The Rams Built Their Defense Around One Man. Now They Have to Find Out What's Left.
The number that should worry Los Angeles isn't the one attached to Myles Garrett's knee — it's the one attached to their 2025 close-game record. The Rams won just 44% of games decided by a possession last season, a collapse rate that already cost them any shot at advancing past the wild-card round. That was with a full defensive roster. Now the centerpiece of the unit they built specifically to fix that problem is out, and the names behind him on the depth chart have not proven they can hold a lead when a season is on the line.
Garrett's absence forces Josaiah Stewart into a featured edge role he has not yet been asked to carry at this level, with the interior anchored by Braden Fiske and a rotation of Kobie Turner, Desjuan Johnson, and Bill Murray. Fiske was genuinely productive in 2025 — five sacks across 18 games — and he is a real piece. But a defensive line built to terrorize quarterbacks in late-game situations needs more than one proven disruptor, and right now that is roughly what the Rams have. The rest of the group arrives at this moment without a track record of winning the snap when the game is in the balance.
The linebacker situation compounds it. Nate Landman is listed as questionable, which means the top name on the depth chart is uncertain at exactly the moment the front seven needs its most experienced voice. Byron Young and Omar Speights are next in line — capable depth, not proven starters in high-leverage December football. The Rams' close-game failures last year were partly a function of defensive execution in the final two minutes. Losing Landman on top of Garrett does not make that problem smaller.
The secondary is the one place where the picture is less grim. Trent McDuffie's arrival gave this defense a legitimate cornerback to build around, and Kam Curl — listed as questionable but not out — was the team's most consistent defensive player in 2025, finishing with 149 tackles and three interceptions across 20 games. If Curl plays, the Rams have a spine in the back end. If he doesn't, they are asking McDuffie and a collection of developmental pieces to carry the secondary while the front seven is already shorthanded.
My read is that the Rams' 2026 season was always going to be decided by whether this defense could perform in close games — the one thing the 2025 team demonstrably could not do. Garrett was the bet they made that the answer was yes. That bet is now on hold, and the question is whether Sean McVay can scheme around a pass rush that lacks its headliner, a linebacker corps that may be missing its starter, and a safety who is day-to-day. Stafford's offense can carry a lot of weight. It carried 52 touchdowns worth last season. But it cannot manufacture defensive stops in the fourth quarter of a one-score game, and that is precisely the deficit this roster now has to fill from within.