[New Orleans Saints News]

Jim Haslett has heard all the rip jobs, all the criticism, all the talk of how his defense was horrible in 2006 and the big reason why the St. Louis Rams went 8-8 and failed to make the playoffs.

As defensive coordinator, he knows all anyone says or writes is that defense is the only thing holding the Rams back from being a legitimate playoff team -- and maybe more -- in 2007.

Haslett is well aware of the negative numbers being used against his unit, such as how the Rams finished 22nd in total defense, 31st in rushing defense and 28th in scoring defense.

But he chooses to look at it another way, which you would expect from one of the more fiery coaches in the league, a man who doesn't tolerate struggles very well.

"Do you realize that we were 120 yards or so from being ranked 13th in the league?" Haslett said. "That's one or two big plays. Nobody ever says anything about that. We also created a lot of turnovers. Nobody says anything about that. We were plus-12 in the turnover ratio because we had 32 takeaways. Do you hear about that? We know we have work to do, and we didn't play as well as could last year, but it does get tiring hearing nothing but the negative."

In defense of his defense, Haslett as passionate as ever - CBS News

[Lefty Noob]

They're improving, but there's still improvement needed. The Rams defense was better under Haslett than it was before he got there, though.