‘We need to get this shit together’: Inside the Rams defense’s players-only meet

‘We need to get this shit together’: Inside the Rams defense’s players-only meeting

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/584423/2018/10/11/we-need-to-get-this-shit-together-inside-the-rams-defenses-players-only-meeting/

The​ Rams defense wasn’t​ happy. That was​ obvious.
The​ Rams were​ getting​ gashed on​ the​ ground,​ as​ the Seattle Seahawks​ made it​​ look like they were the bigger, stronger and more physical team. It was no longer a question of strategy or being out-schemed by the other guy.
This went directly to the heart of the Rams’ toughness.
Or so it looked to anyone watching Chris Carson and the Seahawks breaking off big chunks of yards through the first three quarters at CenturyLink Field in last Sunday. The Seahawks ended up amassing 191 yards rushing, which was a personal affront to a group of players more accustomed to shutting down run games, not having the ball shoved down their throats.
To make matters worse, Russell Wilson shrewdly capitalized on that run success by burning the Rams with the play-action pass.
“Terrible, without question,” Ndamukong Suh said. “I can’t think back too many times to defenses I’ve been a part of (giving up) 191 yards, let alone over 100.”
The Rams, as proud a bunch as you’ll find in the NFL, were beyond livid. And they let each other know about it in no uncertain terms as they gathered together on the sideline for an impromptu players-only defensive meeting.
If you don’t like being challenged or questioned or criticized, this summit wasn’t for you. If you don’t like brutally blunt honesty, it wasn’t your type of get-together.
But sometimes things need to be said. And with the Rams trailing 31-24 late in the third quarter and getting pushed all over the field, biting tongues was no longer an option.
So guys let each other have it.
“It takes everybody to say, ‘Look, yo, we need to get this shit together,’ ” recalled Rams cornerback Marcus Peters, who struggled in pass coverage for most of the afternoon, partially because of a calf injury that still isn’t 100 percent healed but also due to some ill-advised gambles.

