WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – It felt fitting that when Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked about defensive coordinator Chris Shula's ability to navigate the highs and lows of the unit's performance throughout the regular season, he used descriptors that fit both the first-year defensive coordinator and the group's players.
"A lot of the things that I've said positive about this team are reflective and representative of Chris Shula's personality," McVay said on Dec. 29. "Steady, resilient, mentally tough, and never flinches."
This is how that mentality, along with Shula's unwavering trust in the group and adaptability, fueled the resolve and confidence that has made the Rams' defense a crucial part of their late-season success heading into Sunday's Divisional Round playoff game against the Eagles.
According to Spotrac, the Rams entered the 2024 season with the second-youngest roster in the NFL, calculated by the average age of their initial 53-man roster (25.7). Much of that youth was concentrated on the defensive side of the ball, needing to replace retired future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald's production – Donald the player is irreplaceable – in the aggregate.
Each level of the defense had at least two rookies in their position group, with varying roles. Some would contribute right away (see: Jared Verse and Braden Fiske), others not emerging until deeper into the season as a result of injuries (see: inside linebacker) or the desire for improved performance out of certain position groups (see: secondary reconfiguration after Week 4 loss to Bears).
No result displayed the defense's early challenges more than Week 2's blowout road loss to the Arizona Cardinals, as quarterback Kyler Murray made the Rams' young defensive front pay dearly for undisciplined rushes with his out-of-structure playmaking as a passer and runner.
More growing pains followed, like when running back Saquon Barkley rushed for 255 yards in the Eagles' 37-20 Week 12 victory at SoFi Stadium, and Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored six total touchdowns as the Rams hung on for a 44-42 victory in Week 14. In Week 17 against the Cardinals, there was safety Kam Kinchens snagging an interception on 4th down rather than just batting the ball down – had Kinchens done the latter instead of the former, the Rams would've had better field position as a result of the turnover on downs.
Whether it was the growing pains of the pass rush or the secondary, Shula remained the same even-keeled presence McVay spoke of. Just as important as that demeanor, though, was his flexibility and adaptability.
"Understanding what our defense is, the ability to adapt and adjust to the types of offense that we're playing," Shula said. "And always talk about trying to put players in the best position, and the flexibility to adjust the scheme, kind of within the year, based on some of the things that we did over the last three or four years that were very comforting to me, and kind of getting out of that comfort zone and kind of changing up some books and doing some different things."
"We had some low moments against the Cardinals (and) a couple games where we had to learn things," outside linebacker Jared Verse said. "How to stop the run, how to adjust to passing against certain teams. Sometimes you gotta run games, sometimes you can't just go straight. And the fact that he's able to do those adjustments not just week-to-week, but end of game, play-to-play, everything like that, you can see how much we've grown as a defense because of the leadership we have."
Shula showed that same steadiness from the beginning of the season. The day after the Rams' Week 1 road loss to the Lions, safety John Johnson III praised Shula not only for making the game plan easy for players to follow, he was also calm throughout the game, got his play calls in on time and didn't put players in positions with those play calls where they felt they had to "bail" him out.
"I think Coach Shula's approach to the game really helped us, because if we tried to do some stuff that we weren't really ready for against the stuff that they were presenting us with, we would have looked like trash out there, and I think we held our own pretty good," Johnson said. "So it's a testament to how he prepared us this week."
Outside linebacker Michael Hoecht told theRams.com that the pass rush began seeing promising signs in Week 5 against the Packers, despite the result. Though quarterback Jordan Love was only sacked twice, Green Bay was just 1 for 8 on third down, and Los Angeles' defense got Green Bay into third-and-long (traditionally defined as 5 or yards to go) on 8 of those chances.
"That was sort of like the entering into the world of, 'hey, we all are starting to figure out how to rush together,'" Hoecht said. "Guys have made individual plays here and there, and that will continue to happen. But as a group that felt really good, and then we completely blew the doors wide open against the Raiders."
In that Week 7 game against Las Vegas, it notched two sacks, but generated 21 pressures (second-most that week, per Next Gen Stats) and recorded the sixth-highest pressure rate (45.7%) of any team. The following week against the Vikings, they posted a team sack rate of 10.3% that ranked fifth-highest among all teams in Week 8.
Not only did that two-game stretch give Los Angeles confidence, according to Hoecht, but Shula also trusted the rush group from that moment on.
"They allowed us to make a lot of creative packages and talk about what we're good at," Hoecht told theRams.com. "And we all start to meet together, we all start planning together, and I think that stretch kind of gave him the free reign of like, 'Alright, we're coming after people with this group,' and since then, it's been pretty fun."
Shula, who worked with every level of L.A.'s defense prior to becoming defensive coordinator, has carried that experience over into his current role, having his hands on every part of the defense. While that's an obvious part of his job, defensive end Kobie Turner said Shula makes sure to step into different meetings or discuss things from all ranges of the defense.
"He's not somebody who's just back looking at it from the big picture, he's also intimately involved in all the small parts as well," Turner told theRams.com. "I think that's something that makes him special. And then just the confidence that he has to just continue to dial it up and continue to trust us as players and put us in the situations where we can win.
"There's some people, some coordinators, or even some coaches who might call things that maybe is not best for the team (so that) it doesn't make them look back, but he's able to have complete trust in us with the way that he calls the game, and then that allows us to also go out and have complete trust, not only in ourselves, but in him, that he's going to put us in the right positions to be able to succeed, that he trusts us to be able to go and get the job done right."
That trust from Shula doesn't just show up in his playcalling – it's also reflected in the regular dialogue he has with the unit.
For safety and team captain Quentin Lake – who also has functioned as the on-field defensive signal caller for most of the season – what's stood out about Shula in that regard is his willingness to communicate with and hear feedback from players, which Lake said "means a lot" to them.
"We've had our growing pains early on in the season, but he's done a great job of sticking with us, trusting in us, and really believing in us to do our job," Lake told theRams.com. "And I think that's the biggest thing that we've seen over the course of the season in how we've improved as a defense is, he's put us in situations where he knows, hey, I can trust the front guys to do it, I can trust the linebackers to do it. Obviously, he trusted me to be able to have the green dot for a majority of the season. Having trust in his players to go out there and execute I think was one of the biggest things, and that's where you saw us take off in the latter half of the season."
To Lake's point, with that second-half stretch. the Rams held three consecutive opponents to under 10 points for the first time since 1975, including in the Week 17 win over the Cardinals that clinched the NFC West and a playoff berth.
Including Monday night's Wild Card game, Los Angeles has held five of its last six opponents to under 10 points. Meanwhile, their rookies had the most sacks (13) and were tied with the Texans for the most interceptions (eight) of any NFL team for the 2024 season. Entering the Divisional Round and including the playoffs, Los Angeles rookies still have the most sacks (14) of any team, and the second-most interceptions behind the Texans rookies (nine).
It's a credit to the trust reciprocated between Shula and his unit, a trust that remains paramount heading into Sunday's Divisional Round playoff game rematch with the Eagles.
And to Shula's authenticity.
Shula recalled when NBC Sports Analyst and former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was in town for OTAs last spring to watch practice and stopped him in the hallway at the practice facility.
"Hey, Sean hired you to be you," Garrett told him. "You don't try to be anybody else, and be the best version of yourself."
"That's what I keep trying to tell myself," Shula said. "Just be the best version of me. Sean entrusted me with the job, do the best job you can, and don't try to be anybody else."
