Miklasz: Rams Defense Must Earn Respect

Daily Bits: Rams Defense Must Earn Respect

Posted by: Bernie Miklasz

http://www.101sports.com/2015/09/25/daily-bits-rams-defense-must-earn-respect/

In Week One, they wrestled Marshawn Lynch to the ground, prevented quarterback Russell Wilson from breaking off big plays, and held the Seattle Seahawks offense to one touchdown from scrimmage. And on the game’s final play, they stuffed Lynch for a 1-yard loss to lock down a 34-31 victory.

In Week Two, they went to Washington D.C. and turned into tourists, taking in the sights on a leisurely Sunday afternoon. They became curious onlookers as Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 23 of 27 passes. They were mere bystanders, watching and waving as Redskins running backs Matt Jones and Alfred Morris rumbled for 182 yards rushing. Washington sent them home to St. Louis with a 24-10 kicking of the buttocks that represented the most embarrassing defeat of Jeff Fisher’s 50-game term as head coach.

The Rams defense stood up and formed a wall to proudly contain Seattle. But the same defense stood down in Washington, giving the ‘Skins a free pass and an easy win.

And now the Pittsburgh Steelers and their black-and-gold fans are on the way, planning a Sunday invasion of downtown St. Louis.

The Rams defense has a lot to prove if it wants to justify the preseason hype, the plaudits, and advance praise.

The Steelers are the first test. They come in with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger slinging the football with boldness and confidence, leading NFL quarterbacks with the most passing yards (5,672) since the start of last season. Big Ben has some talented friends including favorite target Antonio Brown, who has caught more passes (257) for more yards (3,525) than any NFL wide receiver since the beginning of the 2013 season. And after missing the first two games, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is ready to rejoin the band. He’s the dynamic running back who charged for 2,215 yards and 11 touchdowns from scrimmage in 2014.

Through the first two weeks the Steelers are averaging 32 points per game. Roethlisberger is running a fast-paced, no-huddle offense that ran a play every 26.5 seconds in last Sunday’s 43-18 destruction of the San Francisco 49ers.

The schedule provides no cover in the coming two weeks. After taking on the Steelers the Rams defense will head to Arizona and call on Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, who is 11-2 at home (with the offense putting up 27 points per game) since being brought in by the brilliant head coach Bruce Arians in 2013. The Cardinals, 2-0, have averaged 39.5 points in their first two games.

After that, on Oct. 11, the Rams ‘D’ will be in Green Bay to see if it’s possible to make QB Aaron Rodgers have a bad day at Lambeau Field. Since becoming the Packers’ starter in 2008 Rodgers has a 43-9 record, 124 touchdown throws, and a passer rating of 113.2 at home. Rodgers and the The Pack have won 37 of their last 40 regular-season games at Lambeau.

If the Rams are hungry to make up for their no-show defense in Washington, the next three games provide a wonderful opportunity. This defense puzzles me. If they’re on their game — properly prepared and inspired — this unit can be intimidating as any defense in the NFL. When quarterbacks prepare to face the Rams’ defense, they’re quick to recognize the danger … and even quicker to offer praise.

“We got a long way to go to try and slow down that pass rush,” Roethlisberger said in a conference call with the STL media. “That’s the first thing you see when you see when you watch the tape is the pressure they get on the quarterback. Whether it’s just four guys, whether it’s five or six guys, they’re bringing pressure. They’re bringing blitzes. I think they rely a lot on their four to get home, but we’re going to anticipate a lot of extra blitzes, bringing some extra guys. What an amazing front seven and that’s to take nothing away from their secondary, but that front seven is pretty spectacular.”

The Rams’ defensive reputation remains intact.

But does the rep exceed the actual performance?

Against Seattle, the Rams defense was worthy of hurrahs.

Against Washington, they were trampled for the seventh-highest rushing total and gave up the third-highest completion rate (85.3 pct.) by an opponent during Fisher’s 50 games here.

Go figure.

Will the Rams defense post up on Sunday?

And can they do it again at Arizona and Green Bay?

The lesson here is simple: respect must be earned.

Reading Time 5 Minutes:

Rams rumbles: Dave Peacock, co-chair of the St. Louis stadium task force, has been busy speaking with members of the six-owner committee that’s in charge of the Los Angeles decision that will, among other verdicts, determine whether the Rams stay in St. Louis or move to team owner Stan Kroenke’s proposed football-entertainment complex in Inglewood. Peacock declined comment on these affairs but a source close to him tells us Peacock is encouraged by the feedback coming his way … unrelated to that observation: there’s been a new round of buzz — unconfirmed — of Kroenke exploring a bid to purchase majority ownership in the Oakland Raiders. But that one stays is in the rumor file for now …

And in another new theory being put out there, the NFL may put only one franchise in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. That would seemingly favor Kroenke. But I did some snooping around, and I believe that theory is being dished by a pro-Kroenke NFL executive that has no real authority over the process. We’ll see. … Terry Bradshaw, LOL. Where I live there’s a neighborhood street cat that we take care of when kitty needs a meal. And Bradshaw knows about as much on Rams/LA as the cat does.

Is Michael Wacha tiring? In his four September starts, Wacha has a 6.75 ERA, and a 7.16 Fielding Independent ERA, with a weak strikeout-walk ratio of 1.07. … since July 8, Wacha’s FIP (4.36) is the second-worst among Cardinals’ starting pitchers, with Lance Lynn at the bottom with a 4.41 FIP … in his first 16 starts of the season Wacha had a 3.24 FIP, so it’s really jumped over his last 13 outings. And his home-run rate went from 0.62 per nine innings in his first 16 starts to 1.18 in his last 13 starts. The main problem: lack of command, and a spike in Wacha’s walk rate.

The Steelers are a lean favorite (1 point, or 1.5 points) to win Sunday’s game. Here are a few nuggets from PredictionMachine.com — and really you should check out the site. It’s fun: All-time, the Rams as home underdogs are 44-66-1 (40%) against-the-spread but they have covered the last three times. (I’ll add this one: Fisher’s Rams are 8-6 against the spread in their last 14 games as home underdogs.) … As a road favorite Roethlisberger is 22-32-1 (41%) against the spread. … when installed as a two-point or less favorite on the road, the Steelers are 2-4 against the spread in their last six.

Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson sees greatness in Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Here’s an excerpt from Monson’s piece on ESPN.com: ” If I were to tell you Donald is playing well right now, I wouldn’t be breaking the kind of news that interrupts television broadcasts. So what if I told you Donald is outperforming (Houston’s) J.J. Watt, and is not only ahead of Watt for 2015 — I know, two whole games — but is also out in front of Watt at the same point in their respective careers Through two games, Donald is on pace to not just surpass, but crush the best grade we have ever seen from a defensive interior player — and cruise right on past the best performance PFF has ever seen from any player over a single season.”

Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta is stirring; he enters Friday night with five hits in his last 16 at-bats with a homer and five RBIs, and his hard-contract rate over the last week is 35 percent — which is up from 25 percent in August and the first half of September … for those wondering if Carlos Martinez is tiring, please read this. The answer: NO. Martinez is averaging 97.26 mph on his four-seam fastball since the All-Star break; that’s the second-highest velocity among MLB starting pitchers.

Going into the weekend series vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates trailed the Cardinals by four games in the NL Central and only have themselves to blame. The Pirates were only 29-38 in games vs. division opponents before Friday, and that included a 15-20 mark against the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. Outside the division the Pirates are a remarkable 51-15 vs. other NL teams and 13-7 in Interleague play. That adds up to a 64-22 record outside the NL Central. The Cardinals were 43-27 in NL Central games through Thursday.