Los Angeles Rams: Is Wade Phillips LA’s biggest X-factor?
By Derek Snyder
The Los Angeles Rams have made some big additions to their team since coming to LA, but could their X-factor actually be someone who doesn’t put on the pads?
In a league that glorifies big plays and quarterbacks, I am still a believer that a great defense win championships. The Los Angeles Rams certainly aren’t in a position to win a championship of any kind in 2017, but a recent addition to their coaching staff could make the difference in changing the overall direction of the franchise.
The Rams hired Wade Phillips this offseason to be their defensive coordinator and fans should be extremely optimistic about what this could mean for the Los Angeles Rams defense in the coming years.
Phillips is a guy who has been around the league for a while and definitely knows exactly what it takes to make a defensive unit come together towards a common goal: shutting down NFL offenses.
Take a look at this blurb from Wade Phillips’ bio on the Rams’ official website:
"“Prior to returning to Denver, Phillips was the defensive coordinator on Gary Kubiak’s staff in Houston from 2011- 13. He took over the league’s 30th-ranked unit in 2011 and guided the defense to a No. 2 overall ranking (285.7 ypg) in his first year with the club to earn PFW/PFWA Assistant Coach of the Year honors. The Texans ranked seventh in total defense (323.3 ypg) in 2012.”"
If that wasn’t impressive enough for you, just take a look at what he was able to accomplish with the Broncos, also courtesy of the Rams’ website:
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"“In his first year back with the Broncos in 2015, Phillips directed an historic defense that finished as the top unit (283.1 ypg) in the NFL for the first time in team history. Featuring four Pro Bowlers—linebackers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware as well as cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib—Denver’s defense posted a league-high 52 sacks while contributing five defensive scores in the regular season.During the Broncos’ postseason run, the defense recorded 14 sacks and six forced fumbles while limiting the league’s No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 scoring offenses to nearly half (50.7 percent) of their average regular-season point totals and a combined 7-of-42 (16.7 percent) on third down attempts.”"
Rams fans should be thrilled that Los Angeles was able to get Wade Phillips to take his talents out to LA. Even though Los Angeles’ defense struggled in 2016, it wasn’t because they didn’t have some extremely talented players on the defensive side of the football. This unit just needed someone to come in and steer the ship back forward.
Not to mention, I truly believe that Phillips is going to take Aaron Donald into the elite-level status and change the perception of the careers of Alec Ogletree, Robert Quinn, and Mark Barron.
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Great coaches in the NFL can be the biggest difference for teams that are looking to get back to being relevant. Phillips has proven his worth over the past six seasons in the NFL and there’s no reason to believe he won’t do that in Los Angeles for the Rams.