Are We Going To Take A Step Back On Defense?

[MachS]

I think stopping the run might be a little overrated as we saw last year. All 4 final playoff teams were in the bottom third of the league in run defense. That being said Weddle over Joyner is an upgrade, Clay Matthews and Flower (for a full season) on the edge will be MUCH better than what we had last year. Replacing Suh will be tough, especially how he dominated in the playoffs. But I think the combo of Gaines + SJD should be only a slight downgrade during the regular season where Suh was just average. IMO Barron was overrated, and I wanted Kaiser to get the nod this year but honestly I can't say he's ever flashed for me while watching a game. Last week I saw Dakota Allen do more than I've seen Micah do in an entire year, so not terribly worried about ILB.

The other big thing if we can stay healthy (knock on wood) is having Talib for a full season. We were a completely different defense with him in, and I suspect Marcus Peters has a big bounce back year this year. I'll call that right now. John Johnson should take another step this season, I mean our D could be top5 seriously. We'll have pass rush and back end playmakers so I would be excited for this year!!

 

[bluecoconuts]

I expect a step forward. I don't think we'll have the chunk in the middle where our pass D was shitty, I think that our secondary takes a big step forward, and that will do a lot.

I also expect our pass rush, which last year was basically non existent outside of Donald, to take a step forward, especially with Fowler emerging.

 

[MauiRam]

We have an elite defense this year. The only thing that will cause their PPG to be high is garbage time touchdowns.
Clay Mathews had multiple sacks called back last year and he never played with a player like Aaron Donald.
We replaced knuckleheads such as Joyner with Eric Weddle. He might of lost a step but he’s not going to put himself in a position for us to lose a game. He’s also really football smart. I don’t think we will see many players out of place like we did last year.
Not too mention our young guys are turning into vets.

I think the biggest stand out this year is Fowler. Being a professional athlete is such a mental game. He’s been beat down, called a bust, placed on the bench, and forgotten about. Ppl forget how much talent this young man has. You match that talent with confidence and a great group of guys around him, that bust label will be gone. He’ll be labeled a steal by the rams. I think him and Aaron have 15+ sacks each. Teams won’t be able to triple team Aaron this year. If they do we have savy vets that will get to the QB.
Even if we don’t beat the sack record, those pressures will lead to interceptions, bad plays, and 3 n outs.

I’m really excited for our defense this year.

We lost suh, suh what. He didn’t turn it on until the playoffs.

Barkeep, I'll have a double of whatever NoCo's having!

 

[badnews]

I kinda think the most likely outcome for this season is for the RAMS to dominate all the way to the AN, and locking it up on their 2nd attempt.

Then I see the next season as our reload year, returning to our 3rd SB in 4 years....

 

[TexasRam]

I think our defense is better.

Last year with Talib we were top 5 defense. I think it was 13 ppg given up. Without Talib we were I think bottom 10.

Also think about how well our defense played in the playoffs and Super Bowl once Talib was back and we really settled in.

Weddle should be a huge upgrade at safety and I think the CB depth and LBers off the edge will be better.

I honestly am thinking Defense steps up to a top 5, and the offense takes a step back from their lofty top 2 spot.

 

[Big Game]

I think our defense was garbage most of last season. It would be hard to do worse than that tbh.

My expectation is top 5 in scoring D. Best pass defense in the league. Above average run stopping.

I have to agree once Talib went down our defense was bend but don't break. We allowed way too many rushing yards as well. As long as Talib is healthy and with the new additions of Weddle, Rapp, and Clay we should be just fine. I say a top 10 defense.

 

[bubbaramfan]

It's clear McVay is not going to risk his starters in pre season. With a bunch of new players not having played a real game together until the season starts, I expect the D to give up yds up the middle and occasional big plays. Not until the 4th reg game will they start jelling. New NT's, new ILB's, teams will test them early and often.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I'm liking our defense to be improved and am actually more concerned with our offense, and that only comes from a lack of familiarity with what Brian Allen and Noteboom brings, that and whether our OL depth will be up to the task. The defense looks better to me even with the questions about starting NT (Gaines/SJD), Hager & whoever he rotates with. The Rams 2'nd and 3'rd teams have only given up 14 points in each of their 2 pre-season games, and some of those points were going against opposition first team players. Our Edge players will be a huge upgrade over 2018, our DB's may be the best in the league, and we still have Superman, ... aka Aaron Donald.

