Defensive Issues Remain Dire Concern for St. Louis Rams Even After Week 5 Win

By Anthony Blake
Jeff Fisher St. Louis Rams
Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports

After snapping a three-game losing streak it would be easy to think things are rainbows and kittens for the St. Louis Rams. That couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as the team’s defense continues to be a major concern moving forward in the 2013 season.

It’s no secret that the Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t exactly known as an offensive juggernaut. That underlying truth makes the fact that the Rams surrendered 20 points – the Jags’ highest total of the season – even more concerning.

St. Louis’ secondary was absolutely torched by Justin Blackmon in his first game of the season after serving a four-game suspension. Cornerback Janoris Jenkins is really in a severe sophomore slump at this point as he has been anything but efficient in coverage. Blackmon hauled in five catches for a ridiculous 136 yards which included a 67-yard touchdown where he was essentially free to run down the seam to paydirt.

Another troubling development is the fact that the Rams surrendered 363 total net yards of offense to a team that averaged below 220 per game coming into the contest. This team has been going in the wrong direction on the defensive side of the ball. Thinking that linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar’s return was going to cure all that ails the Rams defensively was ambitiously optimistic. This team has serious problems that were exhibited by them again getting worn down against the run as they had trouble stopping the ground game down the stretch.

A win is a win, but a win over the lowly Jags after a pitiful defensive performance is more cause for concern than celebration. The Rams may be young across the board, but the defense is actually the more experienced side of the ball for the team this season. Seeing these types of errors continuing to happen with veteran players sets off plenty of alarms for Jeff Fisher and company.

At 2-3 the Rams are still stuck in the NFC West basement, and the climb only gets steeper moving forward. This team will be pushing a giant boulder up that hill if the defense can’t start to play better fundamental football and take care of assignments play after play.

Anthony Blake is a Senior Writer/Copy Editor for Rant Sports. You Can Follow Him on Twitter, on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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