The Los Angeles Rams could have the best defense of the Sean McVay era. Is it too good for the Rams’ offense to handle in practice anymore? That was the case in Saturday’s practice, the first at Woodland Hills this year, as McVay said that L.A.‘s secondary had their best day of training camp as the defense suffocated the offense once again.
Against last season’s number one offense, the Rams forced three turnovers in practice on Saturday, one each by Myles Garrett, Kam Kinchens, and Kam Curl.
Last season, the Rams ranked 10th in points allowed and 17th in yards allowed, but part of their success on defense could still be attributed to the potency of their offense. The Rams haven’t had a true top-10 defense since Brandon Staley was the defensive coordinator for one season in 2020, when L.A. ranked first in points and yards allowed.
Prior to 2020, the Rams hadn’t had a top-10 scoring defense since 2001, a streak of nearly 20 years.
Now Chris Shula has the responsibility to coordinate a top-10 defense after the team acquired Garrett, Trent McDuffie, and Jaylen Watson in the offseason, with the potential return of Aaron Donald also looming. In fact, anything less than top-five would be considered a disappointment. Saturday was the second practice in a row that Garrett completely dominated.
McVay praised Garrett after Friday’s practice as well. The days of Garrett missing four practices with a lower leg injury are not just a feint memory, but probably something that the offenses wishes they could go back to again so that they could finally get their confidence back.
Will this be the only defense in the NFL that can actually stop the Rams offense?
