How DC Chris Shula Has Performed in His 1st Season with Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are officially heading to the playoffs. Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula played a significant role in making that happen.

May 28, 2024; Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula speaks to the media following OTAs at the team training facility at California Lutheran University. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams have secured a home playoff game after a season in which they were forced to overcome a lot of adversity from the very start. The Rams' started the season with the dreaded 1-4 start.

A 1-4 start is nearly impossible for a team to recover from and make the playoffs, as few teams have accomplished the feat since 1970. However, the Rams just did so by winning the NFC West this weekend.

Rams head coach Sean McVay noted some of the critical plays of their win over the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday that led to them becoming division champions. McVay credited Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula with a productive first season with the team.

"Yeah, I think one would short the job that he and the coaching staff did," McVay said. "Obviously, the last one where you're coming after him being aggressive, and it leads to the ball going off of [Cardinals TE Trey] McBride's head and then Ahkello [Witherspoon] making an incredible play. I thought we had a lot of bullets yesterday. I thought Chris did an excellent job of being able to mix it and mix a variety of different looks.

"I thought we rushed for the most part with pretty good integrity where [Braden] Fiske's able to get a couple of sacks, Byron Young's one, Kobie Turner [had one], and then I thought our pressure on him throughout the majority of the day [was solid] and we were able to be pretty sticky in coverage. I just think it's the different varieties of things that he presented throughout, and it's one of those deals that.

McVay also noted how well the team has played this season under Shula's guidance. The Rams have depended on their defense to win them multiple games this season, including Saturday against the Cardinals.

"Alright, our guys just stayed in the moment," McVay said. "They've made key and critical stops deep in red zone areas, whether it's fourth-down stops or turnover like we talked about. I think to just say one, in general, would be shorting the body of work that was on display yesterday from our defense as a whole, and Chris was certainly an instrumental part of that, and I'm really proud of him."

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