Los Angeles Rams showing strength on defense early on in 2018 season

The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals 34-0, capping off another impressive performance from their defense.

The Los Angeles Rams before the season started had one of the best defenses on paper. It was a defense that you would build on Madden by putting force trades on and salary cap off, because it that good.

Heading into 2018, every football fan was curious to see how this defense would shape up, and so far the Rams haven’t disappointed to kick off this season.

In the offseason, the Rams acquired Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib through trades to bolster their secondary. They lost Trumaine Johnson in free agency, so they knew they’d need to replace him.

Turns out, Los Angeles did more than just replace Johnson after rewarding Nickell Robey-Coleman to an extension while also signing Sam Shields in free agency.

Talk about beefing up an already talented defense, right?

Then, to top things off, the Rams went out and got Ndamukong Suh in free agency. The Rams also were able to get a historic deal done with Aaron Donald, after a drawn out saga.

Now, the trio of Suh, Donald and Michael Brockers will be able to cause havoc all season together. When Brockers is your third best defensive lineman, you’re doing good for yourself.

With all of these transactions, it was understood that Los Angeles was taking in huge personalities in Peters, Talib and Suh. So far, it’s worked out to perfection through two weeks with no problems at all. Also, with these moves, the league knew the Rams meant business going forward.

We are now done with Week 2 in the NFL season, with the Rams sitting atop the NFC West at 2-0, and a big reason for that is their outstanding defense. Through two games, they’ve outscored the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals by a combined score of 67-13.

In the last six quarters alone, Los Angeles has outscored their opponents 57-0, which is the definition of being dominant. In Week 2 against the Cardinals, the Rams allowed just five first downs and 167 total yards. The Cardinals didn’t have a play on the Rams side of the field until the second to last play of the entire game, showing just how dominant the unit truly is.

A huge reason for this success is the play of the new look Rams secondary. Peters and Talib have been nothing short of phenomenal, essentially allowing nothing to get by them. Through two weeks, wide receivers against the Rams have just 98 yards on 12 receptions.

To top it off, no touchdowns have been allowed through the air either, which is another testament on how this secondary is the definition of a “lockdown” unit. The Rams secondary actually has more touchdowns scored (Peters pick-six from Week 1) than they’ve allowed.

Sean McVay and Les Snead knew the talent they could get out of the guys they acquired, but I don’t know if they imagined them being this good. I understand it’s the first two weeks of the season and we can be too quick to judge sometimes, but this secondary seems to be a top-notch group though, shutting everything down in sight.

The defensive line doesn’t need much of an introduction, as it was already one of the best in the NFL. Now, with the addition of Suh, the sky is the limit for this group. You have the most dominant defensive player in Donald, with Suh and Brockers causing trouble alongside him.

As an offense, you’ll have to decide who to double team, leaving one of these guys on an island with an offensive lineman. I’d never wish that sort of punishment on my worst enemy. They haven’t had many sacks to begin this year, but once this defense really gets going, those will come in bunches.

Another improvement so far has been the run defense for Los Angeles. Last season, the Rams allowed the fifth most rushing yards in the NFL. McVay and Wade Phillips knew that needed to be fixed. This season, the Rams have allowed just 149 yards on 38 attempts (3.9 yards per carry). That puts the Rams as the fifth best run defense so far this year, which hopefully will stick.

Everyone who knows football, knew how dangerous this defense could be for Los Angeles. If the Rams’ defense is able to keep this level of play going throughout the year, we could see the title of “best defense” reside in Los Angeles.