The Rams were carried by their defense in 2020, which ranked No. 1 in points and yards allowed in Brandon Staley’s first year as a defensive coordinator. Staley has since gone on to become head coach of the Chargers, opening the door for Raheem Morris to step in as the Rams’ new defensive coordinator.
He inherits an outstanding defense that should once again be great in 2021, depending on how severe the losses are in free agency. But Morris isn’t striving to have the Rams lead the league in points allowed.
He wants to win a ring.
At the end of the day, ultimately nobody’s really going to be happy with being the No. 1 defense,” Morris said during his introductory press conference. “We are here to win a championship, and I wasn’t brought here to try to duplicate what they did last year. We were brought here to win and we’re brought here to win a championship and I want to get that done for Sean. I want to get that done for this community. I want to get that done for you guys.”
The Rams were excellent in two of the most important phases of defense: rushing the quarterback and defending the pass. They finished second with 53 sacks and allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL, consistently giving opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers trouble.
That’s not lost on Morris, who recognized the strengths of Los Angeles’ defense from the 2020 season.
“They were able to affect all quarterbacks and these guys came out and they were able to mentally and physically affect quarterbacks,” he said. “I think that was the biggest difference that happened last year, that allowed them to extend to a different greatness and when that happened. I think they got more confidence. I think the back end played with more confidence that allowed them to get after the ball. So, if you can affect the quarterback and get the ball like they were able to do, you’re going to have good statistics.”
Fortunately for Morris, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey will both be back in 2021. They’ll be the stars of the defense once again, and should be complemented by Darious Williams, Jordan Fuller and likely some new offseason additions.
Even if Leonard Floyd and John Johnson leave in free agency, this is a defense capable of being one of the five best again. But as Morris said, that’s not good enough. He wants to make it all the way to the Super Bowl, and win it at SoFi Stadium in front of a home crowd.