The Los Angeles Rams, led by head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, are off to a solid 4-2 start, already sweeping the stumbling NFC East. Their two losses to the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers were close, inspiring confidence moving forward.
However, the trend through six games has been lackluster first halves followed by incredible play after halftime. While this can’t be relied on for a whole season, poor first half play has told the tale. In the first 30 minutes of games, the Rams are being outscored 88-73. But in the second half, they become one of the league’s best defenses, outscoring teams by a total margin of 79-26.
McVay feels that giving up an average of 14.7 points per first half and a ridiculous 4.3 points per second half is a testament to their halftime adjustments, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“In all of our games, it’s given us a chance to win, both the games that we (have and) haven’t come through on, based on the way that the defense has performed in the second half, especially,” McVay said. “Those are things that we’ll want to continue to see and I think it’s going to be a real positive for this football team as we continue to get through and play more and more games.”
Staley echoed McVay’s sentiment about the defense in the latter parts of games:
“Just a credit to our players,” Staley said. “I think we’ve executed at a high level coming out in the second half.”
As previously stated, the Rams cannot rely on that type of production in the second half, meaning they have to figure out a way to stop teams early in games.
Their Monday night matchup against the Chicago Bears will be the perfect chance to make that change, as the Bears are home to a below average offense.
Aaron Donald excited for first sack against Nick Foles
Despite Aaron Donald’s pure dominance as the league’s best defensive player, he has yet to sack Bears quarterback Nick Foles. This is a stat he’s hoping to change on Monday.
Donald says he plans to study the film and figure out how to attack the Bears offensive line in order to get the elusive first sack on Foles, hopefully helping the Rams move to 5-2.
