NFL: St. Louis Rams will be in the playoffs in 2014 if…

Conclusion: You want to say this will be a breakout year for Fisher and his team. And there are certainly enough pieces on both sides of the ball to warrant that excitement.

Still, making headway in the NFC West these days is much easier said than done. The fact that the Rams lost their final five games of the season within the division in 2013, which included sweeps at the hands of the playoff-bound Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, was particularly disappointing. The previous year, Fisher’s team didn’t lose to the Niners, split with the ‘Hawks and were a promising 4-1-1 vs. their divisional rivals.

So what about the team’s chances of returning to the playoffs for the first time in a decade? This is a never-say-never league and if the Rams’ young players come into their own quickly, you could be looking at a very exciting team. But a step out of the NFC West basement, as well as a winning season, would be a very positive step for a franchise that hasn’t had much to cheer about in quite a few years.