Read a good article, can't link to it, that showed that nearly 100% of teams that had a positive jump like we had last year regressed record-wise in the following season. I would like to think that our situation is unique, but it is hard to argue with the statistics and they were very convincing.
Also, we had excellent health this year, which is hard to replicate. A lot of it is intentional planning by the coaches, but IMO more of it is flat good luck.
To me, the most important aspect of this year that must continue for next year to show improvement is the play of the OL. Especially in pass pro this year, our OL was excellent. Goff was very comfortable most of the time, I am worried about our 37 year old LT in particular. Not sure who his backup is but if he is not on the roster then we need to find him.
That having been said, I am psyched to see what Goff, Gurley and McVay can do now that we have a solid core on offense and whole offseason to scheme and practice even more effective plans on O. Last year McVay had to figure out what he had, add multiple pieces, and mold it all together into a league leading offense. All while McVay was learning how to be a HC. Now that we have a fairly set offense players-wise, I am excited to see how McVay can use that time instead studying our opponents, and scheming new approaches and fine tuning what already works.