With another challenging matchup quickly approaching, the Los Angeles Rams are in dire need of an effective game plan against the Dallas Cowboys to get back above the .500 mark on the season. Their defense has been particularly susceptible to collapse so far this year, allowing 24 points last week to the San Francisco 49ers, so improvement on that side of the ball will be critical for their hopes of playoff contention in January.
All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald knows what his unit needs to do to get back in form, though, and told reporters on Thursday how the defensive line can make their presence felt, even if their opponent game plans to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly against them. He said that it all comes down to effort, particularly in the moments leading up to the passing attempt.
“We can get our hands up,” Donald explained. “There are certain things we can do on defense as far as driving on certain things. I’m not going to go into detail on that, but we can get our hands up and just continue to play. There’s going to be a couple plays when they’re going to have to hold the ball and we got to find a way to get him down, affect him some way, somehow. It’s not always me, lot of other good football players out there that need to win they’re one-on-ones. If they want to find ways to focus on one guy, that’s the opportunity for other guys to be the playmakers.”
The Rams’ defense is anything but pedestrian on paper, though through four games it would seem that they aren’t living up to expectations. Things will need to change if they intend on getting back to championship-caliber form in the next few weeks, but with players like Donald to lead the charge, the team is in good hands.
Watch for the defensive line in particular to play with an edge against the Cowboys, and for the rest of the defense to feed off their energy in all four quarters.
