zn wrote:

when Sean McVay went through the experience of seeing New England largely change its stripes in the Super Bowl in terms of how it attacked the Rams, it gave him some food for thought in terms of being able to turn a scheme on a dime.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Sean McVay looked at the Super Bowl, a 13-3 loss, and concluded that his DEFENSIVE scheming needed to be upgraded?

Charles Robinson@CharlesRobinson
It was more a tweet about where his thought process on defensive evolution started. Certainly isn’t meant to convey that McVay rooted his decision in that moment alone.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
For sure. And that’s completely how it comes across. And that doesn’t mean thought wasn’t given to the offense either. But yet only one major coaching move has been made since then.
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Charles Robinson@CharlesRobinson
Wade suspected the writing was on the wall when the team parted company with DL coach (and Phillips confidant) Bill Johnson last offseason. There were some indications the defensive staff was going to get younger and more scheme-driven under McVay moving forward.

From the team perspective, I think there was some frustration over relying on the fundamentals of playing sound football rather than a premium placed on scheming and changing looks to expose weaknesses. Too much reliance on just beating strength on strength.

Something interesting: I truly believe that when Sean McVay went through the experience of seeing New England largely change its stripes in the Super Bowl in terms of how it attacked the Rams, it gave him some food for thought in terms of being able to turn a scheme on a dime.

McVay not only wants to be more involved in some of the defensive conceptualizing moving forward, but he wants coaches challenging themselves to be more creative every single week based on the opponent. Be better physically in-game, but think better mentally in preparation.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
`My guess on letting Wade Phillips leave? Maybe coach McVay believes Aubrey Pleasant is ready to take over as defensive coordinator. It’s been two years since McVay sent Pleasant to the NFL career development symposium as a Rams representative in 2018.

It bears mentioning that the defense performed the best of the Rams three phases in 2019. Defense was 9th in DVOA. Offense was 16th. Special teams was 23rd

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
According to sources, don’t expect any other shakeups on the defensive side of the ball today. However, once a new defensive coordinator is named, the staff will be evaluated. Also, some assistants are among candidates for positions at college level, so could be further changes.

Moving forward, it will be very interesting to see who Sean McVay hires as the Rams defensive coordinator. Wade Phillips’ ran a 3-4, so there could be at least a short-term setback with personnel if they switch to a 4-3.

Cian@Cianaf
Rams defensive coordinator is probably the worst job in football. Limited talent and you’re not getting anything to upgrade it, but there are still massive expectations in a franchise where nobody is ever going to blame McVay when things go wrong.

DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR]@DowntownRams
Really feel for Wade. Maybe his best defense with the #Rams and is a year removed from coordinating one of the best defensive performances against arguably the greatest postseason QB of all time.

Rams to move on from Wade Phillips as DC

Nick Shook

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001094960/article/rams-to-move-on-from-wade-phillips-as-dc

The Rams’ move into their long-awaited new home will not include Wade Phillips.

Los Angeles is not bringing back the veteran defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source informed of the situation. Phillips’ contract expired with the end of the 2019 season and the Rams are declining to renew it.

In terms of yards allowed per game, the Rams actually improved from 2018 to 2019, going from allowing 358.6 per contest (19th in NFL) in 2018 to to 339.6 yards per outing in 2019 (13th in NFL). Phillips’ defense also did this while weathering the loss of Aqib Talib to a rib injury (before ultimately trading him to Miami) and John Johnson to a shoulder injury, trading Marcus Peters to Baltimore and incorporating Jalen Ramsey into Los Angeles’ secondary in the middle of the season.

But as pretty much everything went with the Rams this season, shellackings at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys outweighed season-long measurements and ultimately shaped perception of the defending NFC champions, who couldn’t manage to make a return trip to the playoffs. With the 72-year-old Phillips’ contract expiring, now seemed to be the right time for the two parties to go their separate ways.

Phillips made it clear Monday he’s not done coaching, as long as a team will have him in 2020.

NFL Wild Card PFF ReFocused: Minnesota Vikings 26, New Orleans Saints 20

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-wild-card-pff-refocused-minnesota-vikings-26-new-orleans-saints-20

In what was supposed to be a shootout on paper, it was defense that triumphed for the Minnesota Vikings, pulling a huge upset by defeating the New Orleans Saints 26-20 in the Superdome. Despite losing all of their slot cornerbacks heading into this game, the Vikings limited the effectiveness of arguably the best slot weapon in the NFL (Michael Thomas), who saw only eight targets all game despite being covered largely by safeties and linebackers. Overall, Minnesota limited the entirety of the Saints offense outside of Taysom Hill, who was the only player to consistently make plays for New Orleans all game. Hill accounted for 125 of the Saints’ 324 yards and one of their two touchdowns on offense. By contrast, Drew Brees had his third consecutive iffy game, but the first one that actually looked as much from the raw numbers. Hill had the longest pass of the game, and Brees’ interception to Harris was a real turning point of the game.

Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has been a significant absence for most of the season, but he dug the team a huge hole early in the game only to redeem himself in overtime. Thielen fumbled the ball on the opening drive after the Vikings won the toss and unusually elected to take the ball. He also was flagged for a holding penalty that erased a first down run by Dalvin Cook and had a key drop in the first half, but it was his impressive catch over Patrick Robinson in overtime that brought Minnesota down to the goal line where they were able to convert.

The Vikings did an excellent job against the New Orleans offense for the most part, but consistent conservatism almost cost them. Just before the half, down by seven, they elected to kick a field goal when their second down run lost yardage only to be rewarded with an interception by All-Pro snub Anthony Harris snagging an interception as the Saints tried to take advantage. Late in the fourth quarter, they again went hyper-conservative and gave the Saints the window to tie it up and force overtime.

The Vikings now play the San Francisco 49ers, a team that can’t have been expecting to meet Minnesota in the playoffs. They have shown that they have the capability of creating a defensive gameplan to match any offense in the NFL, but they need to team it with an in-game process that underpins rather than undermines that gameplan with its decision making to progress deep into the playoffs. For the Saints, they again head into an offseason where the Brees succession plan will loom large and raise questions about whether they can have one last run at a Lombardi Trophy, just like last year, and the year before that.

Jason Peters said he spoke to Jadeveon Clowney after his hit on Carson Wentz. Told him it was a “dirty hit.” Said Clowney said my bad, but that’s about it. #Eagles

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 6, 2020

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Kevin McFarlane@KMcFarlane10
He was being blitzed got outside the pocket then the guy from behind started tackling him and Clowney jumped on top of him head first. What are you looking at? When was he running past the line of scrimmage at any point?

Tony Dungy@TonyDungy
Doesn’t matter. He is out of the pocket and not in a throwing motion. He’s running toward the goal line so in the officials’ terminology he is now a “runner” until he starts to slide. Which he never did. So he only has the protection that any ball carrier would have.

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Zach Ertz played through two rib fractures, a rib cartilage fracture and a kidney injury, he revealed. pic.twitter.com/JY5ppv0JFC

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) January 6, 2020

One of these quarterbacks is fragile. #LARams #Eagles pic.twitter.com/tdyPmy3sZo

— 𝕽𝖆𝖒𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙 (@WillramWallace) January 5, 2020