Miklasz: Rams defense can show way to playoffs

Daily Bits: Rams defense can show way to playoffs

Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/daily-bits-rams-defense-can-show-way-to-playoffs/article_6a9d8792-1fbe-5fc5-aadf-dbe0984df481.html

Good morning. I’m back from vacation and trying to shake off the rust…

Here are your Bernie Bits for Monday July 28:

1. Having just returned from a holiday in the Dominican Republic, I haven’t had a chance to visit Rams training camp. Besides, I’m of the Allen Iverson school: it’s just practice, man. We’re talking about practice. And too many people overreact to training-camp flashes; other then the coaching staff evaluating camp practices to form opinions on roster spots, the true team-wide judgment begins with the first regular-season game. But I didn’t need to be in Earth City to know there’s considerable buzz over the Rams’ attacking defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams.

Reading some of the early reports and comments from players merely reaffirms something that I wrote earlier this summer: Williams was the Rams’ most important offseason acquisition. The Rams already had the pieces for a disruptive defense but were often too passive last season under deposed coordinator Tim Walton. And that made the St. Louis defense too easy to exploit in the passing game. The 2013 Rams defense wasn’t nearly as effective, overall, as they should have been. But that won’t be the case with Williams. He’s going to unleash the hounds. Exotic blitzes, aggressive “press” coverage, intriguing personnel mixes, and anything to whip up a firestorm of pass-rush pressure on the QB.

I understand the obsession over the Rams offense; I certainly engage in it. But I truly believe the Rams defense will be significantly better than what we saw in 2013, and if that happens then the NFC playoffs are within reach. They won’t need a trill-ride offense to win 10+ games.

2. Along those lines … the Rams’ player that most intrigues me is acclaimed rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who already is quick-stepping his way past veteran blockers to invade the backfield. With defensive ends Robert Quinn, Chris Long and William Hayes bringing the hot sauce from the outside, can you imagine the difficulty of blocking this group on passing downs if Donald is going nuts with an inside rush? And that doesn’t even take the blitzers into account. What the heck will Williams do with OLB Alec Ogletree? It’s going to be wacko.