Should the Rams fire Morris?

[Loyal]

Floyd is a 4-3 end, and Lewis is too. If anything we have the wrong personnel to run the 3-4, which we don't actually run anyway.

We can disagree about that, but the fact remains, this team is 6-1. You don’t do a desperation change in the midst of the season, unless you want to lose.

 

[HellRam]

Yeah this is wild.

Teams that have scored 20 points against the Rams defense: Arizona. Tampa Bay. (Colts was a blocked punt, D gave up 17). Those are two of the best offenses in the NFL, if not the best.

Crazy that we're talking about firing the guy. Spoiled from last year I guess.

Agree.

Add 3rd in the NFL in sacks as well! Believe we are 7th ranked in points allowed.

With the loss of key coaches and players on D. I was just hoping for a top 10 D this year at worst case. Overall I feel our D is prettier solid.

 

[RamDino]

You don't fire a DC when the team is 6-1 and will soon be 8-1. Offseason is when you make changes like that.....

Kenny Young agrees!

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

We can disagree about that, but the fact remains, this team is 6-1. You don’t do a desperation change in the midst of the season, unless you want to lose.

I wasn't saying we should. I'm just saying Fisher would be great as a DC.

 

[LARams_1963]

I don't want to be a Chicken Little. But.... our Defense needs to gel and improve quickly. As of right now, the better offenses will eat us alive, like the gridbirds did. I'm dreading facing Henry. It is a serious achilles heel for our championship hopes.

 

[Classic Rams]

I wasn't saying we should. I'm just saying Fisher would be great as a DC.

 

[ProGen]

Has a 6-1 team ever fired a defensive coordinator?

 

[Loyal]

Kenny Young agrees!

When you bring players up from the practice squad, they get higher salaries, according to what I've read and heard, and they needed financial room to maneuver...... so, it is what it is...

 

[Ellard80]

I am seriously not a fan. Bend don't break is a prescription to fail in the long run. Run D is bad wait to we hit Tennessee or SF. Defense overall plays to soft. Better QBs will pick us apart.

Like I say when McVay replaced Fisher we spared 4-12 to 11-5 in one year. Coaches and their schemes matter. Look at Staley and look at him vs Lynn with the Chargers. Great DCs make a big difference.

What makes Morris look better than he is Stafford and our Offense.

in the nfl most defenses are bend but dont break...

its just too hard to take away both the big play and the underneath stuff.

Once you get closer to the end zone it gets easier and easier.

The days of dominating cant move the ball defenses - just not going to see that consistently anywhere

The Passing game is too efficient now.

The dolphins blitzing, heavily disquised throw the kitchen sink at you defense was great last year but now its getting torched.

on monday night manning was asking brady about this very thing - what kind of defense is the worst to play against?

 

[thirteen28]

I wouldn't fire him at all until after the season, at earliest. However, there are a few things I think Morris could do to silence his critics, and they don't seem to be that difficult.

- Reduce the cushions. We have guys that can play press man pretty well. They don't need the huge cushions, even if you aren't going to have them play press right off the bat.

- Stop trying to get cute with Ramsey in the star position. Getting cute with him was a direct contributor to Swift taking a screen pass to the house last Sunday. Let Jalen do what Jalen does best - take away the opposition's best receiver, and more generally, let him cover. His area of the field becomes an instant no-go zone.

- Figure out your safeties. Rapp should have never been in deep coverage like he was at the beginning of the year. When they played him more near the line as they did against the Giants, he turned in a stellar performance. As for the deep guys, I really wish we could get an explanation at to what is going on with Burgess. He should great potential in his brief playing time last year, and I wonder if Morris just doesn't like him for some reason. I have a feeling he would be playing more if Staley was still here.

I realize we were spoiled last year, but we still have the best DB and best DT in the league, and have a very good edge rusher in Floyd. I haven't looked at the numbers, but it felt like we had a lot more 3 and outs last year, and that 3rd and long was far more likely to turn into 4th and punt.

