Casserly also says the defense isn’t fixable and is what will keep the Rams from being anything better than 8-8.
I worry about that, but it seems too early to make that judgement. There are troubling issues – especially tackling – but these guys put in very little time in the preseason with this new scheme. So there is hope they will synchronize better.
The tackling…that isn’t because of the new scheme. I wonder if the emphasis on forcing fumbles detracts from wrapping up. It seems to me I’ve seen a lot of “going for the ball,” but I don’t think that accounts for all of the tackling problems. Just one here or there, maybe, but I do wonder if the emphasis is just not there. That’s fixable. And you just have to have faith in Philips, and you have to have faith in the obvious talent on defense.
So while I am concerned about it, I remain optimistic.