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The St. Louis Rams defense is ranked an impressive 9th overall in the league. This unit is improved there's no denying that, the reason why the Rams have been competitive this season, and won 3 games is because of the defense.
However the last three games have been anything, but good for the defense. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady showed how elite QB's can torch the defense with ease, Even rookie QB Ryan Tannehill threw for two touchdowns.
If the Rams are going to finish the second half of the season on a high note, these three measures
1. The secondary
One of the Rams biggest strengths going into the season was their secondary, and right now they are on a downward slope.
The main culprit of the weak secondary is Janoris Jenkins.
From Tyson Langland, at Bleacher Report
His physical style of play stands for itself and he has already proved that he belongs in the league with a couple standout games, yet opposing quarterbacks are relentlessly going after him. He has already been thrown at 60 times this season—of those 60 targets, quarterbacks have completed 39 passes for 481 yards and five touchdowns.
After reading that why wouldn't opponents target Janoris Jenkins? But, what's the chance of Jeff Fisher benching Jenkins?Not that high. Trumaine Johnson has potential, but he most likely wouldn't be better than Jenkins as a starter right now. Bradley Fletcher, might be a better choice as a starter, but after the last game he played, I don't think he will be much better. The only thing that could help the Rams is if Craig Dahl or Quintin Mikell helps Jenkins out up top, and the Rams don't leave him on an island.
Cortland Finnegan is a stud, teams try to avoid throwing to him, but if they do, it's mostly short passes. He's the best corner back that the Rams has had in a long time, if ever.
Honestly, Jenkins has to get his swagger back, sooner than later, if this defense.
2.The defensive line has to play better.
Robert Quinn and Chris Long have 11 combined sacks, and more than 30 quarterback pressures. The starting defensive tackles Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford, still are works in progress.
This front four taught everyone a lesson, it doesn't matter how talented you are, you still need time to develop together. This defensive line will be one of the top lines in the league, it just won't be this year. They are just too inconsistent. Right now they still can't stop the run, and the pass rushing abilities haven't consistently been there. The Rams have 21 sacks, and 9 of them came from the Cardinal game, and 3 sacks came from Jo-Lonn Dunbar this season.
If the Rams defense wants to play better, the defensive line will need to bring more pressure to opposing quarterbacks, and slowing down a teams running game.
3. Get takeaways
It's that simple. This season the Rams have 8 interceptions and one fumble recovery. The last three games that the Rams lost, they didn't get turnovers. Not generating turnovers is hurting the offense. The Rams offense will struggle and a shorten field will help the offense score points.
Teams have avoided throwing picks against the Rams, mainly, because they decide to target Jenkins, or throw the ball short, since the corners are playing deeper.
The Rams also have to be better at forcing fumbles. Those plays drive into the psyche of a running back and could help the offense score more touchdowns.
Turnovers are on a whole defense, whether it's fumbles or interceptions, if the Rams want to have a complete defense, they have to create turnovers, the secondary has to play better, and the defensive line has to generate a pass rush while slowing down the run.