 

[Juice]

I like the Mathews pick up. I really do, but the amount of penalties he has received over the last couple of years is alarming. The Refs are either keeping a really close eye on him or the game has become so much safer that Mathews' style of play just isn't acceptable anymore. He will not help on third down with 10 to 15 yard penalties.

 

[majrleaged]

I expect the D to go from 15th or 17th rated to some where between 8 to 12th. Also about 8 to 10 more turn overs, do to a better pass D. I will be pleased with that. It would mean a much more consistent D. More of a lead during games. Which I think is all we need because, while the O line is a question mark at this point, I believe Goff's improvement and Mcvay's adjustments to the "road map" will keep our offense at the top of the league.

 

[Noregar]

I have stated it in other threads and I will state it again I think his defense can be top 5 elite if it stays healthy. Donald, Fowler, and the secondary are what will make the Rams elite. The NT and ILB spots will sort themselves out as they are actually more situationally used. The Rams have enough talent around them and some promising young talent to develop at those spots to mask any minor weakness they may present early on.

Donald is really the great equalizer on the Rams defense IMO and if Fowler has the impact many here are anticipating then his presence on the edge along with a vet like Mathews on the edge will compliment Donald so much better than Suh. The CB's and Safeties are so much better and deeper so they could withstand a loss like Talib much belter especially with a vet like Weddle to also help keep the young guys in line.

 

[bomebadeeda]

It probably all hinges on how healthy we can be. As shown last year, when Talib went down....so did our defense. I like the addition of Weddle in place of Joyner. Definite upgrade. I think Mathews gives us a different look over Ebukam (but I think Ebukam gains knowledge from Mathews and becomes better.) I want our middle of the line to be stronger. Suh rarely made a difference during the season, but played harder in the playoffs. but didn't really shut anyone down. I like Gaines. I think that he is neck and neck w/ JFM now, means he will vault ahead if him down the road. Hopefully sooner than later. Brockers needs to stay healthy. I don't see him in a Rams uniform beyond this year unless he takes a cut. But he has a lot of smaller injuries that just nag on him and cut down his effectiveness. The thing looks great on paper, but we all understand how that works.....
Just my 2 cents.....

 

[BonifayRam]

I expect the Rams to have one of the best secondaries in the NFL. Four of our five starting DB's Weddle, JJ III, NRC & Talib should be rock solid. I still think Peters is the weak link. Safety Rapp could be an instant NFL rookie sensation. Overall I this DB!

There was a reason that Wade had to let his long time friend & workmate Johnson go & for the hiring of Erik Henderson as the DL coach. This should be a big improvement by years end. The starting middle of the DL remains an unknown @ this time no way to gauge what happens there. Brockers & Donald should be the best two DL'ers starting next to a NT of any 34 Defense but Brockers who will make over $11 million has some questions to answer too. For this DL to improve youngsters SJ-D, JF-M, Fox & Gaines must continue to develop their skills to improve this defensive front on run downs.

The outside wings of the defense ER's Fowler/ Matthews/ Ebukam/ Okoronwko should dominate on passing downs. On run downs the two starters will contain & set the edge without issues.

The inside LB'ers were an issue last season , two departed & two remain healthy one going IR. I do not feel real good with our MLB'ing cadre. This defense is very well-endowed with very good youthful weak side interior LB'ers....like Cory Littleton, Travin Howard & Dakota Allen.

With the injury to MLB'er Kiser (who was supposed to resolve our 2018 issues) & the promotion of Bryce Hager should cause all of us concern. Hager is not a prototype MLB'er in the NFL. Coach Wade will pull his MLB'er very fast IF his defense can stop the run on 1st down, or they get the offensive behind the chains. Wade will inject a DB to replace Hager. That is a big positive though .

Snead/ McVay & Wade better find a promising prototype MLB'er to keep on their 53 player roster. The key to this 2019 defense being vastly improved overall is shutting down the run in the middle. Presently main two players SJD & Hager @ NT & MLB'er are questionable @ best. If these starters do their job & are successful then Wade can move quickly into passing defense mode which will make this a 2019 Championship NFL Defense....big IF.

