Running back Todd Gurley should be fit when the Rams open the playoffs on Jan. 12, after a bye in the opening round. Gurley missed the final two regular-season games with a knee injury. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)Getty
The Rams are ready for a Super Bowl run after winning 13 games for only the third time in franchise history. The road to the title game in Atlanta got smoother when Los Angeles won the NFC West for the second straight year to earn a bye in the opening weekend of the playoffs. Then it’s a home game for the NFC’s No. 2-seeded Rams at the LA Memorial Coliseum where they went 7-1.
Full Forbes coverage of the NFL playoffs: the outlook for all 12 teams.
Key for the Rams’ chances is a healthy Todd Gurley, one of the NFL’s top running backs. He was sidelined over the final two weeks of the regular season with a knee injury. All indications are he’ll be ready to romp when the Rams christen the playoffs.
How They Got Here
The Rams had a target on their back after rebounding in 2017 with a sensational season under rookie head coach Sean McVay. But that didn’t seem to bother them as they raced to a 13-3 record while compiling one of the most potent offenses in the game.
While there are stars throughout that side of the ball, the team got its best value out of a running back earning but $92,941. When Gurley was unable to go in the last two weeks, the Rams got CJ Anderson off the free-agent scrap heap. He produced much like Gurley in rushing for two touchdowns and 299 yards, which allowed the Rams to clinch the NFC West and earn a first-round bye.
Aaron Donald was the high-priced item on defense after signing a six-year, $135 million contract, with $86 million guaranteed, before the season. Donald set the NFL record for an interior lineman with a league-high 20.5 sacks. Despite the cost, Donald was worth every penny.
Cory Littleton was another good value as he solidified the inside linebacker’s spot after the Rams declined to bring back last year’s starters. With a $545,000 average salary on a three-year deal, Littleton, in his first year as a starter, paced the Rams with 125 tackles and added four sacks.
What Happens Now
The Rams are among the favorites to win Super Bowl LIII, thanks to the NFL’s No. 2 offense and a defense which features Donald. It was clear by the team’s offseason signings of veterans Ndamukong Suh, Aquib Talib, Marcus Peters and Brandin Cooks that the Rams were pushing all their Super Bowl chips to the middle of the table.
There’s a reason for that which extends past the sidelines. The Rams move into their new stadium they will share with the Chargers in 2020. Both squads are fighting for a future season-ticket base and patrons to purchase the venue’s suites. With a minimum seat license of $1,000 for the right to buy a season ticket — which is 10 times higher than the Chargers — the Rams have to prove they’re the No. 1 team in town.
It was last year the Rams proved they were a playoff-caliber squad, but one that didn’t get a postseason win. The Rams, with many of their players getting a taste of the playoffs for the first time, fell to the Atlanta Falcons in their opening game.
That defeat might come with benefits for this year. The Rams were also prominent in marquee games in 2018, so the playoff stage shouldn’t be too big for them.
“I think just having more big-game experience, being on primetime a handful of times this year and then having that playoff game last year and having games that are extremely meaningful late in the season,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “I think that all carries over into the playoffs and into that mentality that you have to have throughout the week.”
What That Will Mean
The Rams are eager to make a deep playoff run and it doesn’t seem like this will be the one-and-done season to do it in.
Goff and Gurley are 24 years old. Cooks, who had another 1,000-yard receiving season, is 25. Robert Woods, another 1,000-yard pass-catcher, is 26. Donald, the disruptive stud on defense, is 27.
And of course, they are led by McVay, who has reached 32 after being the youngest NFL coach hired in the modern era before last season.
It’s clear the Rams’ success could be sustainable with so many key parts just now entering the window for their most productive seasons. It’s also evident that the Rams won’t stand still in the offseason, regardless of how they do this year. They’re looking to string together a series of successful seasons to entice NFL fans to lean their direction in the battle for recognition with the Chargers.
Two Rams hoping to make their mark in the playoffs are Suh and Dante Fowler Jr. Suh signed a one-year deal for $14 million and Fowler ($5.8 million) was acquired during the season. Both are free agents after the season.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News