This could definitely be the best defense in NFL in 2015

Depends on the offense. If they can move the chains, and avg just a few more points per game, then sure, this D could be one of the best.

But they won’t be the best. They’re not that good.

If Foles plays well, the WRs step up, Quick stays healthy, Bailey gets his head out of his ass and doesn’t get suspended, and the running game is decent, and they don’t turn the ball over, then ok, we’ve got ourselves a Defense. 🙂

I know I’m tiresome on all of this, but last year SHOULD teach us a lesson. Honestly. It should.

This group vacillated wildly last year. It started out inept. Improved, then played lights out, then faded again.

What do we learn from this? Two things.

One: they have the potential to be elite, perhaps historically good. Very few defenses have a ceiling high enough to play as they did for 2 games last year.

Two: they have a long way to go to overcome the ill discipline that have frequently led to pathetic performances. They have rarely lived up to all that potential.

This means that this group could end up anywhere on a continuum from 1st to, say, 18th or so. The results depend on a number of variables. I don’t see how any observer could at this point say much about where on that continuum we’ll end up.

By the way, while I agree that the offense has a part to play, I don’t feel it’s crucial. Truly great defenses don’t need all that much help from their offenses to reach the Top Five.

zn wrote:

wv wrote:

The offense though? — it could be… 31, 23, 17, 11….

Well, an offense ranked 31,231,711 out of 32 would NOT be good.

That would be their lowest ranking since the Tony Banks era.

zn wrote:

I saw it differently. I saw them struggling with mental errors. That may sound like the same thing, but you can fix mental errors by learning the thing better.

Of all the problems to have, I’ll take “still struggling to grasp the defense.” Cause that can be fixed with time.

Well, I guess a key difference in our perspectives is what we consider to be an acceptable learning curve.

In my view, it’s virtually impossible to reconcile a “they were still learning” frame to last year. Even if one could accept the “slow start” (a damn long slow start), the regression in the NYG game seems pretty tough to fit with that read.

I would also argue that the bad days last year were about far more than mistakes. One of the very best pass rushes in the league was held to a historically low number of sacks for, what, a quarter of the season? More? How is that a matter of simply making mistakes while learning? As someone wrote last year during the sack drought, “how is that even possible?” I do not see how a DC can possibly escape holding some substantive responsibility for failing to get sacks out of a proven high-sack D-front while using his patented high-blitz attack. I just don’t get that.

In any event, even if one said “they were making mistakes while learning,” there is no way to project last year’s performance safely into an elite performance. It was far too long lasting, too erratic, too untrustworthy to trust to be any better than middle of the pack. Can we really trust the DBs? Can we trust ‘Tree, who has twice started the season slowly?

I have no idea what these guys will do. They won’t be a bad defense, at least not every week. But how good they are is, I would argue, unknowable.

They have some serious young talent due to the extra picks from the RG3 trade and added to it this year with the cap savings from the Bradford trade. Plus, none of them are rookies and the coordinator is going into his second year with the team.

Provided the offense can be close to average and they don’t suffer an undue amount of injuries, they should be a top 5 defense. Anything else would be disappointing.

Fisher has to reign Williams in the way Vermeil did with Martz.

Jenkins has to stop being Jenkins.

THAN I think we might have something.

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2015/5/29/8656893/2014-darta-a-good-sign-for-the-2015-st-louis-rams

A Top-Five Defense

The Rams gave up 354 points (22.1 ppg.) in the 2014 regular season. That put them in a tie for 16th in the NFL, an average result for the Rams defensively (at least on the surface). In reality, the Rams’ defense was much better than the rankings suggest. Total points allowed can be deceiving when determining the quality of a teams’ defense, especially if that team has an extremely high total of DARTA in a particular season. In the Rams’ case, the defense gave up only 284 points (17.8 ppg.) in 2014, putting them in the top half-dozen teams in the league in points allowed (when adjusted for DARTA). The Rams’ defense simply wasn’t on the field when the other 70 points were scored.

Five reasons the Rams’ defense should be even better in 2015:

Chris Long should be healthy and not miss a substantial part of the season.
Mark Barron will be with the Rams for the entire season.
The Rams didn’t lose a single starter from 2014 during the offseason.
The team added two quality, experienced players (Akeem Ayers and Nick Fairley) in Free Agency. Both should have a positive impact on the defense.
The unit now has an entire season under its collective belt in a Gregg Williams-led defense.

Okay–I HOPE this is the best defense in the NFL. They could be. Maybe. But I get a sense that Andy Benoit is getting excited watching the defense take some practice snaps against one of the WORST offenses in the league–a changing one at that, and making proclamations they may not be able to live up to.

I don’t think anyone doubts the Rams have some real talent on defense. There is absolutely the potential to be the best.

But they also have some weak spots.

I’m not sure at all that the linebackers are an elite group.

I believe the secondary could be REALLY good this year but let’s face it–this defense starts with the line. If they aren’t getting pressure it’s a problem. And teams love to use quick hitters on the Rams and we’ve seen that be effective. Also–occasionally the Rams have had trouble with stopping the run.

If you have one elite unit the other teams can coach around that.

The Rams have one elite unit right now.

They HAVE to dominate.

If they do that then yes–this defense can be special. There may not be another team with the defensive line to compare to the Rams–but if they have better overall balance it may not matter. As a whole, they could outperform this defense.

So yes–the Rams COULD have the best defense in the NFL this year.

And either way I’m sure it’s going to be a good, solid defense.

But for now, I’ll hold off on those lofty expectations. I do know that part of this is really with the offense. If the Rams run a ball control offense that keeps the ball away from the other team, it’s the best defense of all. That will raise the defensive stats in terms of yards allowed without the defense ever stepping on the field.

But we’ll see.