 

[thirteen28]

Although Suh is more talented than his potential replacements, I think the latter two will do better because they are not going to take plays off. They are young and hungry and trying to prove themselves. Thus, I think our DL will be a bit better against the run. We are loaded in the secondary, and I think our potential replacements for Barron at LB are an upgrade, even with Kiser going down. We are probably going to be better with our outside pass rush now that Fowler will have a full offseason with the Rams too.

Yeah, I see us better than last year.

 

[Merlin]

Although Suh is more talented than his potential replacements, I think the latter two will do better because they are not going to take plays off. They are young and hungry and trying to prove themselves. Thus, I think our DL will be a bit better against the run.

The other point of emphasis by the Rams this offseason has been their NT holding up and not being washed out of the play, which was a huge problem with Suh. We discussed that stuff all last year here as it became clear that Suh wasn't interested in focusing on anchoring in vs the run and that greatly affected our defense.

I've seen a ton of comments about SJD not standing out, but one thing about him: he anchors very well even against double teams and that includes the last game vs Dallas early on when there was a lot of talent on the field. So whoever wins that job IMO our NT position has not only been upgraded with a starter who is willing to do the work, but the position is two deep in players who are willing and capable of jamming things up and eating doubles.

I don't expect us to be a top 5 rush defense. But they're going to be able to keep the run game under control particularly early before the offense has built a big lead. And IMO where this defense will truly shine is once we get that lead and the other team feels the need to open things up. That's when it's gonna get fun.

 

[FrantikRam]

I was more confident in our run defense improving a few months ago...now, I'm not sure. Well - I think it will be better, but still not good.

But I expect the pass defense to be top 5 - Rapp in sub-packages is going to filthy.

Overall it will be better because they underachieved last year statistically - although it's also worth noting how incredibly clutch they were.

 

[LesBaker]

The Rams were 20th in scoring defense. If they take a step back they will be in big trouble. Like @Legatron4 said they need to be closer to 20. Even if they end up 12th best in PPG it'll help a lot.

Getting 13 wins next year will require the defense to be better than they were last year. There are some tough games on the schedule.

Steelers in PITT
Cowboys in Dallas
Falcons in ATL
Bears at home
Saints at home
Ravens at home

The Steelers, Bears and Ravens are all three in a row, weeks 10, 11 and 12.

 

[badcop]

I think Gaines is winning the NT battle with SJD. Attracts more double teams and pushes them much better than Day. More penetration and far more disruptive to the opponents O line. Dallas game he had a TFL and forced the Dallas RB to reroute a few times because there was not a hole in the middle of the line. For being brand new he's doing very well. PFF graded him highly. "Rookie defensive interior Greg Gaines has also shined thus far, earning an 88.9 overall grade and an 83.3 run-defense grade across his 34 defensive snaps."

 

[LesBaker]

- although it's also worth noting how incredibly clutch they were.

True and good point. In fact even though they gave up 51 points to the Chiefs the defense won that game with 2 TD's and 5 takeaways.

I'm still blown away that a team had 5 turnovers and scored 51 points though. It's absurd to think that's possible but we saw it with our own eyes.

 

[FrantikRam]

True and good point. In fact even though they gave up 51 points to the Chiefs the defense won that game with 2 TD's and 5 takeaways.

I'm still blown away that a team had 5 turnovers and scored 51 points though. It's absurd to think that's possible but we saw it with our own eyes.

I pointed this out at the time to people going crazy about how that was the "new NFL", but the Rams and Chiefs combined for like 28 possessions in that game, and the offenses "only" scored 44 and 40 points. If you do the math on how often the Rams and Chiefs each scored on their possessions, this game was actually below average (% of possessions that ended in scoring drives) - but the number of TDs was higher obviously. It's similar to how in the NBA the best way to measure efficiency is "per 100 possessions" - because if a team plays faster or slower, their defense and offense can look better or worse than it really is. That typically wouldn't come into play in an NFL game, but the Rams/Chiefs was an exception to that given how fast the offenses moved and how efficient they were.

I'm in the minority but I LOVED our defense last year. It was frustrating at times - very frustrating. But:

Vikings - strip sack to end the game after offense failed to convert a first down to end it
Seahawks (LA) - offense failed to pick up first down, defense stopped Seattle on 4th down
Chiefs - stopped KC twice to end the game, which is astounding if you think about it
Bears - completely shut down the Bears offense
Cowboys - shut down the running game
Saints NFCCG - held Payton and Brees to under 300 yards of offense
Patriots - held Patriots under Brady to lowest every playoff point total