Rams might quietly be the best team in the NFL
Plenty of people thought the Rams had a good chance to start 2-0, but not many people expected Sean McVay’s team to win so decisively.
The Los Angeles Rams were everyone’s favorite story in 2017. Offensive mastermind Sean McVay took over one of the NFL’s worst teams and transformed them into NFC West champs. McVay and company aren’t showing any signs of slowing down in 2018.
In fact, there’s a really good argument to be made that they’re even better this season. They’re off to a solid 2-0 start to the season, but the fashion in which they’ve won both games is even more impressive. They blew past Jon Gruden’s Raiders in Week 1 and followed it up with a 34-0 pasting of the Cardinals in Week 2. No one has come close to touching the Rams this season.
In retrospect, no one should really be surprised. The team made bold moves in the offseason to make sure they added significant talent to the roster. Ndamukong Suh isn’t a perfect player, but he’s a perfect complement to Aaron Donald in the middle of the Rams’ defensive line.
The addition of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib to the team’s secondary only makes the team more difficult to score against. Neither of those guys is going to win Mr. Congeniality in the locker room, but in terms of their skills on the field they’re both Pro Bowl-caliber players.
On the other side of the ball, the idea that the Rams offense might regress never really made sense. The key pieces of the team’s attack are still young enough that their performance is much more likely to progress rather than regress over the next several seasons.
Todd Gurley, at just 24 years of age, is just entering his prime as a running back. He already has four touchdowns in just two games this season. He rushed for over 100 yards in the opener and found pay dirt through the air. He was even more efficient against the Cardinals when he scored three touchdowns on just 22 touches. The fact that Gurley is touching the ball less and finding the end zone more this season should be frightening for the rest of the NFL.
Jared Goff is even younger and he has managed to pick up right where he left off last season. He’s completed 42 of his 65 passes on the season for a startling total of 577 yards. Some scouts claim Goff’s big numbers are just a product of McVay’s innovative system and play calling, but no one associated with the Rams cares. The bottom line is they are getting Pro Bowl play from their quarterback.
The Rams also have one of the most dangerous receiver groups in the NFL. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp were excellent for this team last season. Then the front office went out and acquired Brandin Cooks in the offseason. He’s been electric to start the season. Cooks already has 12 catches for 246 yards on the young season. He’s also just 24 years old. That means he’s going to keep growing with this young corps for years to come.
Next. 5 burning questions for the Rams in 2018. dark
You can’t truly learn who the best team in the NFL is so early in the season, but you can identify teams that have what it takes to win the Super Bowl. The Rams are absolutely one of the teams that have the talent and coaching to win the Lombardi Trophy this season.