St. Louis Defense (1 Viewer)

[nxmehta]

These guys played like Champions last week against a very solid Denver team. To those of you that follow St. Louis closely, can we expect similar output every week? Have they made enough changes during the offseason (coaching + acquisitions) to change how the defense performs this quickly? Or was this just a fluke with Plummer acting like his old self...

Inquiring FBG's want to know.

 

[Ears]

I'm cautiously optimistic (and a ST holder), but this bears an eerie resemblance to the 1995 season. Rams came out of the gate 5-1, largely due to a ridiculous takeaway margin. When the turnovers dried up, the defense was exposed as marginal.

I liked Haslett's attack mentality, but they're going to get burned on occasion. It looks as if Witherspoon is a playmaker at MLB, and the LBs look solid in general. I have questions about the DL (is Jimmy Kennedy going to be effective on the nose? Denver still ran for nearly 7 ypc) and in the secondary (were beaten by Walker on a couple plays, but he dropped the passes). I believe Haslett's schemes will help to hide these weaknesses and produce some big plays, but they'll still be there.

Its a huge improvement from Marmie's D; going against the Rams is no longer an auto-start.

 

[Snotbubbles]

No. Saint Louis in not for real.

 

[bullitt]

No. Saint Louis in not for real.

Why??? Can you give some more insight?Thanks

 

[Snotbubbles]

Why??? Can you give some more insight?Thanks

Sure. The Denver Broncos aren't a very good road team. Since 2000 25 of Denver's 36 losses have come on the road. Only 24 of their 61 win have come on the road. It's not that St. Louis' defense is good, it's that Denver doesn't travel well.

 

[Keys Myaths]

No. Saint Louis in not for real.

Denver sucks on the road. Plummer, every once in a while, has a horrid game like that.It just happened to take place in Week 1 this year, so everyone's going nuts.

 

[AcousticNut]

I keeping an eye on this as I'm seriously thinking about picking them up. Haslett knows defense and I think that his attacking style could produce well for a fantasy squad.

Looking forward to some homer insight as I haven't had a chance to watch them play this year.

 

[MrPhoenix]

As long as your satisfied with about a 50/50 chance of them completely sucking or completely dominating, then St. Louis is the defense for you!

Like Ears said, this defense will take a lot of chances, and eventually, teams are going to catch on. In the early going, though, they may be worth stashing on your bench and considering against a weak offense. Definitely not week in/week out starting material.

 

[Billy1x]

Experience say yes and no.

A better coach easily improve a defense. Look what Bates did for Green Bay last year

History:

The results of the first two games of the year make bad measurements. Many bad defenses look good until the offense has some film to break them down. If they survive week 3 they typically good to go.

Same for good defenses. The Offensive coordinators have the entire off season to figure out a way to better attack a defense that was great the year before. Note: The reason the Ravens or Bears defenses did not perform as well following their dynasty year.

 

[TheWick]

If your not penalized for yardage I say they will be a top 15 fantasy D this year based on turnovers and sacks. But there not exaclty B-more or Pittsburgh and never will be.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

If your not penalized for yardage I say they will be a top 15 fantasy D this year based on turnovers and sacks. But there not exaclty B-more or Pittsburgh and never will be.

Exactly. People often mistakenly think that great NFL Def = great fantasy DEF. For years Tampa had a great NFL defense but produced few sacks and turnovers. Noting that Haslett has about 100 blitzes in his playbook, this will be a team that gets a lot of sacks and produces turnovers. Sure they'll get burned on occassion, but if they give up 2 TD's while racking up 5 sacks and 3 TO's what do I care?

 

[toxic]

I'm no STL homer, but I just picked them up as a second D. For week 1 waivers, there are some specific things I look for by position. For example, I tend to ignore TDs and yards when looking at WRs as these are highly variable and instead look at targets and receptions. I believe those are much more predictive of season-long success. I'd much rather target someone who gets 7/50 than someone who gets 3/50/1.

For D/ST, I look at sacks, who the opponent was, and game flow. Turnovers and TDs are highly variable and can be very misleading. In this case, I'm optimistic about STL and was willing to take a flyer on them because:

1) They totalled 4 sacks (solid)

2) Denver has a decent offense

3) Game flow--Denver was within a TD most of the game and was therefore not forced into excessive predictable passing.

STL' sacks were more impressive given #2 and #3 above. The 5 turnovers they collected are great, but I'm not expecting them to approach that number again this season.

In addition, I like their schedule. They have SF, ARI, DET, and GB the next four weeks, and OAK in the playoffs. Me likey that.

 

[mojorizin]

Homer here. Yes, the Rams spent more on defense than they have since moving here in 95. The additions of Brown, Chavous, Glover, and Witherspoon all are making an immediate impact. But the one thing that you DONT see is this:

Rams defenders are HAPPY. Rams defenders want to play for their coach. Rams defenders are pumped about playing the game again. On defense, thats a good portion of the battle.

The difference is the absence of Larry Marmie - a tough love proponent and not much of a players coach. He screamed, he cursed, he ranted, he raved, but he didnt do much in the way of getting the players to play for him. For all the screaming, he wasnt a motivator. From what I understand its a completely different feeling in the locker room, on the field and on the sideline.

Improving Talent AND Want-To? Pretty good combination. Same goes for the special teams which appear vastly improved over the abysmal coverage and return teams of the past. No they may not finish at the top of the league, but I think they are going to make enough happen out there and be much more capable of keeping the score and yardage to a respectable level. I'm not ready to start 'em, but I stashed em.

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

Remember, the Broncos stunk up the joint in their opener last year as well...as big favorites. They lost 34 - 10 to sucky Miami.

I'm not buying STL's D off that first game.

 

[joepro]

Remember last year when Miami beat Denver in Miami the first game of the season. Denver went to the AFC championship last year. I too believe that Denver can really suck on the road.

 

[mrspree15]

Not that I'm doubting an improvement in StL, but does anyone want to explain Denver's 6.4 ypc in the game? Sure, it's nice when Jake Plummer lays an egg, but their run D doesn't sound too great. I have all the edited plays from the game, which I'll watch later, but for anyone who saw the game on Sunday what did you think?

 

[jbird]

Can any St. Louis homers add to this thread considering their past game against SF? No sacks, no INTs, and one FR along with over 350 yards and 20 points against. This against a SF team without starting O linemen Larry Allen and Jonas Jennings.

Can we expect much of the same against Arizona this week? I've seen more than one service rank them in the top 10 this week and I'm surprised by that. I know AZ has allowed many sacks but I think that the Cards will light 'em up at home.

What say you? Will it take some time for Haslett's schemes to be successful on a regular basis?

 

[TheFanatic]

Can any St. Louis homers add to this thread considering their past game against SF? No sacks, no INTs, and one FR along with over 350 yards and 20 points against. This against a SF team without starting O linemen Larry Allen and Jonas Jennings.Can we expect much of the same against Arizona this week? I've seen more than one service rank them in the top 10 this week and I'm surprised by that. I know AZ has allowed many sacks but I think that the Cards will light 'em up at home. What say you? Will it take some time for Haslett's schemes to be successful on a regular basis?

Homer here. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know which D is going to show up any given Sunday. Haslett is the D version of Mike Martz. Awesome coordinator, horrible coach. I think he will get this D into shape. He had all offseason to prepare them for Denver and they kicked butt. Next week they lay an egg in San Fran. Against Denver they came out fired up. Against San Fran I could just see something missing. I don't know what to do with these guys. I grabbed them off the WW (dropping Damien Nash) in one league, but they won't get the start over Cinci any time soon....I need to see more consistency....