3 good, 3 bad, and 3 ugly takeaways in LA Rams Week 4 humbling loss

Bad III: Rams run defense allowed another 100-yard game to a running back

The LA Rams run defense is not very good. That’s going to cause huge problems later when the Rams get to colder weather and face some good running offenses. It’s causing problems now, but when the score is so lopsided as 37-20, those details get lost in the enormity of the ass-kicking received.

Stopping the run may seem like a small and insignificant task, but if not now, then when? The NFC West includes the Arizona Cardinals, the Seattle Seahawks, and the San Francisco 49ers. All three teams can run the ball very effectively.  From what the Rams showed on defense today, there will be five more 100-yard games for a single running back this season.

The Vic Fangio defense addresses the inherent weakness in an odd-man front by assigning each running lane to a different defender. That ensured that the defense had addressed all the rushing lanes, and allowed mid-game corrections. Do you recall how the LA Rams defense seemed to make perfect adjustments during halftime to stop what the offense was trying to establish?

The Rams are no longer making halftime adjustments. Or worse yet, they are making halftime adjustments that are completely ineffective. After four games in 2020, the LA Rams surrendered a total of 23 second-half points. After four games in 2021, the LA Rams have surrendered 55 second-half points.

Are Rams fans spoiled now? Yes. Yes, they are. But it serves to illustrate how the Rams defense made opponents one-dimensional in 2020 by halftime. So far, the Rams have struggled to stop either the run or the pass, which has allowed their opponents to score effectively in all four quarters