The LA Rams are stumbling a bit right now. After the month of September 2024, the team has emerged with a record of 1-3. That's a huge deficit for a team that is seeking to be pursuing a berth in the 2025 NFL Playoffs. And yet, in the midst of losing so many games so quickly, the coaching staff seems to remain defiant as to the quality of this team.
But one thing seems to be apparent. This team is closer to good than many suspect.
Fundamentally, this team has a pretty solid passing offense, a very bad rushing offense, a terrible run defense, a pretty bad secondary, and a pretty solid pass rush. The team struggles to put up points (touchdowns) in the Red Zone. The defense struggles to remain stingy in the Red Zone. The team needs a beachhead, some success somewhere that the coaching staff can clearly point to.
And yet, it has not truly happened. Not yet.
The defense has been struggling at defending the run. In my opinion, that is the result of a deficit created after the team traded starting defensive leader ILB Ernest Jones IV just before the beginning of the 2024 NFL season. Despite what you may believe, no coach is going to respond to those types of unexpected roster moves by saying the team screwed up. That was the case as the team pivoted from Jones to a defense led by veteran ILBs Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom.
And they have combined to lead the defense to the 32nd-ranked run defense in the NFL.
In 2020, Troy Reeder was the ILB, and DB John Johnson III led the team in tackles. In 2021, Troy Reeder was the ILB and again DBs Jordan Fuller and Taylor Rapp led the team in tackles. It was not until 2022, when this defense added All-Pro ILB Bobby Wagner, that the position not only began to emerge in importance, but the inside linebacker finally led the defense in tackles. In that season, the Rams run defense was sixth best at defending the run. The following season, without Wagner but with Ernest Jones leading the defense, the team was 13th-ranked at stopping the run. In 2022, the Rams defense was 12-ranked at stopping the run.
In 2024, after four games and without Ernest Jones, the defense is ranked 32 at stopping the run.
ILBs may simply not be on McVay's Top-5 punch list
Let's be crystal clear. Coach McVay is fiercely loyal to his players, but none more than his veterans. And right now, two veteran, but ineffective, inside linebackers are trying to lead the defensive side of the football.
Even Rams beat reporters have noticed the stubborn persistence to stick exclusively with both inside linebackers, despite disappointing results. That prompted a recent question to Rams HC Sean McVay at a recent press conference asking about the status of rookie inside linebacker Omar Speights. And Coach McVay replied:
"Those guys (rookie ILB Omar Speights and veteran ILB Jake Hummel) do get reps in these settings. The preseason is somewhat similar, but very different than the regular season in terms of the things that we’re asking, the types of schemes that are being seen from the opposing offenses. You continue to give those guys opportunities throughout the course of these practices. If it got to a point where we felt like that was the best option for us, then those guys would be out there."
- HC Sean McVay
Some have already begun to throw up their hands and surrender to the fact that McVay's response means that the defense is stuck with Reeder and Rozeboom through the entire 2024. Call me unconvinced.
Consider this a fixer-upper home. As fans, we may notice the disrepair of the exterior of the home. But as the contractors hired to fix up the home to a livable status, the primary areas of urgency lies elsewhere. The Rams are not running well. The Rams offense in the Red Zone is ineffective. As far as scoring, RB Kyren Williams is almost the Rams' entire scoring offense and has been the lone touchdown-maker without Cooper Kupp suiting up. lie
Is this a Rams 'Chicken vs. Egg' paradox?
The Rams offense is Coach McVay's baby. Right now, the team is struggling on multiple fronts, and it's only natural for the head coach to address the areas of which are more in his direct field of sight. That means that this offense has to settle some of the glaring deficiencies that have been exposed in 2024 after four games.
I'm not buying the conclusion that the Rams coaches are playing the optimal configurations and players in each game, in each series, with each individual snap of the football. If that was truly the case, why did the Rams revert from a very successful game of 45 percent usage of their 12-personnel package that led to a win, back to an eight percent 12-personnel package with a full complement of three tight ends despite only having five healthy wide receivers on the roster.
Were the Rams best suited to play five receivers against the Bears defense almost exclusively?
My point is not that the Rams have to bench both Rozeboom and Reeder initially. But the defense is getting wiped off the football field as the game progresses. It's obvious that the Rams linebackers had nothing left in their tank in overtime to stop the Lions running attack. And after the Rams had closed to within two points of the Chicago Bears, the Bears offense scored the last touchdown in the game,
Just as the team rotates defensive linemen into the game to keep players 'fresh,' this team needs to adopt a similar strategy to keep inside linebackers fresh. By McVay's own admission, preseason, practices, and game scenarios are all different animals. And yet, that logic is used to rationalize why the team is not considering altering what the team will consider in terms of ILB strategy.
But the team is struggling on the football field. Dead last at run defense. So you fix it by turning a blind eye to that?
The Rams must address the ILB deficiencies. While some believe that this is simply as good as it gets, I believe that it's simply not among the worst areas of the team. Once the Rams settle their pass coverage calamity, and tinker with their offense, the brain trust will ponder solutions for this team's bad run defense. Just stay tuned and stay patient.
