Intervention time: How LA Rams lopsided TOP impacts defense

We are caught in a reality of our own making sometimes. What we learn in an instant, we then hold onto for a significantly long time, despite evidence to the contrary.  After the LA Rams offensive line performed atrociously in 2019, that became the reality ever since. There are still fans who believe that the offense line ‘sucks’, despite the fact that they are one of the best statistically in the league.

So too have fans reached an immediate and permanent belief that the LA Rams defense is complete crap, and will never be good again until the Rams fire defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

While I am not here to absolve the guy of some questionable calls and decisions about who to start in this defense, I am going to show that this Rams defense is impacted by more than the defensive coordinator. It’s been a factor for the Rams’ defensive effectiveness since head coach Sean McVay has taken over the team in 2017.

Time of Possession is not a true measure of an NFL offense. How can that be? Well, the Rams proved in earlier games this season that this offense can score a touchdown in just one-two minutes from anywhere on the football field.  So offensively, the LA Rams can score touchdowns with little to no time coming off the clock.

But Time of Possession is a huge factor in determining just how well a defense plays in the NFL. That is due to the fact that it measures not only how effectively the defense gets off the field, but how quickly the offense puts them back onto the field. But before we get into that, let’s talk about why that is the case?