Chris Shula will have to crank up the heat for Rams defense to survive

Ask Los Angeles Rams fans about Chris Shula's Week 1 performance and you'll get a lot of Angry Birds faces in return. The Rams coordinator was brutally sonned, as the kids say, by Kyle Shanahan's offensive play-calling for the 49ers.

Playing back and surrendering huge swaths of space in front of the sticks might work against some offenses, versus some playcallers, but not against Shanahan. And no matter what, Shula has to bump up his 15.6 percent blitz rate, the fourth-lowest in the league.

That's especially true with Myles Garrett, an organic megasource of pass-rush pressure, on injured reserve. Having Aaron Donald back would help on the interior, but there's no way Shula can repeat his passive strategy against the Giants on Monday and expect better results.

Chris Shula needs to reimagine this Rams defense

Shanahan's dismantling of Shula and the Rams defense was a masterclass in exacting death by a thousand papercuts. Aside from one 39-yard bomb for former LA receiver DeMarcus Robinson, no play the 49ers called gained more than 18 yards - on a Brock Purdy scramble. 

That didn't stop them from piling up a respectable 379 yards of offense while controlling the clock. Shanahan took what Shula gave him, which was a wide-open ocean of space in the short area of the field. 

The Rams only called man coverage 13.9 percent of the time, which is fine by itself. What isn't fine, given how the 49ers took advantage, is all the soft looks Shula gave them by using Cover 3, Cover 4, or Cover 6 on over 72 percent of plays.

The 2026 49ers don't have many deep threats as is. There's Robinson, now-injured rookie De'Zhaun Stribling, and a 33-year-old but still dangerous Mike Evans. That's about it. What are we doing with all the deep-zone assignments?

Leaving chunks of open space for Shanahan to work with isn't a good idea. It's not a great idea against any offense. Most teams in the league can live on short stuff all day.

It doesn't require explosive downfield playmakers, and it's easier to sustain drives and build momentum. Getting dink-and-dunked to exhaustion might be the worst way to go. 

And now there's no Garrett, who was hurt and ineffective in Week 1, anyway. That means Shula won't be able to get pressure - his defense failed to record a sack against the 49ers - just sitting back and hoping someone gets home. 

Giants will pick the Rams apart if Shula doesn't change it up

He won't be able to limit the damage against a Giants offense, which by the way just hung 28 points on the Cowboys, that would gladly work the short part of the field with a young quarterback in Jaxson Dart who can expose a soft zone defense by taking off to run.

Running back Cam Skattebo would appreciate a less crowded box to barrel through. Tight end Isaiah Likely, who led the team with 78 receiving yards on eight catches against Dallas, would love to exploit cushions of space in the mid range. 

Start with bringing more pressure up front. That's step No. 1. Garrett won't be eating up double teams, so overwhelming the offensive line with bodies is Shula's best bet to create pressure.

Cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson held up just fine in Week 1. Trust them to match up well with their receivers and let more defenders crowd the box. Shula doesn't have to go crazy - there's only one Brian Flores - but the Rams can't go down sitting on their hands again, either.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow