Los Angeles Rams: Why the defense will live up to the hype

There are no doubts here at LA Sports Hub: the Los Angeles Rams defense is going to be everything it was made out to be before the season.

The Los Angeles Rams added cornerbacks Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and defensive lineman  Ndamukong Suh to improve a young defense.

The Rams already had last year’s Defensive Player of the Year, Aaron Donald, who just signed a  six-year, $135 million contract with $87 million guaranteed to stay with the Rams. All these moves make them a terrifying defense if they pick up Wade Phillips system quickly.

Here is why the Los Angeles Rams defense will live up to the hype.

1. Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald

Having Suh and Donald on the same defensive line is very scary. Suh will lineup mostly at nose tackle; Donald will line up at the three-technique, which is between the offensive guard and tackle.

It is almost impossible to double team the three-technique in a 3-4 defense because the tackle has to account for the outside pass rusher and the center has to go far. So that frees up Donald to one on one matchups that he will win.

Having Suh at the nose will cause teams to double team him and teams will have to block Michael Brockers one on one and it will also free up linebackers to run around clean and make plays.

Brockers should have a good year with teams focusing on Suh and Donald. These two beasts will push the pocket and create pass rush up the middle, the most dangerous pass rush there is because quarterbacks will not be able to step up in the pocket to throw.

 2. Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib

Acquiring both Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib was huge for the Rams. Both are ball-hawking and aggressive corners. Peters already has an interception this season to move his career total up to 20.

Talib is known for taking chances and jumping short routes. These two will also benefit from Suh and Donald; with those two putting pressure on the quarterback there will not be much time to throw, which will allow Peters and Talib to be aggressive and jump a lot of routes. I see a lot of pick-sixes coming this year from the Rams.

    3. Wade Phillips Factor

Wade Phillips has been coaching in the NFL for 41 seasons, that means he has seen everything there is to see from NFL offenses. Phillips is one the best defensive coordinators there is. He runs a 3-4 defense, which is very popular in today’s game.

For those who don’t know what 3-4 alignment is, its three defensive lineman and four linebackers.

Phillps can make big-time adjustments, which was put on display in the Monday night game against the Raiders. Raiders tight end Jared Cook torched the Rams in the first half with eight catches but only had one catch in the second half.

When the Raiders lined up Cook outside, the Rams put a linebacker over to shadow Cook along with safety John Johnson III, who was covering Cook. The move made it difficult for Cook to get involved in the second half. Simple adjustments like that make Wade Phillips great.

This Los Angeles Rams defense has a chance to be unique; they have a lot of talent and a great defensive coordinator. All is left to do is build chemistry and the sky is the limit for this group.