NFL's 10 most dominant defenses for 2014(Rams not included)

[Rams22]

Geeze.....I wonder how long until Greg Williams puts this top 10 list on the bulletin board. I agree, let the Defense go out and prove themselves......the is the No Free Lunch league.

 

[SierraRam]

6. New England Patriots

WTF!! I'm gonna hurl

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The media just loves the Ryan's. How else does the Saints D end up so high?

And that Denver D really held an average Seahawk attack down in the SB.....Not!

 

[Rams and Gators]

It makes sense to be fair, we were awful in that 49ers game, and that's all that some of these national media analysts watched of us last year, can't blame them.

 

[Thordaddy]

We have an elite dline, we have one very consistent MLB, a young play making OLB, the other spot is a question. And our secondary has to scare anyone. The rams aren't going to earn a spot based on our line, which is hands down the best. I like being the underdog, give them a chance to sneak up on folks

Only problem is Juggs NFL coaches laugh at this shit we'll sneak up on no one every coach who had a draft board KNOWS the d-line that challenged for the most sacks last year just got the best pass rushing d-tackle in the draft , possibly since Suh ,it's the idiot writers who don't.

The people who really KNOW something are watching the Rams very closely and KNOW we have the potential to be #1 in defense.

That's why I roll my eyes at these rankings

 

[RhodyRams]

personally dont care about any preseason rankings... they only matter after about week 4 anyway

 

[Alan]

Prime Time expecting a lot from national reporters:
I wasn't even thinking of Joyner but of our front 7 and our DC. What bothers me about some "sports writers" is that they only look at what happened last season and then prognosticate what will happen in the coming season based on that. It's lazy journalism.

Same front 7 as last year and how did that go? Projecting Donald as a significant upgrade (I do too) is also no different than projecting Clowney as a significant upgrade for the Texan's defense. Say what you will about Walton (I have nothing good to say about him) but how good would have our D been under his leadership had he had a decent slot CB (instead of CF) and a decent FS? It's much easier to be a good/great coach when you have good/great players. I'm looking forward to seeing what our new DC can do but you still need the other pieces.

IMO, we only addressed one of the two huge issues our D had last year and even then, it was with a smurf. I see the logic of all, or at least most of our draft picks but it only reinforces my belief that we are still a year away from a serious run in our division. Maybe we'll get extremely lucky and our FS is already on the roster. Maybe.

As has been stated many times before, it's almost impossible for a national reporter to be as knowledgeable on each team as we are on the Rams. If you're going to write an article that predicts future performance you're already out of the realm of journalism and into the realm of mysticism and tea reading before you write a single word. I also disagree with your assertion that they only used what happened last season (see the inclusion of Clowney) to predict what will happen this year.

Downtime fluff with the usual amount of cogent thought involved.

Once TC starts I'll increase my intake of kool-aid and join the rest of the community. Like Picasso with his "blue period", I have to go through my usual "realism period" right before TC.

 

[Simba]

LMAO the Jets!? will have a better defense than us!? What is this dude smoking?

We don't know what, but maybe we need to try it, if this is the effect ...

 

[mr.stlouis]

I'm offended.

I can't talk about this... where the hell do start?

 

[Rams and Gators]

Same front 7 as last year and how did that go?

Piss poor the first 4 games, then top 10 in both scoring and turnovers over the last 12. With the 10th best run D since 2000 for the last 6 weeks of the season.

 

[Thordaddy]

Same front 7 as last year and how did that go? Projecting Donald as a significant upgrade (I do too) is also no different than projecting Clowney as a significant upgrade for the Texan's defense. Say what you will about Walton (I have nothing good to say about him) but how good would have our D been under his leadership had he had a decent slot CB (instead of CF) and a decent FS? It's much easier to be a good/great coach when you have good/great players. I'm looking forward to seeing what our new DC can do but you still need the other pieces.

IMO, we only addressed one of the two huge issues our D had last year and even then, it was with a smurf. I see the logic of all, or at least most of our draft picks but it only reinforces my belief that we are still a year away from a serious run in our division. Maybe we'll get extremely lucky and our FS is already on the roster. Maybe.

As has been stated many times before, it's almost impossible for a national reporter to be as knowledgeable on each team as we are on the Rams. If you're going to write an article that predicts future performance you're already out of the realm of journalism and into the realm of mysticism and tea reading before you write a single word. I also disagree with your assertion that they only used what happened last season (see the inclusion of Clowney) to predict what will happen this year.

Downtime fluff with the usual amount of cogent thought involved.

Once TC starts I'll increase my intake of kool-aid and join the rest of the community. Like Picasso with his "blue period", I have to go through my usual "realism period" right before TC.

IOW this is one of the Bounty Nazis

 

[Alan]

Rams and Gators with a little cherry picking:
pee pee poor the first 4 games, then top 10 in both scoring and turnovers over the last 12. With the 10th best run D since 2000 for the last 6 weeks of the season.[/QUOTE]
Other than the fact that that's only 14 games , might our opponents have had something to do with that? In addition, Langford always seems to start off really slowly and then come on a few games into the season. I'm hoping that the addition of Donald will change that paradigm. No way am I saying we don't have a great, if not the best, front 5 in the NFL. It's the the other two LBs and the backfield that keep me awake at nights.

 

[Alan]

Thordaddy catching me before I'm fully awake:
IOW this is one of the Bounty Nazis

I'm lost here. Splain please.

 

[Rams and Gators]

Rams and Gators with a little cherry picking:
pee pee poor the first 4 games, then top 10 in both scoring and turnovers over the last 12. With the 10th best run D since 2000 for the last 6 weeks of the season.

