How And Why, The Rams Are In The Driver Seat

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Manuel Harari

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​​The Los Angeles Rams took the league by storm last year under their new Head Coach Sean McVay. The franchise made a turnover like no other in the history of the league.

In 2016, under Jeff Fisher (most of the season), the Rams were ranked dead last in points scored, resulting in a record of 4-12. Leaving more doubts than answers in a team that traded a haul of quality draft picks to the Tennessee Titans (two first rounds, two second rounds, and two third rounds) in exchange for their number one overall pick (also a fourth and a sixth) that would later be used to select quarterback Jared Goff from University of Cal-Berkeley. 

In 2016, Goff nor any other offensive weapon, shined; furthermore, Goff being labeled as a “bust” after only playing in seven games, recording just over 1,000 yards passing, five touchdowns, and a whopping seven interceptions. Fisher was later fired in Week #14, leaving special teams coach John Fassel as the interim Head Coach.

On January 17th, 2017, current Head Coach/Offensive Mastermind Sean McVay, was hired at the age of 30, making him the youngest head coach in the modern era of the NFL. He would later hire defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, to produce a defense with some character under an experienced former head coach that won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. Two seasons after accepting the defensive coordinator position, Phillips built a defense to be one of the scariest that ever played the game. 

However, the questions kept surrounding the team, as little as knowing what a young head coach, living in the most glamorous city in the country, could do with what he accomplished.

Fast forward to Week One, McVay blew out a Luck-less (Andrew Luck) Indianapolis Colts 46-9, the answers where clear, the ground became established, the Rams were back, and looking hungrier than ever.

Yes, the young, revelation team would end up losing to the Atlanta Falcons in the 2018 NFC Wildcard Game, making a lot of mistakes and not scoring a lot of points as they did in the season. The Rams ended up breaking a13-year playoff drought and delivered the hard Los Angeles fans true football for the first time in 22 seasons.

Goff finished last season throwing for 3,804 yards, scoring 28 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Running back Todd Gurley racked up over 2,000 total yards (1,305 rushing, 788 receiving) along with scoring 19 total touchdowns (13 on the ground and six by air) making him an MVP candidate and winning the 2017 Offensive Player of the Year award alongside Aaron Donald, who would win the 2017 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

You might think, making offseason splashes by the organization (acquiring All-Pro free agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and trading for players like All-Pro cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and  a dynamic wide receiver in Brandin Cooks among others) that the team is focused on a 2018 Super Bowl run, but is it a Super Bowl or bust type of season? That will become analyzed in our Pre-Week #1 analysis. But for now, the Rams can dream and continue to dream big, their present and future is as bright as ever.​

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