The defense

[MachS]

The year we went to the super bowl we had the #2 offense and the #14 defense I think. Versus last year having the #1 defense and the #22 offense. Point is, if we can outscore everyone we will win regardless. Having a dominant offense is just better for us. And ultimately giving up 14 on a night when your D didn't play great is encouraging.

Biggest thing to me thats concerning was lack of pass rush. Hollins outplayed Floyd- the $64M man. Thats inexcusable. Obo and Lewis were completely invisible too. The run D will be suspect at times but not too worried about that. We play 2 high safeties majority of the time with light boxes, and we have weak ILBs too. Were just not going to be great against the run. But we HAVE to be able to rush the passer. And IMO Floyd is extremely overrated and opposite him is a question mark. So dont know where the pass rush will come from but it needs to happen. Maybe we start bringing Ramsey on blitzes from the slot.

 

[Deac]

They gave up 14 points.

Last years unit gave up (on average) 18 points per game.

Still, I fear a powerhouse running team is going to be real big trouble.

I was thinking to myself, if this was Baltimore, we would be in a rough spot fighting for our lives , but thankfully, it was the Bears.

 

[TexasRam]

Not concerned as long as they improve weekly. I think they won’t peak until mid season.

Some observations to keep an eye on:
-piss poor tackling. Chicago RBs made the Rams look inept
-soft middle against the run. Poor coverage against TEs was blatant tonight
-Donald was getting into his groove as the game progressed. He won’t miss 2 sacks snd 4 tackles again this year
-Ramsey may win DPOY if he plays like he did tonight.
-Williams is good but physically dominated by top WRs
-I didn’t notice Robinson at all. Which is not a good thing

I didnt notice Robinson either on first watch. On second watch there was more than a few plays where he did a great job being a brick wall and keeping the LOS from moving in the run game.

 

[TexasRam]

What ever Morris was calling I don't like it. We should be challenging every pass and playing tougher run D. I hate seeing my corners playing on the other side of the 1st down marker on 3rd down. Their throwing short and we can't get to the passer. Cover short and make him hold the ball. I don't get it. Also, as good as Ramsey is, lets not get to cute. He is one of the best cover corners. Lets use him doing that a little more than playing LB or Star or what ever. Not an expert, just a fan.

I totally agree. They are getting a little too cute with Ramsey. Yea he knocked the snot out of guys and blew up stuff immediately but why are we letting Long and Williams handle the top targets in the pass game.

Don't worry about being a fan and using common sense. Coached overthink this stuff all the time which is why good teams sometimes lose to lesser teams. Don't get me wrong overall Mcvay has his shit together and dials back nonsense.

 

[TexasRam]

The year we went to the super bowl we had the #2 offense and the #14 defense I think. Versus last year having the #1 defense and the #22 offense. Point is, if we can outscore everyone we will win regardless. Having a dominant offense is just better for us. And ultimately giving up 14 on a night when your D didn't play great is encouraging.

Biggest thing to me thats concerning was lack of pass rush. Hollins outplayed Floyd- the $64M man. Thats inexcusable. Obo and Lewis were completely invisible too. The run D will be suspect at times but not too worried about that. We play 2 high safeties majority of the time with light boxes, and we have weak ILBs too. Were just not going to be great against the run. But we HAVE to be able to rush the passer. And IMO Floyd is extremely overrated and opposite him is a question mark. So dont know where the pass rush will come from but it needs to happen. Maybe we start bringing Ramsey on blitzes from the slot.

I get what you are saying regarding Floyd but there is a bigger picture of his role I believe. It has to do with the way he contains the midgets of the division and chases them down when they try to flee the pocket.

No one ever saw Floyd as a pure pass rusher, nor is he getting paid for that.

 

[TexasRam]

Given that we have a new DC and some new faces, I'd say it was fine overall. Sure, the long dink-and-dunk drives are frustrating to watch but, in the end, the Rams gave up 14 points and allowed 322 total yards and 4.7 yards per play. Those are very good numbers.

Against Dalton and that line they could have been better.

But first game and stuff. Plus Montgomery had a hell of a game. Seriously was running like a man possessed with money moves and stuff.

 

[Mister Sin]

I am not gonna say a bad thing. They played good enough to win.

But the one thing that I will echo....Jalen Fuckin Ramsey! Wow

 

[NJRamsFan]

Defense honestly didn’t look all that different from last year to me. Tackling was sloppy for sure but that’s rust.

We wanted them to run it and didn’t finish tackles it’s not like wide open lanes were consistently blown open. We dared them to run against a light box and they did that is our defensive philosophy but we need to tackle better. They didn’t complete a pass over 10 yards if I read correctly. Dalton was consistently getting the ball out in 2 seconds on quick routes and we have a bunch of dbs flying around that is what we want it’s what we force.

This is not the classic “best defense” in the NFL and it never was. We are supremely talented with an intelligent scheme that forces teams to sustain long drives while we force mistakes and tighten up as they get closer to the red zone. We’re not the I dare you to gain a yard type of D we’re the let’s play the numbers and trust our analytics kind

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Staley's defense didn't start well out of the gate either. Give it time.

Yep. Just trying to avoid big plays and giving a ten yard cushion. Exactly how they started last season.

