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Injuries, snap counts catching up to Rams' defense
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...uries-snap-counts-catching-up-to-rams-defense
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Through the first nine weeks of the NFL season, it looked like the St. Louis Rams defense would finally deliver the type of statistical performance that would meet the vast potential of their heavy investments on that side of the ball.
It was a group that still ferociously rushed the passer but now had the sticky coverage, crisp tackling and consistent run-stuffing to realize the lofty expectations thrust upon it both inside and outside the organization.
But as the season wears on, the Rams defense appears to be wearing down. And, really, it's not the players' fault.
"We don’t ever, ever think that," defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. "We really don’t. It doesn’t make a difference if we’ve got to play 150 snaps, if we’ve got to play 35 snaps. That doesn’t make any difference. One of the things we take great pride in as you see [is] when we play in sudden-change situations. If there’s an adverse situation we have to go into, an extra situation we have to go into, look at the guys rally. Look at the guys rally on the sideline and how they take the field. All of that is mental toughness. When we’re mentally strong, we understand that our job is playing no matter what the situation is, no matter how many snaps we have to play. We have to keep on doing that. So, we’ll never use that for an excuse at all. No, we’ve got to play.”
Obviously, Williams isn't going to throw the Rams' offense under the bus, but let's be honest here, the Rams defensive "regression" since week 10 is a product of attrition by injury and the wearing down of a group that has consistently been hung out to dry by an inept offense.
Let's start by looking at how the defensive numbers have changed in recent weeks:
Through Week 9, the Rams were fifth in the NFL in yards allowed per game (323.8), fourth in yards allowed per play (4.93), eighth in rushing yards allowed per carry (3.8), sixth in points allowed per game (18.2) and second in sacks per pass attempt (9.7 percent).
In the time since, the Rams are 30th in yards allowed per game (421.2), 30th in yards allowed per play (6.15), 20th in rushing yards allowed per carry (4.27), 29th in points allowed per game (27.8) and 29th in sacks per pass attempt (3.6 percent).
Those sharp drops in production correlated first and foremost with a rash of injuries that began to pile up even before the team's Week 6 bye. They lost cornerback E.J. Gaines for the season, then linebacker Alec Ogletree was lost in Week 4 against Arizona and probably won't return. End Chris Long suffered a knee injury in Week 5 against Green Bay and fellow end Robert Quinn apparently injured his back somewhere in there, played only 14 snaps since the bye and is headed for season-ending shoulder surgery.
The injury bug has bitten in the secondary, too, where cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins (concussion) and Trumaine Johnson (thigh) are dealing with issues, and safety T.J. McDonald is set to join Quinn on injured reserve with season-ending shoulder surgery.
No matter how much depth you have, when you have to start digging that deep at nearly every position, it's going to catch up. The loss of Quinn, in particular, has altered how the Rams can play defensively.
"One of the things I’ve always taken great pride in and we’ve always taken great pride in is next man up," Williams said. "And we’ve had some guys really shine. Last year, (end) Will Hayes just did a phenomenal job shining when Chris was down. Look at Mark Barron right now shining with 'Tree' down. Look at Trumaine coming back and having his season with E.J. down. We’ve had a lot of those kinds of situations. I think the best group of defenders, maybe the best coaching staffs have always taken great pride in being able to adapt to what we have to do with who we have to coach. These guys are fun. They’ve taken ownership with it. They understand why we do what we do. And we do make minor week-to-week, series-to-series, we make changes on who has to play for who because of what they can do strong-wise. Really, not hiding weaknesses [as] much as highlighting strengths that guys can use."
Beyond the injuries, the lack of any sort of offensive production has made things doubly tough on the defense. In assessing the team's problems a couple of weeks ago, coach Jeff Fisher said it was 70 percent offense and 30 percent defense, but the offense has contributed a lot to that 30 percent.
For the season, the defense has been on the field for 799 plays, tied for seventh-most in the league. But with better offenses such as Cincinnati and Arizona on the schedule recently, it's been even more difficult to get off the field on a regular basis. The defense played a whopping 84 snaps against the Cardinals last week, tied for sixth-most by a team this season.
Through the first nine weeks, the defense got at least a little bit of help from the offense, playing 525 snaps, which was 16th in the NFL in that span. Since Week 10, the Rams have played 274 snaps, third most in the NFL.
To their credit, Rams defenders haven't made excuses or pointed fingers for the recent drop-off.
"We’ve been just self-reflecting in that defensive room," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "How can we play better? Everyone individually has to do it. ... What am I doing to contribute to these losses? Am I part of the problem? Am I part of the solution? You hope that you have enough guys in there that want to be part of the solution and fix it."