The tackling as mentioned upthread is another thing, and I wonder how much of that is coaching as well. Guys didn't forget to tackle from last season, so you have to wonder if it's just not a point of emphasis and they are getting sloppy.

Generally, our D is not terrible by any means, and I don't expect them to be as dominant as last year. But at the same time, they don't seem to be playing up to their potential given some of the pieces they have.

 

[Ellard80]

I wouldn't fire him at all until after the season, at earliest. However, there are a few things I think Morris could do to silence his critics, and they don't seem to be that difficult.

- Reduce the cushions. We have guys that can play press man pretty well. They don't need the huge cushions, even if you aren't going to have them play press right off the bat.

- Stop trying to get cute with Ramsey in the star position. Getting cute with him was a direct contributor to Swift taking a screen pass to the house last Sunday. Let Jalen do what Jalen does best - take away the opposition's best receiver, and more generally, let him cover. His area of the field becomes an instant no-go zone.

- Figure out your safeties. Rapp should have never been in deep coverage like he was at the beginning of the year. When they played him more near the line as they did against the Giants, he turned in a stellar performance. As for the deep guys, I really wish we could get an explanation at to what is going on with Burgess. He should great potential in his brief playing time last year, and I wonder if Morris just doesn't like him for some reason. I have a feeling he would be playing more if Staley was still here.

I realize we were spoiled last year, but we still have the best DB and best DT in the league, and have a very good edge rusher in Floyd. I haven't looked at the numbers, but it felt like we had a lot more 3 and outs last year, and that 3rd and long was far more likely to turn into 4th and punt.

The tackling as mentioned upthread is another thing, and I wonder how much of that is coaching as well. Guys didn't forget to tackle from last season, so you have to wonder if it's just not a point of emphasis and they are getting sloppy.

Generally, our D is not terrible by any means, and I don't expect them to be as dominant as last year. But at the same time, they don't seem to be playing up to their potential given some of the pieces they have.

Do we really have the guys to play press though? Ramsey is like the only one I'd want doing that.

 

[snackdaddy]

It is X's and O's or Jim's and Joe's? We did lose a couple pretty good players in the secondary to free agency. And a pretty good rotational pass rusher in Morgan Fox. Maintaining a top tier defense every year is not easy these days. If they play well enough to win with our good offense how bad can it be?

 

[dieterbrock]

Sorry i couldn't resist.

 

[I like Rams]

Emotionally: yes
Logically:no

A bye week is not long enough for a new coach to implement his system. We'd be right where we left off if not worse.

 

[Merlin]

The comments we hear from McVay about the defense are coach speak. He is almost surely hellbent to see this unit improve because he knows it needs to in order to beat Arizona and Dallas in the playoffs. Don't think for a moment he isn't all over that shit.

 

[thirteen28]

Do we really have the guys to play press though? Ramsey is like the only one I'd want doing that.

I think Williams can do it too. If not, at least play him closer to the LOS.

Case in point ...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ToetvWEr3c

 

[majrleaged]

I think if Morris just blitzed a bit less and we tackled a bit better a lot of ills would be solved. Not all, not like we'd get back to last years D but it would make a noticeable difference.

Yes, just line up 6 or 7 guys on the line and change which 4 is on the pass rush. Then mix in a very rare blitz, but make sure who ever blitzes has good timing and isn't coming from to far away.

 

[majrleaged]

Floyd is a 4-3 end, and Lewis is too. If anything we have the wrong personnel to run the 3-4, which we don't actually run anyway.

What are you basing this statement on. Floyds and Lewis have been making plays. They don't look out of position to me. Or is it just their size.

 

[OnceARam]

Who are you going to replace him with? That’s what I always come back to.

 

[thirteen28]

What are you basing this statement on. Floyds and Lewis have been making plays. They don't look out of position to me. Or is it just their size.

I'm with you. They both look pretty damn good as 3-4 OLBs.