I should make this clear at the front: The St. Louis Rams' newly revamped secondary, featuring Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins, is not going to stop Calvin Johnson. Nothing can stop Calvin Johnson, except a fireball that consumes the earth, and even then he'd probably outrun it for a while and die attempting a stiff-arm. But Matthew Stafford will be at least mildly inconvenienced by the Rams in Week 1. And for Rams fans, Matthew Stafford being inconvenienced is a remarkable improvement.
The Rams' secondary last year allowed 3301 yards and 21 touchdowns, which was actually pretty good. But it's hard to avoid the sinking feeling that most of that pretty-goodness came from teams deciding it would be more sporting to just run the clock out sometime around quarter three. (They allowed 510 rushing attempts, which is, uh, something.)
Injuries and ineffectiveness more or less wiped the old crew out entirely, and Jeff Fisher and company started over immediately upon taking the reins, signing Cortland Finnegan to a huge deal and drafting risky upside bet Janoris Jenkins in the second round. The results might not be amazing immediately. But if they're inconveniencing, especially to all 5000 yards of Matthew Stafford, a cheer will erupt across St. Louis Sunday afternoon