Playmakers Are Not Always on Offense
Aeneas Williams and Rodney Harrison are old-school NFL defensive backs.
They have been around long enough to have faced Dan Marino in his prime and Byron Leftwich as a rookie. And both players are still difference makers after having changed teams late in their careers.
Williams, who will turn 36 in January, has been the main man in the St. Louis Rams’ big-play defense, which leads the league with 44 take-aways. Williams has four interceptions and three fumble recoveries, including two returns for touchdowns.
Scoring on turnovers is nothing new for Williams. With 12 defensive touchdowns, he trails only Oakland’s Rod Woodson on the NFL’s all-time list.
But it’s not only about causing turnovers for Williams, who joined the Rams in 2001, after 10 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. His leadership and versatility have helped defensive coordinator Lovie Smith expand his packages.
Although he’s listed as a safety, Williams often moves up to cover slot receivers man to man and sometimes blitzes. He triggers many of Smith’s indistinguishable looks with his coverage ability. That’s how St. Louis is able to feature defensive sets that range from a straightforward 4-3 to a complex 3-1-6.
With speed as their calling card, the Rams love to confuse opponents with hybrid defensive backs Adam Archuleta, Jason Sehorn and Williams, who all have the ability to play a variety of positions.
Williams’ veteran guidance has also helped young cornerbacks Travis Fisher and Jerametrius Butler develop into dependable man-to-man players. In last week’s victory over Cincinnati, the Rams frustrated quarterback Jon Kitna into mistakes because the Bengals could not figure out Lovie’s defensive sets.
Kitna had three passes intercepted, with Butler and Archuleta each getting one. Kitna looked baffled, as many quarterbacks do when they face the Rams for the first time inside the Robert Jones Dome, where they take full advantage of their quick, undersized defenders.
But the Rams’ quick, undersized defenders are also vulnerable against the run.
Teams have been able to pound the ball on the ground against St. Louis. Although the Rams haven’t given up any Jamal Lewis-type rushing games this season, Shaun Alexander, Anthony Thomas, Garrison Hearst, Marcel Shipp and Jamel White all have had good games against them.
Before Saturday’s games, St. Louis ranked 12th among 16 teams in the NFC against the run, giving up 124.5 yards a game and 4.9 yards a carry. In the playoffs, the Rams’ shaky rushing defense may come back to bite them.
That doesn’t figure to be a problem for the New England Patriots, thanks to Harrison -- one of the NFL’s most feared.
Harrison, 31, leads all defensive backs in tackles with 126, including three sacks. Released by San Diego after last season, Harrison joined the Patriots and has been a perfect fit in the suffocating defense of Coach Bill Belichick and coordinator Romeo Crennel.
New England does not count on Harrison for the man-to-man coverage that Williams gives the Rams. Instead, the Patriots want Harrison to be his normal disruptive self, applying pressure on opposing offenses as he did for nine seasons with the Chargers.
It’s a tactic that has worked so well, the Patriots had the league’s fourth-best defense against the run, giving up only 90.8 yards a game before Saturday’s 31-0 victory over Buffalo. Shutting down 1,000-yard rushers has become second nature for New England, which has won 12 consecutive games. The Bills’ Travis Henry was held to 62 yards rushing Saturday.
That was not the case before Harrison. Last season, the Patriots ranked next to last in defense against the rush. In fact, in Belichick’s first three seasons with New England, the Patriots never rated higher than 13th against the run.
With Harrison often crowding the line of scrimmage, New England’s 3-4 base defense relies on the solid play of cornerbacks Ty Law and Will Poole, arguably the best tandem in the league. Their ability to lock down receivers, tied with Crennel’s disciplined defensive sets, allows the Patriots to dictate what opponents can do, especially in the harsh conditions often found at New England’s Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and their defense is geared toward playing teams in cold weather often found in New England at this time of year.
Their styles are different, but Williams and Harrison have proved their effectiveness, just the same. Don’t be surprised if both end up in the Super Bowl.