There's a narrative circulating that the Los Angeles Rams need to fire defensive coordinator Chris Shula, and while I have been critical of him in the past, it was not his fault the team lost on Sunday. In fact, it was probably one of his better coaching jobs.
Entering the game, Shula was already without star defensive back Trent McDuffie, while safety Kam Curl was dealing with an ankle injury he picked up during the week. The opposition was led by Mike LaFleur, the Rams' former offensive coordinator and the man who duked it out with Shula for the last three years in practice.
Despite being without key players and facing off against someone who knows how he thinks inside and out, Shula and the defense held the Arizona Cardinals to six field goals
in the 18-16 defeat. That means that despite Arizona having the NFL's No. 1 tight end in Trey McBride, a top receiver in Michael Wilson, and the schematic advantage, the Cardinals did not score a single touchdown.
Head coach Sean McVay is regarded as an offensive mastermind. Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams led the NFL in receptions and receiving touchdowns last season, respectively. Kyren Williams has rushed for 1,000 yards for three straight seasons.
The offense put up 16 total points. They ran a fullback dive with tight end Davis Allen on fourth-and-1 on the edge of the red zone. It was Allen's first carry ever; the play was awful, and it failed miserably. From the end of the team's second-to-last offensive drive of the game to the beginning of the final drive, McVay called three straight screen plays. All unsuccessful, with one being on fourth-and-8.
Let's not bring up the two-point conversion that had no other read besides a fade to Adams that was snuffed out.
The Rams scored 16 total points. That's it. Only the Los Angeles Chargers, who are 0-6, scored less than the Rams in Week 6. The San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions averaged 37 points per game against Arizona. The Rams? Just 16 at home. That's not Shula's fault.
Only once this season has Arizona scored less than 18 points in a game, and that was against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
These are supposed to be the big, bad Rams. Shula hasn't worked with a healthy Myles Garrett. The secondary has been stretched thin all year long. The linebacker play remains an issue.
Does Shula have flaws? Yes. The thing is that the numbers don't lie, and neither does the film. Regardless of the scenario, Shula has always provided the Rams with a chance to win.
The defense shut down the Giants in their blowout win, also shutting out the Philadelphia Eagles in the second half of that win. They came up with the critical turnover against the Buffalo Bills in overtime to set up the game-winning field goal attempt that was eventually blocked. Against the Denver Broncos, despite their third-quarter meltdown following Jaylen Watson's departure via injury, Josh Wallace secured the interception that led to the go-ahead score and picked off another Bo Nix pass to just about seal the game, only for it to be negated on a penalty that the NFL admitted shouldn't have been called.
Shula's job is simple: Do enough for the Rams' offense to win the game. He's done the job this season. It's the offense that hasn't held up its end of the deal. Look up Shula's time as defensive coordinator. He's bailed Los Angeles out more times than it would like to admit.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Criticism of Chris Shula in Rams' loss to Cardinals is foolish
