Rams’ defense sorting through growing pains heading into Week 3

LOS ANGELES – In the dazed aftermath of Sunday’s humbling loss to the Cardinals, Rams head coach Sean McVay and the defensive coaching staff had a consistent message for the players as they tried to turn the page.

“We didn’t go out there and not perform well because we weren’t capable of doing it,” linebacker Troy Reeder recalled. “We didn’t perform well because we didn’t do the things we’re capable of.”

After an encouraging performance in Week 1, the Rams (0-2) got something of a wake-up call in the 41-10 loss to the Cardinals. Kyler Murray escaped every sack attempt. James Conner broke seemingly every tackle in the run game.

Entering this weekend’s game against the San Francisco 49ers (1-1), the Rams rank 32nd and last in the NFL in yards allowed per game (426), 31st in points allowed per play (0.545) and 30th in opponent first downs per game (22.5).

Now, two games out of a 17-game season screams small sample size, not necessarily indicative of how the Rams will finish the season but where the team is as its young players adjust to bigger roles, and rookies adjust to the NFL.

This was always the most likely outcome for the Rams defense to start the season. Future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald retired, completely reorienting how opponents can play the Rams. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and captains Jordan Fuller and Ernest Jones IV departed, completing the leadership churn on that side of the ball.

“This group, a lot of new faces and we’re just going to have to figure out how to play together as a team,” Reeder said. “There’s things that we’re learning on the fly, and we’re learning in practice going into the week. But it’s obviously different going against a first-team offense that’s doing it in that way.”

New defensive coordinator Chris Shula kept the game plan simple for the Rams entering Week 1. Safety John Johnson III said that helped the team play fast, without having to think too much about their assignments. The result was a strong performance against the Lions, before the wear-and-tear of playing one of the NFL’s best offensive lines resulted in a deflated overtime drive.

The Rams still want to play fast; as captain defensive tackle Kobie Turner said, “Our brand of football is flying around.” But that doesn’t mean Shula and his staff aren’t looking for adjustments that can be made ahead of Sunday’s game against an NFC West rival.

“As coaches you try to identify issues as far as if there is anything that we can do schematically to put them in a little better position. With the players, is there anything that we have that’s slowing them down that may be the reason they’re not playing with the best technique that they should be playing from a physical standpoint?” Shula explained. “You kind of look at everything and then you also look at every play as its own entity. What’s happening and how are teams attacking us.”

The Rams believe their errors on Sunday are fixable. Sticking in rush lanes and not leaving their feet to sack the quarterback are easy enough for the pass rush to work on.

And staying disciplined to stop the run is high on the list of priorities this week against the 49ers, even without Christian McCaffrey (Achilles).

“It’s going back to killing blocks, playing physical, being able to escape, being able to tackle, being able to pursue and being able to get takeaways. That starts in the run game,” Turner said. “We have a lot of guys who are really excited to be able to go and get after the passer, but it’s really about earning the right to do that. So we’re taking it step by step, we’re breaking it down in detail and we’re making sure that we have big emphasis on getting off blocks, on being physical, on setting that line of scrimmage so that we can earn the right to get to those fun downs.”