Brandon Staley’s LA Rams defense 3 pronged attack

Solid run defense

Whoa, wait a minute. How can this be? After the original analysis, it seemed as though the LA Rams had a tough choice to make. And the Rams stopped the dangerous Cowboys passing attack, particularly in the second half. The  Rams played an unusual defense that was ideal to stop the Cowboys’ rushing offense.  How did that work?

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The Rams created their own set of misdirection on the defensive line. When the Cowboys opened the second half, Elliott rushed off the left tackle for 14 yards. While that moved the chains, it also allowed the defense to reset their reads. On the very next play, the Cowboys tried the same play, this time it was held to no gain.  After a pass for a first down, the Cowboys were back to running left tackle, this time for three yards.  A second run produced another three yards. Then the Rams were able to sack Prescott on a third and four.

Solid run defense

The Cowboys made some runs, but the Rams were able to keep Elliott from making a big gain. They did that with the front seven and seldom allowed any runner to get to the secondary. That allowed the Rams secondary to focus upon pass defense.  Of course, the pass defense was augmented frequently with an extra defensive back.  But even in those cases, the Rams front three created a lot of chaos for the Cowboys offensive line, which allowed Kiser to make a tackle on Elliott fairly quickly.

Kiser had a monster game in this one. He was often the only player standing between the Rams tackling the running back or not. He had seven tackles, six of which were solo. And he deflected two passes. In the end, his performance was outstanding in his first NFL start.  Will he hold up at 100 percent snap counts all season? Hopefully, the Rams will develop Justin Hollins as an inside linebacker option in the near future to ensure Kiser remains fresh all season.