CANTON, Ohio -- So just how incredible a feat was it for the St. Louis Rams of 2000, a franchise that surrendered 471 points, to overcome such staggering defensive largesse and yet still manage to qualify for a wild-card berth?

Consider these numbers: Since the NFL adopted the current 12-team playoff format in 1990, the 131 other postseason entries surrendered an average of 284.1 points during the regular season. Only about one-third of those teams allowed more than 300 points. Of the 13 other clubs which permitted 450 points or more since the 16-game schedule was enacted in 1976, none won more than four games and the average victory total was 2.7 (see chart below).

	Rookie defensive tackle Damione Lewis steps into the Rams' starting lineup.

Translation: Pretty incredible.

But don't bet on the Rams enjoying such good fortune in 2001. And don't bet, either, on opposing offenses being as fortunate as they were against the Rams in 2000, when the St. Louis defense allowed the fifth-highest point total since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

"That isn't going to happen again," said middle linebacker London Fletcher, one of the few survivors from the 2000 lineup who have retained a starting job this season. "It's not like we have forgotten last year, because you always want to learn from your mistakes. But that was then, man, and this is now. And now is going to be a whole lot better."

Truth be told, the Rams couldn't be any worse defensively than they were in 2000, when the unit suffered a collective meltdown, both mentally and physically. In 1999, when St. Louis captured Super Bowl XXXIV, its defense statistically ranked No. 6 overall in the league, then plummeted to No. 23 last season. Even that dismal ranking, however, fails to accurately portray the abysmal effort of the defense, as the Rams lost games in which they scored 34, 24, 24 and 35 points.

The tone was set in the season opener when St. Louis needed 41 points to hold off Denver in a Monday Night Football game that looked more like a track meet or a prison break. By midseason, coach Mike Martz had summoned guru Bud Carson out of retirement, but even having one of the greatest defensive minds of any era onboard as a consultant wasn't enough to compensate for a unit that had lost faith in itself, the scheme and now-deposed coordinator Peter Giunta.

"The effort we had seen (in 1999) wasn't there," Martz said. "It became, for some players, more of a 'me-first' thing. I mean, you can walk into a locker room or the weight room and everything seems right, guys seem to be working hard. But it's a little bit of a smokescreen. On Sundays, it just wasn't there, not when it had to be."

	Most Points Allowed/Record
	Allowed	Team	Year	Record
	533	Colts	1981	2-14
	487	Saints	1980	1-15
	484	Vikings	1984	3-13
	473	Bucs	1986	2-14
	471	RAMS	2000	10-6
	462	Browns	1990	3-13
	462	Chargers	1983	2-14
	461	Falcons	1996	3-13
	460	Bengals	1999	4-12
	460	Oilers	1983	2-14
	454	Bills	1984	2-14
	453	49ers	1999	4-12
	452	Falcons	1985	4-12
	452	Bengals	1998	3-13

Indeed, the Baltimore Ravens demonstrated in 2000 that a team can win a Super Bowl title with a one-dimensional roster. No franchise, though, has ever been so lopsided toward the offensive end and captured a championship. There is no doubting St. Louis' ability to ring up points like a tote board at a telethon. But when the defense is overly charitable, the results can be disastrous.

"It's always better to have some balance," said quarterback Kurt Warner, "It's what usually sets the good teams off from the pretenders."

And so it was not surprising that, when Martz examined the carnage of a season that should have been so much better, he opted to sweep out the ruins of his defense. The refurbished defense will have a new coordinator, in former Tampa Bay linebackers coach Lovie Smith, seven or eight new starters and a simplified scheme aimed at keeping mental "busts" to a minimum.

Smith brought with him from the Buccaneers the basic "two-deep" design that features primarily zone coverage in the secondary and emphasizes quickness up front. What he didn't pack in a big, old steamer trunk for the move to St. Louis, unfortunately for the Rams, was tackle Warren Sapp, linebacker Derrick Brooks, strong safety John Lynch or cornerback Donnie Abraham.

The ambitious task of identifying reasonable facsimiles for those Bucs stars was left to the Rams' football braintrust, and the triumvirate of president John Shaw, general manager Charley Armey and Martz appeared to be successful, mostly with an impressive draft-day bounty that netted the team at least three new starters.

In a mind-boggling two-day period, the Rams used their first five draft choices, including three in the first round, on defensive players. The top two, tackle Damione Lewis and strong safety Adam Archuleta, already are penciled in as starters. St. Louis also dealt for Arizona "franchise" corner Aeneas Williams, a perennial Pro Bowl performer and renowned locker room leader. Also signed as free agents were linebackers Mark Fields and Don Davis, defensive linemen Cedric Jones and Tyoka Jackson and free safety Kim Herring.

And, presto, the Rams' defense, at least in terms of speed, was transformed from plough horses into sprinters. The league doesn't keep records on such one-year face lifts but, if the Rams start seven new players on defense, it is believed that will be the most ambitious remaking of a unit since the 1970 merger.

	“	I don't know what went on here last year. But I know all about the team I came from. And in terms of overall team speed, this unit can match up. The question will be one of just how long it takes for us all to be on the same page at the same time. ”
		— Kim Herring, comparing the Rams to his former team, the Ravens

"It's all about being able to run to the football," said defensive line coach Bill Kollar. "And we have a bunch of guys now who are able to do that."

What looks good on paper, though, won't be tested on the field until the regular-season opener. For now, however, the excitement of the players rivals the expectations of the front office.

"I don't know what went on here last year," said Herring, a strong safety during his tenure with the Baltimore Ravens, and arguably the highest-profile free agent acquired during the offseason. "But I know all about the team I came from. And in terms of overall team speed, this unit can match up. The question will be one of just how long it takes for us all to be on the same page at the same time."

Since the Rams' defenders characteristically weren't even reading from the same book last year, any step forward can be regarded as a quantum leap.

It is impossible, acknowledged cornerback and returning starter Dexter McCleon, to glue Humpty Dumpty back together again, so why bother trying?

"Instead, we brought in a lot of new pieces," McCleon said. "It was broke, so we fixed it."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.