shula...

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methomas50 said:
How many people in our back 7 would start for Seattle? Not many. I think he was OK for what he had to work with. Honestly the defense would have been a sieve minus Poona Ford. 17th overall in total degense so right in the middle.
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I don't know about Seattle, but they are probably pretty comparable to the Vikings.

The difference. Flores isn't as predictable and keeps QBs uncomfortable.

The secondary couldn't be the only reason Bryce Young looked like a stud vs. the Rams but mortal against other teams.
 
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I dont think the defense scheme is any different with Shula then it was with Morris or Staley, minus #99 of course who makes any defense better.
So I dont know how much Shula really impacts what they do and how much blame necessarily falls at his feet
 
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dieterbrock said:
I dont think the defense scheme is any different with Shula then it was with Morris or Staley, minus #99 of course who makes any defense better.
So I dont know how much Shula really impacts what they do and how much blame necessarily falls at his feet
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Do you think it's McVay who has his thumbprint on the defense? I just looked up Shula's resume - he had only been a DC for one year and that was at John Carroll in 2014. If I remember correctly, when we were looking for a DC, Vic Fangio was still available. I think we need to find a DC who has had experience and success at that. Shula's defense looks just like Raheem's - bend but don't break. We blitzed one time last night and got home with it. I get it if your corners can't cover but why not at least take that chance and see if you can get to Darnold instead of trying to cover unsuccessfully? I just didn't see any adjustments by Shula and think he's in over his head. True, we have the lowest paid defense in the league. If I'm Stafford, I go to McVay today and say, "I'll come back but you have to fix that defense and special teams. I'm not going through another year of this shit."
 
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Hard for me to evaluate shula because im not sure to what level the scheme is his own. Its also a group seriously lacking talent.

but the defense outside of a game here and there stuggled down the stretch
 
The front 4 is fine. The back 7? That's a different story. The secondary is pretty bad. Starters would be depth players on most teams. That is something that needs to be addressed. Special teams were a problem too. That turnover was the difference. But we coulda come back from it if the defense could get a stop.
 
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I thought the exact same thing happened in the Atlanta game. Guys were meeting Bijan 2 yards behind the LOS and he’d still get a 7 yard gain. Missed tackles, losing containment, DBs just getting beat….those are tough to overcome as a defensive playcaller.
 
It’s weird to see Shula get passes that Raheem Morris never seemed to get despite leading a Super Bowl defense but…I digress.

Shula stinks and is clearly the worst D Coordinator that the Rams have ever had. Nobody on the defensive front has actually improved from last year to this year. And he has had an entire season worth of boneheaded/unforgivable decisions such as playing D Will in press coverage against Shaheed, leaving the skinniest corner in the NFL (Forbes) on an island against Tet on a crucial 4th down, or having are corners gets torched the entire first half against SF thanks to your soft zone coverage and REFUSING to adjust in the second half.

We blame special teams (and for good reason) but another big portion of the issue is Shula.

Unfortunately we’re almost 100% stuck with him because he’s not getting a head coaching position and the front office will not fire him.
 
He hasn’t developed anyone. Zero fucking sacks from Young and Verse in the playoffs. No creativity with a blitz scheme, when everyone knows Darnold crumbles under pressure.

Unacceptable
 
I'm not gonna lie, I'd much rather have a vet savvy D coordinator than Shula. I hate even saying this, but Saleh (minus the last game they had) had his defense playing with backups everywhere pretty damn well. If McVay's fingerprints are all over this, maybe he needs that vet savvy D coordinator that can do his own thing and be more creative. Our defense really sucked ass towards the end of the year. Changes in players, scheme, and coach should all be on the table. There's no reason the fall off should have been that crazy. Top ranked D to shitty D didn't happen by accident.
 
Whether or not its Shula's fault, the second half of the season just might keep him from getting a head coaching job. The defense gave up over 27 points per game the last nine games. 69 points to our division rival in that stretch. Rams were a pedestrian 5-4 down the stretch. Defense and special teams were bad. And now they're back to the offseason trying to figure how to fix it. After another playoff disappointment.
 
Fixing the secondary will fix a lot of the issues on defense. I've read some on X calling for another pass rusher in the draft and I'm not sure if that's absolutely necessary.

If Young is nursing a knee that is gonna be recurring issued then maybe. But if this was just bad luck at the wrong time I don't believe they need anything more than another rotational guy at that spot.

DRAFT A FUCKING CORNER, LES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
It’s not the scheme or coach. It’s the players. The Rams secondary and iMLBs are one of the weakest in the NFL talent wise. It’s amazing the defense played as well as they did the whole season. It’s should have been constant 38-41 games. But defense won (or let us in) games throughout the year.

Add more talent in secondary and iMLB - and we’ll see the results. Just like how added Poona helped the run defense so much (& Landman a bit too)
 
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PhillyRam said:
Agree, and once Young started having knee issues, coupled with Lake's absence, the D struggled.

I just checked and Young had 9 sacks in the first 7 games this year. Had 11 sacks in the first 13 games. He has had 1 sack in his last 7 games, including playoffs.
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injured. can't stay healthy. until he goes to another team. lol
 
Ram Ts said:
It’s not the scheme or coach. It’s the players. The Rams secondary and iMLBs are one of the weakest in the NFL talent wise. It’s amazing the defense played as well as they did the whole season. It’s should have been constant 38-41 games. But defense won (or let us in) games throughout the year.

Add more talent in secondary and iMLB - and we’ll see the results. Just like how added Poona helped the run defense so much (& Landman a bit too)
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The Rams defense has a lot of Robins, but no Batman's. In 21' Donald was our Batman. In fact you probably had 2, with Ramsey being the other. Even Von Miller was an aging Batman.

This team has no Batman's. Verse, as good as he is, he isn't quite the playmaker they need on D. This team needs a great DT, that Fiske & Turner can compliment. They also need an edge that gets home 10-12 times or more every year. Young was that the first 8 weeks, but he fell off a cliff after that. One sack in their last 7 games after getting 9 in their first 7 games.

And of course they need a CB who can take over one side of the field or can take away one guy.

Probably can't get all that in one offseason, but they better get two of the three if they want to be playing in this game next year.
 
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