Although the Los Angeles Rams offense has been the star of the show the last few years, their defense has been no slouch. This year especially the defense has become one of the best defenses in the league.
Bringing in a champion and defensive leader like Aqib Talib has certainly been key to helping the Rams find defensive success. Talib is now a quarter way finished with his 12th year in the NFL and second with the Rams. Although age seems to have caught up with him just a step, he is still a key member of the Rams defense.
While Talib has made a big impact defensively for the Rams, any defense would be nothing without their coordinator. For the Rams, Wade Phillips is that coordinator and, according to Talib, he enjoys his style of coaching, via Sarina Morales of TheTams.com:
“I think his style of coaching is just dope man. He’s not really going to holler at you. He [is] going [to] get his point across. Guys [are] going to respect him. I think his coaching style makes him as cool as he is.”
Phillips has been a defensive specialist for much of his over 40-year NFL coaching career. He joined the Rams when head coach Sean McVay took over in 2017.
Before that, Phillips served as the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. He was coaching Talib during the Broncos Super Bowl victory in 2016 and helped propel him to some of the best years of his career.
Talib had strong words for not only the amount of respect Phillips demands but the respect that he gives back to his players:
“He treats you like a grown man. He coaches you when he’s supposed to coach. He corrects you when he supposed to correct you and it’s not down your throat. I mean [i’m] not saying [there is anything] wrong with that style of coaching, but I think that’s just what makes [him] so cool, his style of coaching.”
Phillips certainly seems to get the most out of his players. Of course, there is no denying that Aaron Donald is one of the most naturally skilled players in the league, but it is no coincidence that he is playing some of the best football ever seen under Phillips.
Although the Rams defense had been incredible through the first three games of 2019, last Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was an unimpressive performance. The 54 points they gave up were the third-most since the start of the 2018 season, so Phillips will have to go back to the drawing board for Thursday night’s matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
