5 reasons the Rams can win the SB next season...

5 reasons the Rams can win the Super Bowl next season

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

A lot hangs in the balance for the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. The jobs of Sean McVay, Les Snead and Jared Goff aren’t on the line by any means, but after missing the playoffs last season and undergoing major changes this offseason, there are a lot of eyes on the Rams.

Will they continue to regress? Or will McVay right the ship and get it sailing back on the path to another Super Bowl appearance? Expectations aren’t very high for the Rams in 2020 – certainly not as high as they were last offseason – but this is a team that still has the talent to win it all.

There’s just a lot of uncertainty surrounding a few positions, specifically the middle of the defense and the offensive line as a whole. But while the market is bearish on Los Angeles, there is some hope.

Here are five reasons the Rams can win the Super Bowl next season.

Sean McVay


(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
In McVay’s first two seasons as an NFL head coach, he led the Rams to two NFC West titles and a Super Bowl appearance. Anyone doubting his ability to get the Rams back to the playoffs should reconsider that sentiment because he’s shown he can bounce back from adversity several times in his brief coaching career thus far.

Heading into 2020, McVay is expected to broaden his coaching reach. He’ll be more involved on defense, will expand the personnel packages used by the Rams and get his new offensive coordinator, