Rams “D” ready for 49ers challenge

THOUSAND OAKS (News4usonline) – It’s Week 2. And already, the Los Angeles Rams have to go toe-to-toe with a divisional opponent. In Week 1, the Rams got the best of the Seattle Seahawks, coming away with a 30-13 road win. 

Up next? The San Francisco 49ers. This is a different challenge for the Rams than what Seattle presented. The success that the Rams had on both offense and defense against the Seahawks will be challenged by NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers. 

The 49ers, a team that made it all the way to the NFC Championship game last season, are solid on both sides of the ball. Putting San Francisco’s offensive backfield in check is something the Rams’ defense will be focused on. That’s a tall order when you consider who’s back there for the 49ers. 

There’s Deebo Samuel. And then there is do-everything running back Christian McCaffrey, a guy who can run, catch, punt, and pass.  

“He is a pain in the neck, make no mistake about it,” Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said of McCaffrey. “I feel like he’s following me. He was in the NFC South and then he followed me to the (NFC) West just to torture me a little bit more, right? You’re talking about one of the best things ever played in our game from a dual standpoint.”

Morris went on to say that McCaffrey plays the game in a similar fashion to another former running back.  

“We had a guy like that here in (former Rams running back) (Todd) Gurley and you know the type of stuff that they present in the challenge that they present,” Morris remarked. “And there is no, what do you have to stop, the run or the pass when you’re talking about a guy like this? This guy is just dominate in every facet of it and you got to plan to slow him down, you got to plan to go out there and put yourself out there to make some plays.”

Morris, himself, faces a still challenge as he tries to match wits with San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan, an offensive guru. 

“He is also a pain in the neck,” Morris said about coaching against Shanahan. “Yeah, it’s fun. You take a challenge in these types of things when you’re going against Kyle. I get that same exuberance in practice having (Rams Offensive Coordinator) Mike LaFleur here, having (Rams Head Coach) Sean McVay here.” 

In Week 1, the Rams defense put the brakes on Geno Smith and Seattle’s offense, limiting the Seahawks to just 180 yards in total offense and 13 first downs for the entire game. After giving up 13 points in the first half, the Rams outscored Seattle, 23-0, in the second half. 

Defensive lineman Aaron Donald, the leader of the Rams’ defense, said the key to shutting out Seattle in the second half of that game was just getting after it. 

“We felt like we were playing good,” Donald said.  We let them slip through a couple runs here and there, but pretty much we just came out and guys just kept playing. We really didn’t change much. We had a little talk. We thought we were doing well, so really (there) weren’t no corrections, we just had to keep playing.”

In their Week 1 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Shanahan and the 49ers faced little resistance in a 30-7 win. Morris and his young defense have a bigger challenge in this marquee matchup. But Morris is not the one to hype one game over another. They’re all big to him. That’s the way he coaches. 

“It’s so funny,  I don’t include the big matchup part,” Morris said. “They’re all big matchups in the National Football League the way we look at it. But it’s more about us, right? The focus has really been on us. Like let’s correct the things that we didn’t do as well that we wanted to do last week. Let’s improve on the things that we did well. Let’s go out and practice the right way.”