There were a lot of areas where the Los Angeles Rams underachieved in 2019, but you could argue they were better against the pass than expected – especially considering all the injuries and changes that occurred during the season.
A secondary that began the year with John Johnson, Eric Weddle, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib finished with Jalen Ramsey, Troy Hill and Taylor Rapp all as starters, all of whom played well in the second half of the season. There were only two games where the Rams allowed at least 300 yards passing in 2019, with those coming in Week 17 against the Cardinals (a meaningless game) and in Week 4 against the Buccaneers.
Part of the reason the Rams were able to keep their opponents in check through the air is that they were rarely challenged on deep passes. According to Inside Edge, teams facing the Rams threw deep balls on only 9.6% of their pass attempts, which was the third-lowest rate in the NFL.
For comparison, league average was 12.2%, so teams weren’t testing the Rams deep very often.
Explosive plays can make or break a team, and the Rams didn’t give up many big gains through the air, either. They only allowed 40 completions of at least 20 yards, which was tied for the third-fewest in the NFL.
When you can limit big plays the way the Rams defense did, it goes a long way toward getting opposing offenses off the field. Granted, there were times when Los Angeles failed to do that, but for the most part, the defense was strong against the pass.