How difficult will Rams find getting off to a fast start in the 2025 NFL season?

(4) - Rams traded starting ILB Ernest Jones just as season arrived

I don't know if we will ever truly know why the Rams and starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones had an instantaneous and permanent falling out just before the 2024 NFL season got underway. But the impact of the defense losing top-tackler Jones was a setback that I'm not sure the defense ever truly recovered from.

The team tried to stitch together an undrafted tandem of inside linebackers in Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom, but neither was particularly effective at stuffing the run, making tackles, or playing with a level of physical intensity. After a Week 7 injury to Reeder forced him to IR, undrafted rookie Beaux Limmer was a step in the right direction. He was markedly better at playing the run, allowing Rozeboom to slide into his natural skillsets of mopping up and defending the pass.

Lost in all of the ILB shuffle is the fact that this was a team playing for a new defensive coordinator.

While DC Chris Shula was promoted to his new defensive coordinator role from his positional coaching role, he brought changes and a new philosophy to the defense as well. It took time for veterans, rookie starters, and rotations to feel comfortable in that scheme. As just one example, the Rams' pass rush could only muster three quarterback sacks in the first two games of the 2024 NFL season.

But the team was able to generate 16 quarterback sacks in the final two games, both games in the postseason. While it may have taken time for the defense to figure it all out, they ended the 2024 campaign on a very high note.

(3) - Rams secondary was in chaos

The success of the Rams' bargain basement secondary did not carry over from 2023 to 2024. The team lost projected free agent starting cornerback Darious Williams for the first four games of the season. The team has already lost returning CB Derion Kendrick for the season. And veteran CB Tre'Davious White was not ready to start after two consecutive seasons were ended by serious injuries.

That is on top of the fact that the Rams had a new starting safety configuration in Kamren Curl, John Johnson III, and Quentin Lake, and the secondary was pretty much struggling to find itself any form of bedrock. By Week 3, Johnson was injured, and the team promoted rookie safeties Jaylen McCollough and Kamren Kinchens to take over. By Week 4, the team finally brought back former starting CB Ahekello Witherspoon and began to play him over rookie CB Josh Wallace. By Week 5, Tre'Davious White was benched, and the team's secondary had new faces on the football field.

So how bad was it? Pretty bad, to be honest. In the first five games of the season, the Rams secondary allowed receivers to look like All-Pro candidates:

• Week 1 - Detroit Lions WR Jameson Winston - 5 of 9, 121 yards, 1 TD
• Week 2 - Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. - 4 of 8, 130 yards, 2 TDs
• Week 3 - San Francisco 49ers WR Jauan Jennings - 11 of 12, 175 yards, 3 TDs
• Week 4 - Chicago Bears WR D'Andre Swift - 7 of 7, 72 yards, 0 TDs
• Week 5 - Green Bay Packers WR Tucker Kraft - 4 of 5, 88 yards, 2 TDs

That is certainly not the right way to open a season if the goal is to win games.

If you are looking for a happy ending, you've come to the right place. In two NFL Playoff games, the Rams' secondary allowed just 228 total passing yards, one touchdown, while getting an interception and allowing the team's pass rush to put up 16 quarterback sacks. In terms of quarterback rating, the Rams' secondary only trailed that of the Houston Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles.

So yes, the team improved dramatically over the course of the season.