It was no holds barred, with egos and feelings checked at the door. And while the delivery was impetuous, the objective was clear.
“[We were] trying to get everyone on the same page, let them know nobody was happy with the way things were going in the third quarter from a defensive standpoint,” defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. “So just trying to talk about that and adjust some things from there.
“That’s just your leaders doing what they’re supposed to do. When you speak, they’re going to sit there and listen. That’s what you want. That’s what you need at times.”
“That’s the beautiful thing,” Peters added. “The offense is kind of different, you know, because everybody’s got their jobs and you never know when the ball’s gonna come your way so you just gotta do your shit. The defense, everybody has to be on the same string of how we’re going to move and everything like that. So we just weren’t moving right.”
Nothing personal, just business. And no offense taken.
Well, unless you’re the Seahawks.
Almost from the moment the Rams let each other have it, they flipped a switch and went to work on Wilson and the Seahawks. After giving up 31 points — including 14 in the third quarter — the Rams didn’t surrender another point the rest of the game.
In doing so, they gave the offense enough time to mount a comeback for a 33-31 victory that pushed the Rams to 5-0 and three games ahead of Seattle in the NFC West.
“Clearly, it definitely was influential and it helped out,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said of the defense’s third-quarter quorum.
“We’ve got a great defense,” Peters said. “We’ve got great chemistry to where we’re gonna allow for each other to get coached up by each other. If it takes a guy, like (Lamarcus Joyner), to say, ‘Hey, you all right?’ Hell yeah, I’m cool. And then we get back to it.”
An appreciative McVay didn’t dare butt in. Not because his input or presence wasn’t welcome. He just knew this was something the players had to get sorted out on their own.
“The ownership that’s displayed by the players is so powerful,” McVay said. “And when you’ve got the guys that understand the urgency, the moment, the situation. And you’ve got the right guys that are bringing the team up. We’ve got the right guys that know what we want to get done and I think those guys that pick and chose their spots — like a Mark (Barron), like an Aaron (Donald) — guys listen. Because they don’t just talk the talk. And there’s a reason why they did that.
“There’s so many different things that go on between the players that we’re not exposed to as coaches that, when you’ve got the right core guys leading and affecting and influencing the locker room in the right way or that have the awareness and understanding to be able to get those guys up in a situation where we need it most, that’s powerful.”
But while the late-game meeting was warranted and impactful, the Rams understand that continually relying on it as motivation is inviting danger. That they’ve found themselves needing big-time stops deep in the fourth quarter to prevail in close games doesn’t sit well with them. They believe they’re too good to be in that position. And their frustration is evident that they’ve let it get to that point.
Which could be a problem for the Denver Broncos, the Rams’ next opponent on Sunday in Denver.
“We’re itching to get back on that field to show the adjustments (we’ve made) and the way we’re supposed to play,” Donald said.
Donald and the Rams have some compelling stats on their side to illustrate not only how they’re supposed to play but what they’re capable of doing.
Of the 62 points allowed the last two games, only three have been scored in the fourth quarter. For the season, the Rams have given up just six points total in the fourth quarter.
Of the 30 third-down conversions they’ve surrendered — fourth-worst in the NFL — or the third-worst third-down conversion against rate (46.9 percent), the Rams find solace in the measly four third-down conversions they’ve yielded in fourth quarters, which is fifth-best in the league. Their 30.8 percent third-down conversion rate allowed in fourth quarters is ninth-best.
The Rams are giving up the sixth-most passing yards in the first half at 139.6, but the 95.0 passing yards they’re surrendering in second halves is the fourth-fewest. Also, they are allowing the 10th-fewest passing yards per game (234.6), the eighth-fewest total points (98) and the second-fewest second-half points (35).
The Rams defense, it seems, gets better as the games go on, and it’s especially apparent over their last three games. The amount of total points the last two weeks has been problematic, but the Rams have not lost sight on the bottom line.
Winning football games.
“You’d rather not give up the points we gave up, but you also want to be 5-0 rather than 3-2,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “We obviously keep working to getting better on defense. We’re still, what, a top-10 defense and sixth in scoring defense. I know we gave up points before, but it’s still an accumulation and it still says 5-0 on our record.”
But to truly be the dominant group it believes it can be — and to avoid many more brutally honest halftime or third-quarter meetings to avert disaster — the Rams defense has to start playing better from beginning to end.
“Coach said it today, man, we had (one) game where we started fast — Arizona — and we had a few games to where we ended fast,” Peters said. “And we just need to figure out a way and put that shit together from the start to the finish, and then mesh it together, and we can get a complete game by the Rams.”
Said Suh:” When we get consistent and we’re all on the same page at all times, we’re going to be a dangerous defense.”
To accomplish that, the Rams remain focused on the micro rather than the macro. And while they respectfully tip their cap to the Seahawks for the 191 rushing yards they dropped on them, their congratulations extend only so far.
The Rams believe the issue was more about what they were doing rather than what the Seahawks were doing to them.

“I think our terrible run defense over the last two weeks is primarily due to (ourselves),” Suh said. “You give credit where credit is due. Seattle has great running backs. Minnesota through and through. But at the end of the day, it came down to us not being disciplined and us not making the correct play. Especially when we go back and look at the film. And really all we’ve got to do is go back to the basics. Tackle first and foremost and be where we’re supposed to be.”
“It’s just guys are trying to make plays sometimes,” Donald explained. “You may feel something or see something and jump out of your gap. And they hit it. It happens. It’s a part of football.”
The correction is actually pretty simple.
“Not get out of our gaps,” Donald said. “That’s all it is, little mistakes, things that are gonna get fixed now.”
Added Phillips: “We just tell them, ‘Hey, play the defense called. Don’t play 3-4 (defense) on your own.’ Guys want to make plays. You’ve got to trust the guys on your team. You’ve got to trust the calls and trust the guys on your team. If everybody does their job, then you can do yours better.”
The Rams defense believes it is close to being on the same page more consistently.
Now it just has to show it.