Maybe it’s a McVay thing, and he wants to ease them into the more aggressive play after a few games. That way they don’t have the same blown coverages that Chicago had.

I also agree with @jrry32. The tackling was not good.

 

[PA Ram]

David Montgomery averaged nearly 7 yards a carry. Dalton was sacked once--late. Yes, somehow the Bears only scored 14 points. But it really felt like the Rams were in a prevent defense all night. Fortunately the offense was explosive. They punted one time.

I expect they will work on fixing the run defense. They have to fix it.

I'm sure that opposing offenses will be attacking with the run until they show they can stop it.

 

[DrRage46]

I hope we have a Morris conference because I'm wamt to hear how he's gonna fix this problem we had on defens6.

 

[1maGoh]

David Montgomery averaged nearly 7 yards a carry. Dalton was sacked once--late. Yes, somehow the Bears only scored 14 points. But it really felt like the Rams were in a prevent defense all night. Fortunately the offense was explosive. They punted one time.

I expect they will work on fixing the run defense. They have to fix it.

I'm sure that opposing offenses will be attacking with the run until they show they can stop it.

Were the other 2 sacks on Fields? I wasn't paying that much attention and didn't notice who was in at QB. That's the advantage of a veteran QB. He knows how to get the ball out fast and early. Teams have been doing that to the Rams for years now because giving Donald any time will end in a sack.

 

[T-REX]

View: https://media.giphy.com/media/l0Iy5MASJc4KTDGN2/giphy.gif?cid=790b7611c8ec56cd76f874090a907af3da05b23f25dd694b&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

 

[NJRamsFan]

David Montgomery averaged nearly 7 yards a carry. Dalton was sacked once--late. Yes, somehow the Bears only scored 14 points. But it really felt like the Rams were in a prevent defense all night. Fortunately the offense was explosive. They punted one time.

I expect they will work on fixing the run defense. They have to fix it.

I'm sure that opposing offenses will be attacking with the run until they show they can stop it.

I agree the offense was great but wouldn’t say the defense was fortunate because of it. We only gave up 14 points. I’ll take that every week. Red zone INTS and 4th down stops don’t count less, those were big plays in big moments.

you’re right other teams will run and will find success because our defense is literally designed that way and I’d bet my paycheck it’s due to some statistical analysis about limiting pass plays of 10+ yds or the rate or return on run plays (or something of the sort). We don’t get scared and load the box when other teams have back to back 15 yd run plays because we are putting trust in our system and regardless of how it appears to the eye test, it is limiting points over the last year plus.

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

Didn’t play one down preseason

Is anyone really surprised they’re not in mid season form?

 

[Neil039]

Well, Chris Collinsworth said incessantly that the Rams D was giving ip the short pass and the run. There is rust I believe and they only allowed 14 points. I think AD played pretty good, but I am blown away that a couple of times he didn't rag doll that Bears RB, especially the one that he almost wrapped up. Last year, he would have grabbed that guy, no matter his forward motion, and then slam him to the earth.

But still, R-E-L-A-X.

It was out of character for AD to miss on the RB and Dalton twice. That sack was more about WTF is going on tonight with my game.

 

[Allen2McVay]

The year we went to the super bowl we had the #2 offense and the #14 defense I think. Versus last year having the #1 defense and the #22 offense. Point is, if we can outscore everyone we will win regardless. Having a dominant offense is just better for us. And ultimately giving up 14 on a night when your D didn't play great is encouraging.

Biggest thing to me that's concerning was lack of pass rush. Hollins outplayed Floyd- the $64M man. That's inexcusable. Obo and Lewis were completely invisible too. The run D will be suspect at times but not too worried about that. We play 2 high safeties majority of the time with light boxes, and we have weak ILBs too. Were just not going to be great against the run. But we HAVE to be able to rush the passer. And IMO Floyd is extremely overrated and opposite him is a question mark. So don't know where the pass rush will come from but it needs to happen. Maybe we start bringing Ramsey on blitzes from the slot.

I like and agree with almost all your comments but you have to lighten-up on Okoronkwo.

He's on Injured Reserve.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Were the other 2 sacks on Fields?
I wasn't paying that much attention and didn't notice who was in at QB. That's the advantage of a veteran QB. He knows how to get the ball out fast and early. Teams have been doing that to the Rams for years now because giving Donald any time will end in a sack.

No. Dalton was the QB on all three sacks.

 

[Allen2McVay]

It was out of character for AD to miss on the RB and Dalton twice. That sack was more about WTF is going on tonight with my game.

So, you're saying Donald is over-the-hill; and suggesting now would be the time to move him while they can get something in return ... like a fourth round pick.

Always thinking out-of-the-box!

 

[Ramstien]

Some people will find any excuse to complain. If we had a perfect game people would be complaining about logos and uniforms.

When you think you can't find ways to improve your game, that's when you are in trouble. There is always room for improvement. How do you think Donald or the other players on that defense, including coaches, feel about that performance. I'll tell you they are not pleased or satisficed with it, remember we are talking about the #1 defense from last season. If you can't admit the Rams defense was soft in the middle and got pushed around you need to watch the game again. They need to improve at MLBer, those guys are not run stuffers.