Rams Defense Loved By Opposing Teams

And why wouldn't opposing offenses love the Rams, they only allowed 2,327 rushing yards for 2006, third worst in Rams history. I guess one could blame it on the fact that the defense rarely had playing time when they were a head, they played 10 teams that had 1,000 yard rushers, three of them being Tomlinson, Johnson, and Gore. But what was the excuse for the other 6 games that they allowed rushers to gash through the line?

Face it, the Rams rush defense was just simply embarrassing. Jimmy Kennedy didn't get the job done at nose tackle, Brandon Green, high in enthusiasm didn't make many noteworthy plays, Glover had some bright moments, but it would suit him better if he were to play less downs. Claude Wroten may not be the answer with what little he showed in 2006. Even Leonard Little's tremendous Pro Bowl caliber season was enough to help this group. After all, it's impossible to expect one man to do the entire job.

Will Witherspoon was asked to do a lot for the team by switching positions and showed that he had tremendous sideline to sideline speed and was one of the few bright spots on the defense leading the team in tackles on the year. Pisa Tinoisamoa suffered from so many injuries that they finally forced him off the field for the season, despite his insistence upon continuing to play. But even with the efforts of these two warriors, it just wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the defense's inability to some how figure out the fundamentals of stuffing the run.

A lot of the reason for their inability to stuff the run comes from the fact that so many of the players simply are not big enough to handle some of the bruising backs that have emerged in the NFL and this will be a key issue for the Rams coaching staff to focus on this off season. They must commit themselves to finding a couple of players that are not only big but ones that have attitudes to go with the bulk.

Although there were a few players on the defense that played hard enough and determined enough to deserve far better grades, it's just not feasible to give them higher, because the overall performance of the group was abysmal.

Grade: D

Tomorrow: Special Teams