Rams get defensive (in a good way)

By Eddie Griffin  |   Sunday, September 10, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

St. Louis Rams
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Is this a sign of things to come?

The St. Louis Rams' defense forced five Denver turnovers, and Scott Linehan came out a winner in his first game as Rams head coach with an 18-10 victory over the Broncos in St. Louis on Sunday.

The Rams' defense was one of the worst in the league last season, but throw in one of the best minds in the game in Jim Haslett to go along with a few new additions, and St. Louis' stop unit is all of sudden vastly improved.

Those new additions played key roles in the win. New linebacker Will Witherspoon recorded nine tackles and forced a fumble that resulted in one of the five turnovers. Rookie cornerback Tye Hill picked off a Jake Plummer pass in Denver territory that led to one of Jeff Wilkins' franchise record six field goals. New safety Corey Chavous picked off another Plummer toss in the fourth to thwart a potential Broncos scoring drive and led the Rams to the last of Wilkins' kicks. And Witherspoon had a hand, literally, in the game-deciding play, as he tipped a Plummer pass that landed in the hands of Fakhir Brown. It was the last and most devastating of Plummer's three picks, as it came when the Broncos were driving inside the Ram 30 with two and a half minutes to play.

The Rams' D held Denver to 259 total yards and sacked Plummer four times, to go with the three interceptions. Tatum Bell did have a good rushing day for Denver, going for 103 yards on 15 carries, but that was the only blister on an otherwise stellar day for the new-look defense.

With the way the offense struggled when it counted, that defensive effort was made all the more important.

If you take a look at the numbers on the surface, it'd be easy to say the offense had a decent day. Marc Bulger, who played his first full game since last Nov. 13 against Seattle, threw for 217 yards, and Steven Jackson ran for 121 yards on 22 carries.

But those kinds of numbers can be a little deceiving.

It's not necessary to state the obvious, but I will anyway. Firstly, congratulations to Jeff Wilkins for setting a franchise record with six field goals (in seven attempts). But, if you're the coach, offensive coordinator or a fan, some of those plaudits for Wilkins must turn into criticisms for the offense. If you're an offensive coordinator, or Scott Linehan in particular, you can be happy only to a small extent about that kind of record being set.

The Rams dropped an 'ofer' in the red zone, having to settle for field goals inside the red zone four times. Three times they moved inside the 10 and failed to punch it into the end zone. Bulger was a woeful 1-for-8 for one yard in the Rams' red-zone possessions.

Bonus points for Wilkins, negative points for the O.

Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce did turn in solid games, with Holt making seven grabs for 80 yards and Bruce having a solid start to his 13th NFL campaign, hauling in five passes for 64 yards.

But, overall, it was the defense's day.

The Rams go to San Fran next week to face the 49ers, and the offense will have a chance to make amends against a defense that surrendered 34 points and nearly 400 yards in a 34-27 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The next three weeks after that present more opportunity for the new O to get on a roll, with games against the Cardinals, at home against Detroit and at Green Bay, before the team receives a visit from NFC West rival and defending NFC champion Seattle in Week 6.

Given the Rams' and their new coach's track record, it'd be pretty crass to think that lackluster performances will be a regular thing. It may well be just a case of still trying to get acclimated to the new offensive scheme.

Those next few games will also prove if the excellent Week 1 performance by the Rams' defense is just a fluke due to the high of opening day, or if the unit's going to be at least somewhat formidable throughout the season.

But, for opening day in St. Louis, defense rules the roost, and the new coach can boast a career unbeaten record for at least another week.

Get more original St. Louis Rams coverage at RealFootball365.com
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