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The Rams are now a defense-first team, but that’s about to get a huge test
Rich Hammond
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Aaron Donald, close that book. Jalen Ramsey, sharpen that pencil. This isn’t even pop-quiz time for the Rams defense. It’s more like a final exam.
The defense has been stellar in its past four games, a period that just so happened to coincide with the trade addition of Ramsey, arguably the best cover cornerback in the NFL. The Rams now can play more man-press coverage and give their front seven more time to get to opposing quarterbacks.
“We know we can be one of the best defenses in the league,” outside linebacker Dante Fowler said. “That’s what we want to do.”
There’s no arguing the results. The Rams have allowed a total of four touchdowns in their past four games — albeit against very weak offenses — and have transformed the identity of a team that, as recently as 12 months ago, was known for scoring 30 or 40 points per game. Those days are done. The Rams offense now looks like a runner in Mile 25 of a marathon — still moving, just at a labored pace.
It’s been fascinating to watch the transition, one embraced by coach Sean McVay, but before any further deification of this defense, the Rams must slow the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at the Coliseum.
Good luck.
The Ravens (8-2) lead the league with an average of 34.1 points per game. That’s more points than the catch-your-breath Rams put up in 2017 or 2018. The Ravens do a lot of things well and have the ability to control the ball with running back Mark Ingram, but the eye-popping play comes from their quarterback.
Lamar Jackson, at age 22 and in his first full season as a starter, has been the must-watch player of this NFL season. Jackson has completed two-thirds of his pass attempts, with 19 touchdowns and only five interceptions in 10 games. Plus, Jackson has 781 rushing yards, more than all but 10 NFL running backs.
The Rams play Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson twice each season, but Jackson is on a different level right now because of how he can beat a team in multiple ways. The name being tossed around in comparison is Michael Vick, who just happened to visit the Rams’ locker room after last week’s game. Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who spent two seasons with Vick in Atlanta (2002-03), even referred to Jackson as “Vick-plus.”
“He’s a dynamic player,” Donald said of Jackson. “He can do a lot of different things. When he’s got the ball in his hands, he’s a tough guy to get down to the ground. We know what to expect from that, just from seeing it on film. We’ve got a game plan. We’ve just got to go out there and execute it.”
Jackson and the Ravens will test everything the Rams’ defense has done well over the past four weeks since they acquired Ramsey in a blockbuster trade with Jacksonville. The Rams have played tighter coverage, tackled well and gotten to quarterbacks, and that’s the exact formula they’ll need against the Ravens.
Maybe they call pull it off. No other team has against the Ravens since early October, but in their past four games, the Rams have enjoyed a dramatic defensive turnaround in all areas. Here’s the breakdown:
“I think in the past however many weeks, we’ve played well defensively,” Ramsey said. “I feel like it’s since I’ve been here. I’m not saying it’s because of me. Just saying that since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed it.”
No, that’s fine, Jalen, give yourself some credit. There’s a straight-line correlation between Ramsey’s arrival and the Rams’ defensive improvement.
The Rams’ increased sack total arguably is the most important figure. With Ramsey on the field — and with some solid play from fellow starting cornerback Troy Hill and the safeties — the Rams are harder to throw against. It’s now more difficult for opposing quarterbacks to find open targets soon after the snap.
That means extra time for the Rams’ front seven, and even a fraction of a second more makes a difference for fierce pass-rushers such as Donald, Fowler and Clay Matthews. Donald, for instance, frequently is a target of offensive-line double teams.
Donald recorded only three sacks in the Rams’ first six games this season, but how many times did he come this-close to taking down a quarterback? A lot. Now, Donald has five sacks in four games when sharing the field with Ramsey. No player on the roster has benefitted more.
It’s also fair to point out, though, that the Rams have feasted on some terrible offenses of late.
Atlanta has surged in November, but when the Rams played the Falcons last month, they were 1-5. Cincinnati, the following week’s opponent, entered 0-7 and had scored more than 20 points only once. Pittsburgh played with a backup quarterback and running back and Chicago, last week’s opponent, looked completely inept, with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky off-target on his pass attempts and out of synch with his receivers all night.
The Rams have feasted on some sugary snacks for the past month. Now it’s time for some meat.
Baltimore’s ability to control the ball is daunting for opponents, and the Ravens are good at converting third downs — likely because many of them are short-distance scenarios — so the Rams’ strategy must start with pinning Jackson in the pocket and making him uncomfortable.
Good luck with that, of course, but it’s the best way to approach the game. The Ravens have lost two games and been taken to overtime once. In those three games, Jackson was sacked a total of 12 times. In the Ravens’ seven regulation victories, Jackson was sacked a total of eight times.
The other big thing for the Rams would be an early lead. The Ravens are accustomed to playing with the lead, running the ball and dictating the pace. If the Rams can force the Ravens to put the ball in the air more, and force Jackson to make plays with his arm more often than with his feet, that’s a winning scenario.
But, well, this isn’t exactly a strength for the Rams, who have scored only one first-quarter offensive touchdown in 10 games this season. Perhaps the defense can come up with one, as Fowler did two weeks ago when he returned a first-quarter fumble for a touchdown against Pittsburgh.
In general, though, the improvement of the Rams defense helps the offense. McVay said the Rams’ defensive strength “certainly does” impact the way he calls offensive plays, and the defense helps the offense play with a certain calmness in ways that aren’t always easy to identify on the stat sheet.
Take last week’s victory over Chicago, for instance. Given the way the Bears were moving the ball — they weren’t — the game seemed very much in hand after the Rams took a 10-0 lead late in the second quarter. That’s why McVay didn’t get overly aggressive in the second half. He trusted the defense. Todd Gurley had a season-high 25 carries and, well, if the Rams had to punt, they did. McVay wasn’t going to make risky calls just because he felt he had to maintain a multi-touchdown lead.
“Now, certainly that doesn’t mean you don’t want to be efficient and operate with consistency offensively,” McVay said, “but I think it does enable you to feel like — I don’t necessarily know if conservative is the word, but you want to play a smart, complementary game. I think (the Bears game) indicated our ability to approach the game like that.”
It’s unreasonable to expect a full duplication against Baltimore, though. Three weeks ago, the Ravens gave New England its first loss of the season. In the following two weeks, Baltimore outscored Cincinnati and Houston by a combined margin of 90-20. The Ravens have yet to be held under 23 points this season, and the Rams have totaled only 53 points combined in their past three games.
So the Rams must hope their offense awakens and that their defense does things to the Ravens that no other team has done in 2019.
“We’ve been playing some good ball this year,” outside linebacker Clay Matthews said. “Whether we score 42 points on offense or 17, our defense expects to hold their own. I think, for the most part, we’ve been able to do that this year. Furthermore, we continue to get better and better.”
If that’s true, then the Rams’ tenuous playoff hopes will greatly improve. In 2018, the offense carried the Rams to the Super Bowl. In 2019, can the defense drag it to the postseason?
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