Inside The Star
I dug into Raheem Morris’s defenses from 2020 to 2023, and this is what I found. Turnovers popped, but efficiency and drive stops consistently lagged.
Here’s my breakdown of one of the Cowboys defensive coordinator candidates.
This will give you all a conversation piece to be had around the cooler.
When the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator conversation started heating up, Raheem Morris was one of the first names people gravitated toward.
Look, I get it, he’s coached a long time, he’s been in big games, and he has a resume full of recognizable stops.
But the thing is, name value doesn’t stop 3rd downs or make quarterbacks uncomfortable. So, I bypassed all the talk and went straight to what mattered: What did his defenses actually do when the ball was snapped?
Morris got his first defensive coordinator opportunity in 2020 with the Atlanta Falcons. That season was not good for that defense.
Opposing offenses rolled up 6,374 yards and ran 1,034 plays against them.
That meant his defense was giving up 6.2 yards every time the ball was snapped. They finished 29th in total defense, 30th in passing yards allowed, and 32nd in passing touchdowns allowed.
Quarterbacks carved up his defense for 4,697 yards and 34 touchdowns.
The Falcons did force 21 turnovers, including 12 interceptions, but when you’re near the bottom of the NFL in just about every core yardage category, it tells me offenses were playing comfortable football against them far too often.
Then came the LA Rams era from 2021 to 2023, which is honestly the stretch I was most curious about.
Not because Morris was different, but because the roster sure was.
LA’s defense was filled with perennial Pro Bowlers and All-Pros. This was a unit I think should have dominated efficiency metrics, not just highlights.
I found that in 2021, Rams opponents generated 5,863 yards on 1,118 plays, averaging 5.2 yards per play.
LA finished 17th in total defense, 22nd in passing yards, 2nd in passing touchdowns, and 15th in yards per pass.
Even more glaring, offenses produced 111 rushing 1st downs against them, which is a little over 25% of the time, while also surrendering 18 touchdowns, which was 23rd in the NFL.
If you liked 2021, you will love 2022. It was like Déjà vu.
The Rams allowed 5,798 yards on 1,049 plays (5.5 yards per snap). They were 19th in total defense, 21st in passing yards allowed, 14th in passing touchdowns, and 24th in yards per attempt.
The rushing defense was better, ranking 13th in rushing yards allowed, 10th in rushing touchdowns, and 13th in yards per rush.
I found they did force 22 turnovers, ranking 17th in the NFL.
The overall down-to-down defense seemed like it leaned more to a bend, but hope we don’t break to me....