Unfortunately for Laurinaitis and his defensive teammates, the solutions are going to have to come from some combination of the offensive meeting room and the training room.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...uries-snap-counts-catching-up-to-rams-defense
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Through the first nine weeks of the NFL season, it looked like the St. Louis Rams defense would finally deliver the type of statistical performance that would meet the vast potential of their heavy investments on that side of the ball.
It was a group that still ferociously rushed the passer but now had the sticky coverage, crisp tackling and consistent run-stuffing to realize the lofty expectations thrust upon it both inside and outside the organization.
But as the season wears on, the Rams defense appears to be wearing down. And, really, it's not the players' fault.
"We don’t ever, ever think that," defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. "We really don’t. It doesn’t make a difference if we’ve got to play 150 snaps, if we’ve got to play 35 snaps. That doesn’t make any difference. One of the things we take great pride in as you see [is] when we play in sudden-change situations. If there’s an adverse situation we have to go into, an extra situation we have to go into, look at the guys rally. Look at the guys rally on the sideline and how they take the field. All of that is mental toughness. When we’re mentally strong, we understand that our job is playing no matter what the situation is, no matter how many snaps we have to play. We have to keep on doing that. So, we’ll never use that for an excuse at all. No, we’ve got to play.”
Obviously, Williams isn't going to throw the Rams' offense under the bus, but let's be honest here, the Rams defensive "regression" since week 10 is a product of attrition by injury and the wearing down of a group that has consistently been hung out to dry by an inept offense.
Let's start by looking at how the defensive numbers have changed in recent weeks:
Through Week 9, the Rams were fifth in the NFL in yards allowed per game (323.8), fourth in yards allowed per play (4.93), eighth in rushing yards allowed per carry (3.8), sixth in points allowed per game (18.2) and second in sacks per pass attempt (9.7 percent).
In the time since, the Rams are 30th in yards allowed per game (421.2), 30th in yards allowed per play (6.15), 20th in rushing yards allowed per carry (4.27), 29th in points allowed per game (27.8) and 29th in sacks per pass attempt (3.6 percent).
Those sharp drops in production correlated first and foremost with a rash of injuries that began to pile up even before the team's Week 6 bye. They lost cornerback E.J. Gaines for the season, then linebacker Alec Ogletree was lost in Week 4 against Arizona and probably won't return. End Chris Long suffered a knee injury in Week 5 against Green Bay and fellow end Robert Quinn apparently injured his back somewhere in there, played only 14 snaps since the bye and is headed for season-ending shoulder surgery.
The injury bug has bitten in the secondary, too, where cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins (concussion) and Trumaine Johnson (thigh) are dealing with issues, and safety T.J. McDonald is set to join Quinn on injured reserve with season-ending shoulder surgery.
No matter how much depth you have, when you have to start digging that deep at nearly every position, it's going to catch up. The loss of Quinn, in particular, has altered how the Rams can play defensively.
"One of the things I’ve always taken great pride in and we’ve always taken great pride in is next man up," Williams said. "And we’ve had some guys really shine. Last year, (end) Will Hayes just did a phenomenal job shining when Chris was down. Look at Mark Barron right now shining with 'Tree' down. Look at Trumaine coming back and having his season with E.J. down. We’ve had a lot of those kinds of situations. I think the best group of defenders, maybe the best coaching staffs have always taken great pride in being able to adapt to what we have to do with who we have to coach. These guys are fun. They’ve taken ownership with it. They understand why we do what we do. And we do make minor week-to-week, series-to-series, we make changes on who has to play for who because of what they can do strong-wise. Really, not hiding weaknesses [as] much as highlighting strengths that guys can use."
Beyond the injuries, the lack of any sort of offensive production has made things doubly tough on the defense. In assessing the team's problems a couple of weeks ago, coach Jeff Fisher said it was 70 percent offense and 30 percent defense, but the offense has contributed a lot to that 30 percent.
For the season, the defense has been on the field for 799 plays, tied for seventh-most in the league. But with better offenses such as Cincinnati and Arizona on the schedule recently, it's been even more difficult to get off the field on a regular basis. The defense played a whopping 84 snaps against the Cardinals last week, tied for sixth-most by a team this season.
Through the first nine weeks, the defense got at least a little bit of help from the offense, playing 525 snaps, which was 16th in the NFL in that span. Since Week 10, the Rams have played 274 snaps, third most in the NFL.
To their credit, Rams defenders haven't made excuses or pointed fingers for the recent drop-off.
"We’ve been just self-reflecting in that defensive room," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "How can we play better? Everyone individually has to do it. ... What am I doing to contribute to these losses? Am I part of the problem? Am I part of the solution? You hope that you have enough guys in there that want to be part of the solution and fix it."
Unfortunately for Laurinaitis and his defensive teammates, the solutions are going to have to come from some combination of the offensive meeting room and the training room.
