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These two points really hit home with me, and drive my opinion of the start contrast between last year's D and this years. Last year's D usually had multiple 3-outs per game, and not due to poor execution by other team but our guys being in position to disrupt and make plays. This year it seemed like we rarely had a 3-out, and we saw time and time again where big cushions would be given on 3rd and short, allowing for one easy conversion after another. That is absolutely, unequivocally scheme related.
As for the secondary, where it really stands out to me is the difference between DWill of 2020 and DWill of this season. Nobody thought the corner opposite Ramsey would be a problem going into this season because DWill lit it up last year. He made game saving picks, and many timely defenses of passes. In the playoffs at Seattle, he set the tone for the game by jumping a route to get a pick-six, and it seemed as the Rams never lost momentum after that. We saw none of that from DWill this year, but we saw him giving plenty of huge cushions like the other DBs. He wasn't anywhere near the aggressive, playmaking corner he was last year, and the way he was used, he couldn't have been. Morris's scheme did not put him in position to make plays, and both his play and the entire D suffered for it.
I'm also mystified by Terrell Burgess, who looked great in his few appearances last year before his injury. This year he couldn't even get on the field until the injuries mounted. Given the other problems noted above, I don't trust Morris's evaluation of Burgess, nor do I trust his ability to play him to his strengths.
