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Rams Defense Falls Short of Expectations
September 25, 2014 1:12 PM
By Nate Latsch
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/09/25/latsch-rams-defense-falls-short-of-expectations/
ST. LOUIS — With no game this weekend, the Rams have plenty of time to reflect on their latest loss, a 34-31 defeat against the visiting Dallas Cowboys last Sunday after leading 21-0 in the second quarter.
The Rams’ defensive unit figures to be even more contemplative during this bye week after allowing three touchdowns in the final 34 minutes that helped fuel the Cowboys’ comeback.
“Thirty-one points should be good enough to win, but we need to do a better job defensively,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said following the loss. “You can’t make excuses. We had three or four rookies playing, but they had a bunch of people hurt, too. We just have to play better defense when the offense is controlling the football like that.”
Veteran middle linebacker James Laurinaitis was asked following practice on Wednesday how he judges the St. Louis defense after its first three games.
“Not up to our standard, I think is the best way to put it,” Laurinaitis said. “We are more critical of ourselves than any of you guys could be of us. That’s just our standards. We have our goals and we have what we want to accomplish as a unit and, to be blunt, we’ve fallen short of those expectations that we’ve had for ourselves.”
Maybe the most surprising thing about this Rams team this season — well, besides the emergence and success of quarterback Austin Davis — is that the offense has outperformed the much-ballyhooed defense during their 1-2 start.
The St. Louis defense is ranked 30th in the NFL in points allowed (28.3 per game) — the offense did allow interception returns for touchdowns in the losses to the Vikings and Cowboys — but also 13th in yards per game (342.3) and 29th in rushing yards per game (155.0).
Laurinaitis said that the defensive unit has used this week to reflect, both as a group and individually, on what they’ve done and whether they have done their assignments and what is expected of them in this defense.
“So when you look back we can all say gosh, it’s two or three or four plays here or there in a ballgame,” Laurinaitis said. “Well, we’ve got to eliminate those two, three or four plays in a ballgame and we’ll win football games. That’s all we care about doing. This game is a lot more fun when you get W’s and you win and we’re working our rear ends off to try to figure out how do we eliminate those four or five plays.”
But the linebacker also cautioned that you can’t go week by week looking at it that way.
“You can’t keep coming in on a Monday being like man, if we eliminate those four or five plays then guess what, they only have x amount yards and this and this,” Laurinaitis said. “Well, those four or five plays made the difference. We’re focusing hard on how to eliminate those.”
Laurinaitis, now in his sixth season out of Ohio State, is the second-longest tenured Rams player after defensive end Chris Long, who is in his seventh season. The veteran linebacker sees some encouraging signs from his teammates right now.
“I think there’s been great accountability, which is a sign of maturity from the guys in the locker room,” he said. “Guys that maybe you expect more from are looking at it and they’re not finger-pointing other people, they’re saying I have to pick it up a little bit, and I think that’s a good sign for our team.”
September 25, 2014 1:12 PM
By Nate Latsch
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/09/25/latsch-rams-defense-falls-short-of-expectations/
ST. LOUIS — With no game this weekend, the Rams have plenty of time to reflect on their latest loss, a 34-31 defeat against the visiting Dallas Cowboys last Sunday after leading 21-0 in the second quarter.
The Rams’ defensive unit figures to be even more contemplative during this bye week after allowing three touchdowns in the final 34 minutes that helped fuel the Cowboys’ comeback.
“Thirty-one points should be good enough to win, but we need to do a better job defensively,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said following the loss. “You can’t make excuses. We had three or four rookies playing, but they had a bunch of people hurt, too. We just have to play better defense when the offense is controlling the football like that.”
Veteran middle linebacker James Laurinaitis was asked following practice on Wednesday how he judges the St. Louis defense after its first three games.
“Not up to our standard, I think is the best way to put it,” Laurinaitis said. “We are more critical of ourselves than any of you guys could be of us. That’s just our standards. We have our goals and we have what we want to accomplish as a unit and, to be blunt, we’ve fallen short of those expectations that we’ve had for ourselves.”
Maybe the most surprising thing about this Rams team this season — well, besides the emergence and success of quarterback Austin Davis — is that the offense has outperformed the much-ballyhooed defense during their 1-2 start.
The St. Louis defense is ranked 30th in the NFL in points allowed (28.3 per game) — the offense did allow interception returns for touchdowns in the losses to the Vikings and Cowboys — but also 13th in yards per game (342.3) and 29th in rushing yards per game (155.0).
Laurinaitis said that the defensive unit has used this week to reflect, both as a group and individually, on what they’ve done and whether they have done their assignments and what is expected of them in this defense.
“So when you look back we can all say gosh, it’s two or three or four plays here or there in a ballgame,” Laurinaitis said. “Well, we’ve got to eliminate those two, three or four plays in a ballgame and we’ll win football games. That’s all we care about doing. This game is a lot more fun when you get W’s and you win and we’re working our rear ends off to try to figure out how do we eliminate those four or five plays.”
But the linebacker also cautioned that you can’t go week by week looking at it that way.
“You can’t keep coming in on a Monday being like man, if we eliminate those four or five plays then guess what, they only have x amount yards and this and this,” Laurinaitis said. “Well, those four or five plays made the difference. We’re focusing hard on how to eliminate those.”
Laurinaitis, now in his sixth season out of Ohio State, is the second-longest tenured Rams player after defensive end Chris Long, who is in his seventh season. The veteran linebacker sees some encouraging signs from his teammates right now.
“I think there’s been great accountability, which is a sign of maturity from the guys in the locker room,” he said. “Guys that maybe you expect more from are looking at it and they’re not finger-pointing other people, they’re saying I have to pick it up a little bit, and I think that’s a good sign for our team.”