St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher laid out a lofty goal for his defense. Defensive end Robert Quinn told Ron Clements of CBS Sports that Fisher's goal for the defense is to break the NFL record for sacks.
Sacks are a relatively new stat in the NFL world. The record of 72 belongs to the 1984 Bears, a team Fisher played for during his playing days.
Last year, the Rams recorded 39 sacks. Minnesota led the league with 50 sacks. St. Louis ranked eighth in adjusted sack rate, Football Outsiders' stat that measures sacks per passing attempt, with a sack on 7.5 percent of passing attempts against the team.
Someone remarked that six wins might be a more appropriate goal; however, if the Rams up their sack numbers, which would naturally correlate with more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, the wins would probably follow.
Fisher's goal, realistic or not, fits with the plan for the defense to build a strong front line and secondary capable of winning a game or two on their own. Teams that can make life difficult for opposing quarterbacks can win games. The Rams offense will have to chip in a few points though, which might be the biggest question for the team in 2012.