Donald loves seeing Rams’ defense dominate

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. » Aaron Donald recognizes this iteration of the Rams’ defense is special.

“It ain’t just one, two, three guys. It’s all 11, so having a group like this, a tight group that can feed off each other, that’s playing good with each other, that’s playing consistent and dominating, this is definitely one of the best defenses I have been a part of,” Donald said

Nov. 20.

Whether it is the best of Donald’s seven seasons, the decorated defensive tackle is reserving judgment.

“Let’s finish the season and see,” Donald said.

How the Rams (6-3) perform on Monday night against quarterback Tom Brady and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense averaging 29.1 points per game will go a long way toward that evaluation.

Los Angeles has smothered opponents under new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, leading the NFL in yards allowed per play (4.78) and yards allowed per pass (5.74). The Rams rank in the top five in rushing yards allowed (96.8), passing yards allowed (199.7), third down conversions (35.4%) and points allowed in the second half (4.0 per game).

Only Buffalo and San Francisco have scored more than 20 points against the Rams defense. Miami finished with 28 points in Week 8 thanks to touchdowns on fumble and punt returns, wasting an outing where Los Angeles allowed 145 yards.

The ability to execute game after game is what stands out to Donald, who leads the team with nine sacks and three forced fumbles.

“It ain’t ‘one week do good, other week fall off.’ I think it’s been consistent these last few weeks from a dialed in standpoint,” Donald said. “And I think we got a lot of guys, you know, from up front to the middle to the guys in back that are playing like star players. At any time, anybody can make that big play.”

Coach Sean McVay likes how the defense has built on that success from week to week. McVay said his favorite part of how they played in the 23-16 win over Seattle was shaking off allowing a touchdown on the opening drive to force three takeaways.

“Consistency is the truest measure of performance,” McVay said.