Another vacant defensive coaching position, another former St. Louis Rams coach hired to fill it.

The Saints announced yesterday that the team has hired Andre Curtis as assistant secondary coach, making him the third new member of the coaching staff and, in case you weren't keeping score at home, the third to coach in St. Louis from 2009 to 2011. I almost titled this post, 'St. Louis Rams Coaches and the Teams that Love Them.'

So with the Saints pulling all of their eggs from the Rams slightly used basket, it naturally begs the question: was the St. Louis Rams defense actually any good between the years 2009 and 2011? The answer to that question could be telling. Because, like, I don't really want them if their defense sucked.

Of course I just had to poke around the Rams defensive stats over the past three years to try and answer that very question. My findings? Meh. I'm not very impressed. And that's putting it nicely. Wish I had better news to report.

There are a few bright spots here and there, like the leagues second best 3rd down defense in 2010 and the 7th fewest passing yards allowed this past season. But none of the other numbers look great and overall the Rams have never been better than 19th in the league (2010). There's just no positive consistency to be found anywhere over this three year period.

With one exception: sacks per pass attempt.

You knew I'd find something. Okay, technically they weren't good three years straight but that's because 2009 was just abysmal across the board. In 2010, however, they were 8th best in sacks per pass attempt and actually improved to 7th best in 2011. It's basically the only thing their defense did well two years in a row.

So does this bode well for the Saints, who have had a paltry pass rush the past few years and need some help in that department? Or have the Rams simply had more natural talent in the pass rushing department? *cough* Chris Long *cough*

Talk amongst yourselves.