Chris Shula...

[dang]

That's the odd thing. They were #7 in the NFL in sacks with 47. They were shutout 3 times and held to just 1 sack 3 other times. So in 11 games they had 44 sacks. That's 4 per game. And btw, they went 4-2 in those 6 games with 1 or none. Strange indeed.

Two things have been suggested as possible changes. 1 is when Lake went down. The other was extending Landman. Both happened in a 6 day period. Lake went down on the 16th vs Seattle, a game we won. Landman was extended on the 22nd. We trounced Tampa on the 23rd but then the bottom fell out and we went 3-3 to finish the season. Did either of those things affect the D? I'm sure missing Lake did, though not immediately.

Maybe we got a little over our skiis? Lose Lake, extend Landman, win big the next game, go in to Carolina and give up 31. We had only given up 20 or more once after the OT loss to SF. Then beginning with the Carolina game, we only held opponents to less than 20 once in the last 6 games.

Good summary of the bottom falling out of the Rams defense. With 0 options apparently available to improve ??
So the question is - was it mostly the limitations of the personnel or mostly the inability of making the adjustments. I tend to think it’s the former which MUST be addressed aggressively in the offseason. Can’t take any chance in this occurring again next year. Make any shortcomings be something else.

 

[OntarioRam]

Good summary of the bottom falling out of the Rams defense. With 0 options apparently available to improve ??
So the question is - was it mostly the limitations of the personnel or mostly the inability of making the adjustments. I tend to think it’s the former which MUST be addressed aggressively in the offseason. Can’t take any chance in this occurring again next year. Make any shortcomings be something else.

One thing is for sure, assuming the Rams address this defense in the off-season, we are going to find out about Chris Shula, and likely will be looking at a new DC in 2027-28 regardless of what this upcoming season reveals about him. Either the limitations were personnel driven, and Shula will be a top poaching candidate - he was already getting interviews this year. Or because the problem was the scheme being figured out with Shula not having a counter-punch, in which case, we'll need to make a change.

 

[0311rams]

And now Morris is DC for Frisco.

 

[Merlin]

One thing is for sure, assuming the Rams address this defense in the off-season, we are going to find out about Chris Shula, and likely will be looking at a new DC in 2027-28 regardless of what this upcoming season reveals about him. Either the limitations were personnel driven, and Shula will be a top poaching candidate - he was already getting interviews this year. Or because the problem was the scheme being figured out with Shula not having a counter-punch, in which case, we'll need to make a change.

Shula will be a head coach next year because he had the 10th ranked defense with a sieve of a secondary. Already has two years under his belt calling it for a contender under McVay who's the most desired coach in the league on the "install a winning culture" side. And in 2026 he is going to have an elite defense.

I know this because McVay is gonna spend effort on the defense since it let him down. So barring a disastrous injury season an elite defense and Shula rolling out to a head coaching gig is very likely.

 

[Steve808]

Shula will be a head coach next year because he had the 10th ranked defense with a sieve of a secondary. Already has two years under his belt calling it for a contender under McVay who's the most desired coach in the league on the "install a winning culture" side. And in 2026 he is going to have an elite defense.

I know this because McVay is gonna spend effort on the defense since it let him down. So barring a disastrous injury season an elite defense and Shula rolling out to a head coaching gig is very likely.

I'm ok with the Rams becoming an "85" Bears defense or a "2002" Ravens defense where the offense can score 17 points and it's nearly in the bag.

 

[So Ram]

I'm ok with the Rams becoming an "85" Bears defense or a "2002" Ravens defense where the offense can score 17 points and it's nearly in the bag.

Some how the Niner post & this one got mixed up . Lol

Shula is only going to get better. The defense is still Young.
(B). He LOVES The Rams & Mcvay.’

 

[Noregar]

The good news is the Rams have some nice pieces on defense to build around in the front 7 and at safety. They need at least one top tier CB.

It will be telling for sure when we find out who they bring back from the secondary. The CB room is set up perfectly for a reset. Durant, Witherspoon, McCreary and Kendrick are all FA's at CB. Also Williams has minimal dead money if cut. Even though he may have been the most consistent of all the corners, I expect Williamns to be a cap casualty as he carries too big of contract for player his age who is only depth.

I think they cannot forget about the offense though. They need some good young guys in the pipe line on offense.

 

[Ramfan72]

Obviously Young fell off when it came to the 2nd half of the season, resulting in less pressure on the QB. However, I wonder what changed in regards to watching guys in the secondary jumping routes and forcing turnovers in the first two Seahawk games, vs what we saw yesterday? Especially that first meeting.

Was that all on Darnold? Or did the Seahawks change their scheme/routes to get guys open against our zone scheme? Or was it just giving him more time to throw so he didn't force the ball?

I watched the game with my son who is a defensive coordinator for his high school team. He couldn't believe how the Rams failed to adjust to the trips bunch package that the Seahawks were running. Go back and rewatch the game. Our DBs were lost every time they did that. How can a high school coach see that but not Shula? The miscommunication in our secondary was embarrassing.

 

[OldSchool]

I found this kind of interesting. Here we have a former player talking about former Niners DC saying Shanahan prefers his defense a certain way. Kind of ironic he wants the same thing that McVay wants. Guess that answers some doubters about how McVay wants his defense since his best buddy wants the same thing haha


View: https://x.com/Coach_Yac/status/2018364550551142406

 

[Steve808]

If the Rams had one truly "shut down" corner on this team, they would be playing next Sunday in my opinion.