Other than the fact that that's only 14 games , might our opponents have had something to do with that? In addition, Langford always seems to start off really slowly and then come on a few games into the season. I'm hoping that the addition of Donald will change that paradigm. No way am I saying we don't have a great, if not the best, front 5 in the NFL. It's the the other two LBs and the backfield that keep me awake at nights.[/QUOTE]

Other than the fact that that's only 14 games

4+12=?

imo it had something to do with Ogletree just not being ready, he was horrible those first 4 games, if you were judging him off those 4 I'd be petrified, thankfully he got much better as the season went on. It also had something to do with Dunbar's suspension, there's a reason the first thing we did when he became eligible was to go out and sign him.

Might our opponents have had something to do with that?

Sure, I mean they only scored 367 points on average, compared to a league wide average of 374.

I agree the backfield is worrying, but it's not like they can get much worse.

 

[Alan]

Rams and Gators with this:
4+12=?
If you're going to make the contention that after a rough start we had a dramatic improvement and use certain rankings to bolster that view, then you have to include all the last 12 games and not just 10 of them to determine those rankings don't you? That's why I mentioned your math.

I seem to remember a Ram team that won like 7 out of their last 9 to finish the season at around .500 and then completely tanking the next year. Trends are interesting but ultimately pretty meaningless IMO.

While the maturation and learning curve of our rookies is a valid point (Ogletree), there are other issues that counteract that. You usually face the other team's best players in the early part of the season (before the injuries start mounting up). How good did the Rams offense make our opponents D look after SB went down?

"Might our opponents have had something to do with that?"

Sure, I mean they only scored 367 points on average, compared to a league wide average of 374.

I think you're making a mistake when you discount how well a team matches up against a particular team versus just trying to use stats like their average points per game. When, for example, has the Dallas rushing game not made our rushing D look pathetic?

 

[Rams and Gators]

Rams and Gators with this:
4+12=?
If you're going to make the contention that after a rough start we had a dramatic improvement and use certain rankings to bolster that view, then you have to include all the last 12 games and not just 10 of them to determine those rankings don't you? That's why I mentioned your math.

I seem to remember a Ram team that won like 7 out of their last 9 to finish the season at around .500 and then completely tanking the next year. Trends are interesting but ultimately pretty meaningless IMO.

While the maturation and learning curve of our rookies is a valid point (Ogletree), there are other issues that counteract that. You usually face the other team's best players in the early part of the season (before the injuries start mounting up). How good did the Rams offense make our opponents D look after SB went down?

"Might our opponents have had something to do with that?"
Sure, I mean they only scored 367 points on average, compared to a league wide average of 374.

I think you're making a mistake when you discount how well a team matches up against a particular team versus just trying to use stats like their average points per game. When, for example, has the Dallas rushing game not made our rushing D look pathetic?

I'm not sure where you're even getting 10 from? my original quote "pee pee poor the first 4 games, then top 10 in both scoring and turnovers over the last 12."

Sure our D being good for 3/4 of the season may mean nothing, but then why even both trying to make a prediction based upon anything at all?

 

[rhinobean]

I think our nfc West opponents know all about the Rams defense and are probably shaking their heads at this article! More fuel to the Rams fire IMO.

 

[Alan]

Rams and Gators pointing out my error:
I'm not sure where you're even getting 10 from? my original quote "pee pee poor the first 4 games, then top 10 in both scoring and turnovers over the last 12."

Sure our D being good for 3/4 of the season may mean nothing, but then why even both trying to make a prediction based upon anything at all?

My bad R&G. That's what happens when you try reading while blind. Not as bad as driving while blind but right up there. I looked at the "10" in your first post and went wild. :seizure:

To be fair, no one who is rating Ds is using trends except for you. I'm not saying that trends mean nothing, I'm just saying that you shouldn't read too much into them either. Using last years data and trying to figure out the impact of your new players and the loss of some of your old players is pretty much all you have when trying to guesstimate something like this. I don't fault his methodology, I just don't agree with all his conclusions. I wouldn't put the Rams in the top 10 though. I don't think being in the top 10 is a requirement for success either. Moving our offense into the top 15 will do much more for us than moving up a few slots in our D ranking.

 

[Rams and Gators]

My bad R&G. That's what happens when you try reading while blind. Not as bad as driving while blind but right up there. I looked at the "10" in your first post and went wild. :seizure:

To be fair, no one who is rating Ds is using trends except for you. I'm not saying that trends mean nothing, I'm just saying that you shouldn't read too much into them either. Using last years data and trying to figure out the impact of your new players and the loss of some of your old players is pretty much all you have when trying to guesstimate something like this. I don't fault his methodology, I just don't agree with all his conclusions. I wouldn't put the Rams in the top 10 though. I don't think being in the top 10 is a requirement for success either. Moving our offense into the top 15 will do much more for us than moving up a few slots in our D ranking.

That's cool, just good to be debating with you again .

My view is that to not be top 10 we'll have to have gotten worse, we've lost 0 starters (unless you count Finnegan who was arguably the worst anyway), we've got no starters over 30 so can't have gotten worse there, we've added a 1st and 2nd round pick who should make a significant contribution. Only place we could have gotten worse is DC, and I don't think that's the case. But who knows at this point.

 

[Tailback]

Quick, somebody save this for the end of the season. We can all email this back and mock him.

What this is about is advertising markets. Journalists (spit) these days aren't interested in who, what, when, where, why, how. The only thing they care about is ad revenue.