Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Who’s going to replace Quentin Lake? Sean McVay mentioned Josh Wallace and Roger McCreary as 2 guys who have important weeks ahead

“I'm just totally confused and in many ways, befuddled by the fact that the Eagles passing game is so elementary and remedial in its concepts…”

“The question I keep asking myself is WHY?
 @GregCosell thinks the Eagles’ passing issues go way beyond AJ Brown:@GameTime pic.twitter.com/Geq70ezWch

— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) November 20, 2025

top-full speed at the end, remarkable how cat-quick Young is. Takes on puller, neutralizes AND reacts to make tackle. The puller looks stunned

also, for a sec, had 3 hats on Tyler Davis, until #75 comes off. pic.twitter.com/G8i99D1Fom

— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 20, 2025

The Rams lead the league in dime personnel usage, but why do they rely on six-DB sets in key situations when some teams don’t use them at all?

Wyatt Miller

https://www.therams.com/news/feature-the-rams-lead-the-league-in-dime-personnel-usage-but-why-do-they-rely-on-six-db-sets-in-key-situations-when-some-teams-don-t-use-them-at-all

The short answer is that they have the personnel to do it, and often force situations where it’s advantageous to have six defensive backs on the field. The long answer is much more nuanced, and easier to show than to tell.

Two of the Rams’ biggest defensive plays against the Saints on Sunday came out of dime personnel.

On a 3rd-and-9 early in the game, the Rams showed blitz with two deep defenders, as safety Jaylen “Tank” McCollough crept up on the center from the linebacker spot. When the ball snapped, he dropped back into coverage, taking away the check down in the middle, and L.A. rushed four. Outside linebacker Jared Verse took on a double-team to give one-on-ones to the rest of the line, resulting in defensive end Braden Fiske’s first sack of the season.

McCollough’s presence in the middle of the defense caused confusion at the line and gave the Rams single-coverage advantages with defensive backs across the board. Even if Saints quarterback Tyler Shough was given time to throw, there would have been nowhere for him to go with the ball.

“The advantage of doing that from a defensive perspective is now we’re on the attack,” said safety Quentin Lake. “I think it’s really good for us because we have such a good rush and you want to get those guys a lot of the times in one-on-one situations and then bring an extra cover guy in when you know it’s passing situations.”

The Rams’ 34.6% dime personnel rate leads the league by a considerable margin, according to Next Gen Stats. It allows them to generate favorable coverage matchups, with McCollough as the extra defensive back, and defensive coordinator Chris Shula combines that with distinct pre-snap looks to make quarterbacks hesitate in obvious passing situations.

“It’s been our calling card,” McCollough said. “It’s been our advantage, I like to say.”

The Rams’ 5.5 yards per play allowed with that personnel grouping is the third-fewest among teams with at least 25 snaps – the Rams have 177, according to Next Gen Stats. Meanwhile, three teams haven’t rolled out a single dime package this season, and a total of 13 teams run it less than 5% of the time, which shows just how much of an anomaly this Rams defense truly is.

It helps that L.A. has forced the most third-and-longs per game (7.4), according to nflverse data, which has given them ample opportunity to bring an extra defensive back onto the field. They already use nickel personnel (five defensive backs) nearly half the time, so throwing McCollough in adds yet another wrinkle for offenses to deal with.

L.A.’s safety depth and versatility contribute to their success in dime. McCollough, Lake, Kam Kinchens and Kam Curl are all chess pieces that can be moved around to fit each play’s purpose, giving Shula the resources to creates a variety of looks within the dime package and stay unpredictable.

“You don’t want to be in it so limited that you’re playing the same thing every single time with the coverage variation and things like that, so we want to be able to play a lot of stuff out of dime, and Tank allows us to do that,” Shula said.

On 4th-and-4 with just over five minutes remaining against New Orleans, the Rams showed a six-man front with six defensive backs on the field and one deep safety in the middle. When the ball was snapped, two rushers on the left side dropped back and L.A. brought four, including Curl, again creating one-on-one matchups with simulated pressure.

This time, McCollough lined up 12 yards deep down the seam and then jumped forward to cover the underneath zone. He took away Shough’s first read, Taysom Hill on a short in-cut, as pressure forced the rookie quarterback up in the pocket. His off-platform throw to an improvising receiver was intercepted easily by cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. for his first as a Ram, and Los Angeles iced the game from there.

Putting this one in 2 threads. It belongs in both.

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
The injury bug has bitten: Sean McVay announced the Rams are placing Higbee, Havenstein and Lake all on injured reserve

***

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/los-angeles-rams-injuries/130371/rams-injuries-havenstein-higbee?utm_campaign=dhtwitter&utm_content=%3Cmedia_url%3E&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

The Los Angeles Rams have placed three starters on injured reserve, guaranteeing they will miss the next four games: DB Quentin Lake, TE Tyler Higbee, and RT Rob Havenstein.

roberto clemente@rclemente2121
offensive tds allowed per game
headed into week 12

top
—-
1.55 broncos
1.60 rams
1.80 texans
1.90 chiefs
2.00 eagles

bottom
——–
3.70 bengals (insane)
3.40 cowboys
3.09 giants
3.00 titans, bears

#Rams safety Quentin Lake underwent surgery on his elbow and hopes to return later this year.https://t.co/rTLpiByhHJ

— Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors) November 19, 2025

wv wrote:

Mina – “…the god damn rams”

To be fair, though, they actually cover the game–albeit entirely from a Seattle perspective–at 36:00 in. Mina points out that the Rams rattled Darnold with interior pressure while also playing dime, which means they were stopping the run in dime, and that throws things way off for the Seahawks.

Computer Cowboy@benbbaldwin
The rate at which each offense takes a 1st & 10 and earns a new set of downs (or scores).

Josh@JoshiosTweets
Eagles were in the top right corner last year.

Rams were in the bottom left corner last year.

They swapped places.

ryan anderson@RLAndersonLAFB
🟦 Rams CB Ahkello Witherspoon could return in THIS SEASON 🗓️. His absence has caused man coverage struggles 😬, even with Emmanuel Forbes 💪 stepping up. Witherspoon’s return will be the key for a playoff push 🏆.

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
After Quentin Lake went down, it was Josh Wallace who came in and replaced him in the slot. Sean McVay thought he did a “phenomenal job” and raved about the young DB’s versatility.

Landman (53) with a nice fall-back vs. a run by the Seahawks.

Stack your gap and fall-back with the cutback.

Great job getting his shoulders back to square to make the tackle.

Also, a nice vice tackle scenario with the other LB (48).
— pic.twitter.com/4Z45ICWGyZ

— Cody Alexander (@The_Coach_A) November 18, 2025

from The Athletic, power rankings week 12: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6814386/2025/11/18/nfl-power-rankings-week-12-bills-broncos-bears/?campaign=15738802&source=athletic_targeted_email&userId=603890

2. Los Angeles Rams (8-2)
Last week: 2

Sunday: Beat Seahawks 21-19

The two greatest loves of NFL teams — coaches with famous names and coaches from the Rams system — are all wrapped up in L.A. defensive coordinator Chris Shula (grandson of Don), and the Rams defense is on the kind of run that gets assistant coaches head coaching jobs. Los Angeles intercepted Sam Darnold four times and is allowing 13 points per game during its five-game winning streak.

Up next: vs. Buccaneers, Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET