant statement by Fisher IMHO.

It's ignorant to say that if the offense is struggling to put up points, the defense needs to keep the other team from scoring as much? Okay then...

Seems like you tried to read between too many lines on that statement IMHO.

 

[RamBill]

Rams seek fast start, might need defense to provide it
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...st-start-but-might-need-defense-to-provide-it

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Of the many tactics St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams uses to get his players to respond, he's leaned a little more on Pavlov than any others during this offseason.

At the start of every meeting, Williams has ingrained two words into his players' heads: Start fast. Sometimes it includes a picture of a race car at the starting line or Usain Bolt in the blocks about to take off. Whatever the case, Williams has rarely let a day or meeting go by without a reminder of the defense -- and, by extension, the team's -- top priority is this season.

"It’s every day," Williams said. "Every meeting that we have. Every single, solitary meeting that we have, the very first thing that’s on the screen is, 'Start fast.' Some days we discuss it. Other days we just look at it."

When Williams is feeling particularly Pavlovian, he takes it away, just to see the response he gets.

"What I’ve done is played with them a little bit," Williams said. "When they come into the meeting room, it’s not on the screen. 'Where is it?' Then I click the button. 'Oh, I just wanted to see if you saw it.' So, it’s their idea, so it’s good."

The "start fast" mantra doesn't just apply to the defense. It's a must for a franchise that historically has been unable to overcome slow starts. The last time the St. Louis Rams made the playoffs after a 2-3 or worse start was 1952. This season, they start the season with four of their first five games against opponents that won at least 11 games a year ago, tied for the second-most difficult opening five games in the league.

All of that for a team seeking to break the longest active streak of losing seasons in the NFL (eight) and the fourth longest streak of seasons (10) without a playoff berth.

But make no mistake, though the entire team would ideally get off to a fast start, the onus will fall largely on the defense.

"Defense will often times win games for you," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "I’m not anticipating struggles on offense, but in the event that there are, the defense is going to have to find a way to play well and keep people out of the end zone."

Fisher might not be anticipating offensive struggles, but there are many who are, especially in Week 1 against Seattle's vaunted defense. The Rams offense underwent a major overhaul in the offseason and feature a new quarterback, coordinator, running back and three new starters on the offensive line. Expecting that group to come up with big scoring outbursts is asking a lot, and even if it does come together, it seems unlikely it would happen right away.

Which is where the defense comes in. It has been burdened with top-five expectations in recent seasons, but only lived up to them in short spurts. Last season, the unit struggled so much against the run in the first five weeks -- the defense was tied for 29th in allowing 152.5 yards per game on the ground -- that it rarely earned the chance to rush the passer. The result was league record for futility with one sack in the first five games.

That shouldn't and can't happen again in 2015. Williams returns 10 starters from last season's defense, and the lone change was one the team considers an upgrade with Akeem Ayers at strongside linebacker. The players know the system, the coach knows the players and everyone knows the urgency of the situation.

"It’s fun to see the familiarity of what we do, why we do," Williams said. "There’s not very many questions anymore about, 'How do you do this? Why do you do this?'"

If nothing else, Williams takes solace in the fact that there's nothing he hasn't covered with his group. The fast start has been emphasized as a big-picture point, but so have all of the little details.

"The thing I feel comfortable about is, it’s been covered," Williams said. "It’s been discussed. Any person that’s a teacher, if it’s a coach that’s a mentor, when it becomes more important to the person, to the participant that’s actually out on the field, when it becomes their idea, it’s when you have a chance to make change. All I do is present the ideas. This has been a fun group to see how they grasp that, and they’ve used that in all of the things they’re doing, so we’ll see. This is a good start and we need to start fast, we really do."

 

[LACHAMP46]

Ayers is a big game player....Should be fun...Offense has a lot of new moving parts...I'd expect a few hiccups....Not the D...

 

[BatteringRambo]

BenFred must be Bernie's new backdoor bender. Yeah, I said it. WE all know this regurgitated stuff.

 

[JUMAVA68]

This is a top 5 maybe 3 defence but they need to play like it from the get go.Another slow start can kill our season quick because the offence will no doubt have their early troubles.

 

[Loyal]

This is a top 5 maybe 3 defence but they need to play like it from the get go.Another slow start can kill our season quick because the offence will no doubt have their early troubles.

Yeah....Man, there are no more excuses about yet another slow start. I do like the increased seriousness with Quinn...Love Chris Long, but I am tired of his Preseason happy talk...Naming St Louis Sack City last year, and doing nothing until several games into the season..The worst foolishness was that pie in the face stuff when Finnegan was still here, as though they had arrived as a defense (slow start again).

No Mas..Just freakin do it!

 

[DaveFan'51]

Every game is always a must win! BUT, Week #1 is a MUST! MUST!
MUST WIN!!

 

[FRO]

Our offense won't be good enough early. This defense has gotten hyped big time the last two offseasons only to start the year looking horrible. We can't have that this year.

 

[BonifayRam]

This 2015 Ram team should be dominant on the defensive side of the game. You have a defensive minded HC. Our DC is a former HC is a long time NFL defensive coach. Most all of our most experience coaches are on the defensive side of the game. Our Asst coaches are primarily defensive. The under the age of 30 defensive talent is exceptional in comparison to most all other NFL teams.

Later today you will see seven 1st rd selections & six 2nd & 3rd round selections on the playing making up the major part of the defensive team. If this defensive is not dominant.....may start looking elsewhere than the players.