Are we sure the Rams defense is good?

[Froob]

Seen quite a few of their games, their defense hasn’t been all that impressive. I think the Chiefs will light them up next month.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

No defense is good. An NFL defense is now the equivalent of being the batting tee in a tee-ball game.

 

[varjao]

From what I saw it's not.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

We’ll find out once they play New orleans and KC in a couple of weeks...

 

[everlong]

They aren't as good as they were billed to start the season but to be fair Talib is on IR, Marcus Peters hasn't been the same since he tweaked his calf and they've had a few other key injuries.

 

[Hyped]

No defense is good. An NFL defense is now the equivalent of being the batting tee in a tee-ball game.

Winner! Winner, Chicken Dinner!!!

Nowadays, it is about limiting offenses to field goals or forcing some punts....there will be good and bad defenses...but the best defenses will still get lit like a X-mas tree...

 

[PF_SU]

Just like for passing and receiving stats, if you truly want to assess how good or bad a D is, you have to compare them to league average or league best and not to what was a good or bad D in the past. The game's now radically different to the game 10-15 years ago. I'm sure we will never see defensive stats like the one put up by the 2002 Buccaneers for example who held opposing QBs to a passer rating of 48.4 again.

 

[ZoisKing]

Just like for passing and receiving stats, if you truly want to assess how good or bad a D is, you have to compare them to league average or league best and not to what was a good or bad D in the past. The game's now radically different to the game 10-15 years ago. I'm sure we will never see defensive stats like the one put up by the 2002 Buccaneers for example who held opposing QBs to a passer rating of 48.4 again.

The game has certainly changed. You had the Ravens, then the Bucs, and even the championship Patriots defenses who really dictated play. Now its all about the offenses. Rookie QBs are able to come in and blow things up against veteran defenses.

 

[jah]

I have KC giving them their first loss.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Just like for passing and receiving stats, if you truly want to assess how good or bad a D is, you have to compare them to league average or league best and not to what was a good or bad D in the past. The game's now radically different to the game 10-15 years ago. I'm sure we will never see defensive stats like the one put up by the 2002 Buccaneers for example who held opposing QBs to a passer rating of 48.4 again.

I disagree. Denver in 2015 and Seattle in 2013 are recent examples of stellar D in the new NFL. I just think there's an incredible amount of good fortune needed to put such a D together. Denver's trio of good CBs elevated that D from very good to great. Seattle hit a homerun in drafting Sherman, Chancellor and Thomas.

The Rams took their shot at a monster D this year. They still had a weakness at LB so Talib and Peters had to produce. Tough to do when injured.

Regards,
Chris

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Its a weakness, but i really dont see anyone in the nfc who can exploit them enough to overcome that offense.

 

[PF_SU]

I disagree. Denver in 2015 and Seattle in 2013 are recent examples of stellar D in the new NFL. I just think there's an incredible amount of good fortune needed to put such a D together. Denver's trio of good CBs elevated that D from very good to great. Seattle hit a homerun in drafting Sherman, Chancellor and Thomas.

The Rams took their shot at a monster D this year. They still had a weakness at LB so Talib and Peters had to produce. Tough to do when injured.

Regards,
Chris

In 2013 teams averaged 235.6 net passing yards and a passer rating of 86.0. Through 6 games in 2018 teams average 255.7 net passing yards and a passer rating of 93.2. I don't think the 2013 Seahawks will come close to what they averaged in 2013 in today's environment. And Denver's regular season D is slightly overrated in a historical perspective because of the dominance during their playoff run. In the regular season they had a passer rating of 78.8 against.

And in the end, neither of those two Ds compare to the 2002 Bucs in terms of raw numbers. Denver's pass D in 2015 had 6.2 Y/A against, 199.6 net passing yards and a rating of 78.8. Seattle's pass D in 2013 had 5.8 Y/A against, 172.0 net passing yards and a passer rating of 63.4. Meanwhile the 2002 Bucs posted 5.5 Y/A against, 155.6 net passing yards and a passer rating of 48.4. So no, if you compare them directly using raw numbers the 2002 Bucs D completely blows them out of the water. The 2015 Broncos D and 2013 Seahawks D can only rank as historically great D if you compare them to their respective league average.

 

[fightingirish595]

I questioned all off season how the rams were going to be able to improve their run defense from last year. It might be worse

Calling it now, if they sit their starters in week 17, they are going to lose that first playoff game.

I don’t see a team yet that with that offense/defense balance. If you ask me, New England is the favorite right now.

 

[1960Pats]

The Rams' start needs to be put into perspective.

They've only played two teams with a winning record (LAC 4-2, Minny 3-2-1) and they played both of them at home. The combined record for the other 4 teams they beat is a woeful 7-17 (Oak 1-5, Arizona 1-5, Denver 2-4 and Seattle 3-3).

That comes out to an opponents record of 14-21-1, 2nd worst in the entire NYFL and second only to 3-3 Philly at 12-22-1.