The RAMS Forum

We all hold Schula accountable for defense but no one mentions Pleasant (secondary coach) and Beake (safety coach). These are the guys who should be accountable for weak secondary.

Jacksnow wrote: ↑January 4th, 2026, 5:06 pm We all hold Schula accountable for defense but no one mentions Pleasant (secondary coach) and Beake (safety coach). These are the guys who should be accountable for weak secondary.

It starts with roster construction. Mcsnead failed miserably with the secondary as they saw talent in a bunch of guys that have none. So the coaches can't do much although they still suck, and should have found a way to at least hide the weakness somehow. One way is to increase the pressure on the qb and shula rarely blitz.

I don't know, maybe we watched a different game but seemed like the front 4 generate a lot of pressure and sacks but the WRs/TE/RB were always wide open. That zone was zoned out !

There was constant pressure on Brissett, and often he got the ball off half a second before getting hit. So close! The Rams just seem so afraid of getting beat deep that they leave the first 5-10 yards vulnerable. It’s not sustainable.

DVA_ram33 wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:32 am I don't know, maybe we watched a different game but seemed like the front 4 generate a lot of pressure and sacks but the WRs/TE/RB were always wide open. That zone was zoned out !

I would hardly say we generate a LOT of sacks .. especially over the last half of the season. Recall at one point we neck and neck with Denver for the lead .. nowhere CLOSE now. They sustained, we faded. There was a point a point when Young LED the league with 9 sacks. He finished with what .. 12 or so, Meanwhile Garret zoomed by, not that I am suggesting those two are on the same plane. Our ability to get to the QB and therefore impact their offensive flow faded almost into non existence

GoldenRam wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:49 am

DVA_ram33 wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:32 am I don't know, maybe we watched a different game but seemed like the front 4 generate a lot of pressure and sacks but the WRs/TE/RB were always wide open. That zone was zoned out !

I would hardly say we generate a LOT of sacks .. especially over the last half of the season. Recall at one point we neck and neck with Denver for the lead .. nowhere CLOSE now. They sustained, we faded. There was a point a point when Young LED the league with 9 sacks. He finished with what .. 12 or so, Meanwhile Garret zoomed by, not that I am suggesting those two are on the same plane. Our ability to get to the QB and therefore impact their offensive flow faded almost into non existence

I think we generate pressure but never closed. Verse in particular just seems incapable of closing out a sack. He is so close but they always slip away from him..

bigklein wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:45 am There was constant pressure on Brissett, and often he got the ball off half a second before getting hit. So close! The Rams just seem so afraid of getting beat deep that they leave the first 5-10 yards vulnerable. It’s not sustainable.

Yeah.. my feeling is that the soft zone just removes half a second of time to get real pressure up front.

DVA_ram33 wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 10:03 am

GoldenRam wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:49 am

I would hardly say we generate a LOT of sacks .. especially over the last half of the season. Recall at one point we neck and neck with Denver for the lead .. nowhere CLOSE now. They sustained, we faded. There was a point a point when Young LED the league with 9 sacks. He finished with what .. 12 or so, Meanwhile Garret zoomed by, not that I am suggesting those two are on the same plane. Our ability to get to the QB and therefore impact their offensive flow faded almost into non existence

I think we generate pressure but never closed. Verse in particular just seems incapable of closing out a sack. He is so close but they always slip away from him..

which makes all that "pressure" essentially worthless. We aren't getting there, our DB's can't cover their shadow and we're getting beat time and time again. Top QB's will just eat us alive at this point.

GoldenRam wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 3:04 pm

DVA_ram33 wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 10:03 am

I think we generate pressure but never closed. Verse in particular just seems incapable of closing out a sack. He is so close but they always slip away from him..

which makes all that "pressure" essentially worthless. We aren't getting there, our DB's can't cover their shadow and we're getting beat time and time again. Top QB's will just eat us alive at this point.

I relooked at many of the plays from that Rams Carolina game and Forbes and the Rams D was just taken advantage of by late adjustments. I'm hoping Q fix it, bc he can make late counter adjustments to the D after Carolina audibles.

For example
Carolina audibles and use their receivers and backs to pick up Rams sending 6. They get the one on one matchup they want with 3 wrs initially going into coverage. Somehow a late adjustment wasn't made, by the defense (Whoever was wearing the green dot), bc the ILBs and safety remained in zone all waiting for the 4th receiver to go out for the pass after initially helping to block. So 3 guys on one wr, while Forbes is one on one and gets beat by a post route for a td.

So many times, Rams defenders are left covering grass or the same receiver, due to Carolina audibles, to get a one on one with Forbes.

One time Carolina audibles, which moves the safety to the inside, leaving, Forbes in bump and run coverage alone on the outside, which he gets burned for a td.

Over and over Carolina made audibles and late adjustments to get one on one with Forbes and sometimes other cbs, and the Rams D (who ever is wearing the green dot) isn't making the proper adjustments.

Q is missed

DVA_ram33 wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 10:03 am

GoldenRam wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:49 am

I would hardly say we generate a LOT of sacks .. especially over the last half of the season. Recall at one point we neck and neck with Denver for the lead .. nowhere CLOSE now. They sustained, we faded. There was a point a point when Young LED the league with 9 sacks. He finished with what .. 12 or so, Meanwhile Garret zoomed by, not that I am suggesting those two are on the same plane. Our ability to get to the QB and therefore impact their offensive flow faded almost into non existence

I think we generate pressure but never closed. Verse in particular just seems incapable of closing out a sack. He is so close but they always slip away from him..

Good post DVA. THIS!

I don’t believe any of our corners would even be on any other teams roster.
Our safeties are decent. But, as a group, our corners are the worst I have ever seen.
Williams, Forbes, Durant, Kendrick, and Wallace should be off this team in 2026. They have no business being in the NFL.

GlendoraRam wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 3:41 pm I don’t believe any of our corners would even be on any other teams roster.
Our safeties are decent. But, as a group, our corners are the worst I have ever seen.
Williams, Forbes, Durant, Kendrick, and Wallace should be off this team in 2026. They have no business being in the NFL.

In all honesty, you may get your wish. None of these guys are signed long-term except Q. Rams knew that they didn't have any guys worthy of a long-term deal except Q, and knew that they would I have to address the secondary in 2026. What they underestimated was how bad the cbs are. Before the season, I didn't think highly of the cbs, but again, I didn't realize they were this bad. They weren't this bad last year or the beginning of this year.

I'm hoping the return of Q and his late adjustments to counter the audibles by the O helps. The corners keep getting stuck in one on one coverage, while the safeties are covering grass.

The secondary will be our downfall in the playoffs. We cannot stop top end receivers period.

DVA_ram33 wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:32 am I don't know, maybe we watched a different game but seemed like the front 4 generate a lot of pressure and sacks but the WRs/TE/RB were always wide open. That zone was zoned out !

The pressure on this last game was actually good . But that is not always the case