Rams defense has quietly excelled in 1 area fans didn't see coming

The Los Angeles Rams made it a point to reinforce the roster to fix weaknesses that were exposed and exploited last season.

One area that was a glaring need was the team's run defense, which was repeatedly shredded last year. The opponent that leveraged that vulnerability to tremendous success was the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that rode the back of running back Saquon Barkley to two huge victories last season.

This year, when the two teams faced off in Week 3, the Eagles emerged as the victors. But it was not thanks to Barkley, who was stuffed for 46 rushing yards on 18 carries. He averaged 2.6 yards per carry, and his longest dash on the day was just 12 yards. It was just another day at the office for this run defense, powered by newly added nose tackle Poona Ford and veteran linebacker Nate Landman.

But this is a team effort, one that has resulted in some amazing achievements already. Los Angeles' defense has only allowed two rushing touchdowns (best in NFL), and has allowed just 3.5 yards per carry (third best).

How did Rams pull off such a dramatic difference in defending the run?

Best of all, LA's defense has not allowed any runs of 20-plus yards through the first five games. That's a vast improvement over last year's struggles, and it has been accomplished from a concerted effort from the front office, the coaches, and the players.

So now the question is: How did the Rams enact such a dramatic turnaround from one season ago?

1. Acknowledge the problem

The first step to any problem-solving is acknowledging that the problem exists. While the optics for last year's run defense made denial impossible, Los Angeles owned the problem fully, and the entire organization made a coordinated and concerted effort to fix the problem.

2. Realign coaching to address the problem

LA segregated the duties of the defensive line of scrimmage into a run-game coordinator, assigned to defensive line coach Giff Smith. A pass-rush coordinator role was created and staffed by newly hired Drew Wilkens. While first impressions seemed to suggest an emphasis on the pass rush with the new role, it allowed Coach Smith to focus entirely on run defense, gap assignments, and getting optimal performance from his players.

3. Make run defense everyone's responsibility

While both Ford and Landman have been superb at defending the run, they are not alone. Linebacker Jared Verse has been a run-stuffing behemoth off the edge. Defensive ends Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske have upped their game tremendously. And you can add Byron Young, Josaiah Stewart, Tyler Davis, and defensive back Kam Curl showing up and stuffing the run.

Of course, the season is still young. And the Rams have yet to face many elite running backs. But LA has already faced and shut down some of the best rushers in the NFL.

Many fans hoped that this defense would improve. Nobody expected this level of success this quickly. In light of this immediate and dramatic turnaround, fans have every reason to be encouraged that more fixes to this team are on the way and will be equally effective.

As always, thanks for reading.

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