I think we keep overlooking the magnitude of wholesale injuries in 2021.
NO team can play a rotating lineup of couch-potato fourth-stringer for an offensive line and sustain injuries to the defensive backfield, and as the dominos tumble from there, see lack of protection pummel the starting quarterback onto the bench, take out the league's best receiver with an injury resulting from a backup quarterback's suicide throw, lose football's best defensive player to injury (with cumulative fatigue no doubt as a contributing factor) along with other defensive players.
To start the year we were looking at keep it rolling. So was McVay, so were the players, so was upper manmagement, so were we. We e all said the Rams are poised to win two SB's in a row. Remember?
Then Buffalo handed the league a bluepring on how to beat the Rams. On D, don't double-team Donald; triple-team him. Throw short and sharp to puncture the Rams defense, spread it, and run through it. Use the pass to set up the run.
Before we could adjust from that (and McVay is slow to make those adjustments; he's a lot of good things but not resiliant) the injuries started.
When I said at the time that the Rams didn't need just a cart but a WWI field ambulance to carry off the wounded I wasn't exaggerating by much.
And...we watched key players we expected to keep wander off in free agency (Von Miller and others.) The timing of those departures left us over a barrel.
McVay as a result of his post '21 meltdown kept the Rams guessing, pondering the direction to go once '21 mercifully came to an end. (And that whole quagmire tracks back to the injuries.) He grew, hired coaches he could defer to (somewhat) and deferred to Snead's end of the draft process more than he had in the past. Stilla collaboative effort, but the needle tipped more toward Snead's influence. As a result we have a stelalr rookie class and three valuable signings: Dotson, Witherspoon, and Robinson. (And maybe a fourth if Wentz stays - stay tuned.)
Are we all in for '24? Looks that way... we were all in for '21 and '22 until the wheels fell off.
