LA Rams pose difficult quandary: Is it due to the talent or the scheme?

Talent or the scheme?

So we’ve come full circle. The road has taken us through the amount of talent lost from the 2020 team to 2021. We have also strolled past the fact that the Rams have been nearly bankrupt over the past two seasons. And yet, the team, over the past two years, has played to 22-11. That seems pretty good to me, right?

So now, let’s get down to a more granular level. Some insist that these Rams are poorly coached because they give up yards. Well, all teams do so at some point in the season. The only real test for performance is to compare the play of veterans who competed on two different teams. Let’s examine the 2021 NFL season of ILB Kenny Young (from Rams to Broncos) and Von Miller (from Broncos to Rams) to see if we can determine which team was a better scheme?

Player           Before trade                                    After trade
Young          7 games: 2 sacks, 46 tkls               6 games, 0 sacks, 29 tkls
Millier          7 games: 4.5 sacks, 19 tkls            8 games, 5.0 sacks, 31 tkls

Rams scheme > Broncos scheme

So the evidence suggests that the LA Rams defensive scheme is better than that blessed by the Denver Broncos, whose head coach is the defensive guru Vic Fangio. But Vic Fangio taught Brandon Staley everything that Staley knows about defense. And if Rams players in 2021 are playing better for the Rams, then what must we conclude?

None of this should surprise anyone. The expectation is that any player who arrives at the LA Rams defense gets a boost to their production in the form of the Aaron Donald effect. But if the team’s overall defense was not up to the challenge of putting players into a position to win, would the AD effect even be a thing?

So why have the Rams screwed with the play of Jalen Ramsey? Simply stated: NFL offenses simply rerouted their offense through slot receivers.  If you want to check out the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs from last season, you will find that much of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive success came from overtaxing the LA Rams linebackers. They flooded the middle with runs and passes. As the defense tried to compensate, the offense was free to throw to their intermediate and deep routes.

The Rams have been experimenting with Jalen Ramsey in a variety of roles to try to negate that vulnerability. Has it worked out? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Frankly, I’m okay with the defense trying to shut down that dink and dunk crap.