Laurinaitis: "There are absolutely no excuses"

[Prime Time]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_69df458d-26c5-5ea6-b4b7-7923d71e4fa7.html

"There are no excuses for this defense not to do that," middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "We're fired up . . . it is a buy-in program. You're going to see a team working hard every day.

"There are absolutely no excuses. We need to be a Top 5 defensive team."

 

[Warner4Prez]

I had them pegged at Top 10 for sure last season. I think Chris Long's slow start to the year and some more youth in the secondary slowed that down. I think it's sky's the limit, obviously. I just hope the Greg Williams playbook doesn't eat some of the young guys alive.

 

[Ram_of_Old]

Yes, our defense should be one of the best. All the pieces are in place and the Williams hire should be the cherry on top!

 

[blackbart]

I think Finnegan's start was a lot more of a problem than Long. I'm not sure he defended 1 pass this year.

I thought they would be top 10 too.

It will be nice to see some more aggressive blitz packages and press coverage

 

[Selassie I]

Williams doesn't strike me as an excuses giving or taking kind of coach.

(In my most primitive caveman voice) "Me Like!"

 

[PowayRamFan]

If the players are half as fired up as I am about the hire they will have a top ten defense, no doubt.

 

[Boffo97]

"There are no excuses for this defense not to do that,"

To do what? Yes, I know I could check the link, but I'm lazy.

Also, I would do anything for love, but I won't do that.

 

[Prime Time]

"Also, I would do anything for love, but I won't do that."

That song popped in my head last night while Conan was interviewing Tom Arnold about how the doctors pulled his testicles out of his sack and did some refurbishing so that he and his wife could have a child. It worked.

 

[Thordaddy]

"Also, I would do anything for love, but I won't do that."

That song popped in my head last night while Conan was interviewing Tom Arnold about how the doctors pulled his testicles out of his sack and did some refurbishing so that he and his wife could have a child. It worked.

Oh so he'd been letting his Meat Loaf ??????? rim shot

I had the vasectomy but dunno the reconstruction thing sounds a lil extreme.

 

[mr.stlouis]

James talking about the ambitious moving parts of GW's scheme on third down.

"I would rather do that than sit back in coverage..."

I wanted to claw my eyes out because of the rediculously soft zones being called on third and medium/long. Walton flat our sucked. Fisher was very nice to say he did a good job. The guy sucked...

 

[Rams and Gators]

To be fair I'm pretty sure I could DC this team to a to 10 D (given health), and I don't know the first thing about coaching. With more DB talent and better coaching JL is right there are no excuses not to be top 5.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Oh man... we're so the bad guys these days. Lol

Opposing fans will look at the schedule and feel a chill down their spine when they see we're coming up. They will then feel a need to roll their eyes and curse our team and it's "dirty" defense. It's not dirty, it's just us kicking your ass.

 

[A55VA6]

My expectation is no worse than top 15.. well maybe even no worse than top 10. Our D line is beast. We have good linebackers. Good corners (I believe Waltons system hurt the corners last year, it didn't suit their style of play).. and I expect TJ McDonald and Alec Ogletree to continue to improve. ogle tree can be a star. Williams defense might benefit those 2 guys the most. McDonald will probably be in the box quite a bit.

 

[bluecollarram]

 

[OnceARam]

I think Finnegan's start was a lot more of a problem than Long. I'm not sure he defended 1 pass this year.

I thought they would be top 10 too.

It will be nice to see some more aggressive blitz packages and press coverage

I agree. No one thought Finnegan would have a bad year. I think that definitely took the wind out of the defense's sail early.

 

[Rams and Gators]

I'm bored .

So I did some maths .

According to my calculations, over the course of the season the Rams had the 14th ranked D (the rankings combine Pts/Dr with TO/Dr and correlates them with wins using past data).

However over the first 4 games our D was awful they were ranked 32nd giving up 2.3 points per drive, and forcing 0.087 TOs per drive (8.7 per 100).

Over the last 12 games they were 6th allowing 1.7 points per drive and forcing 0.190 TOs per drive (19 per 100).

I've no idea if that's due to Dunbar returning from suspension, Tru replacing Finnegan, or just playing worse competition. But JL55 is right, there is no reason that this D shouldn't be top 5 with the hire of Williams and drafting DB help.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I had them pegged at Top 10 for sure last season. I think Chris Long's slow start to the year and some more youth in the secondary slowed that down. I think it's sky's the limit, obviously. I just hope the Greg Williams playbook doesn't eat some of the young guys alive.

Ever notice that Chris Long seems to start slow at the beginning of every season?

 

[The Rammer]

I know alot of people are not very high on JL for not being a "Bowman" or "Willis" type of player but he certainly isn't the worst. He holds his own and if we are going to lose a game I don't think it'll be him blowing a coverage or letting a guy run over the top of him. He's pretty damn consistant and the QB of our defense to boot. our DT's at times could of done a better job keeping blockers off of him last season...

 

[Wonderboy]

Chances are our secondary is still going to be young next year. But hopefully with some more top-end talent in the secondary and a more experienced/explosive offense will help the defense play from ahead as well.

 

[fearsomefour]

One word....tackling.
I have no doubt Williams will help in some areas. The athletism is there, tackling has to be way more consistant.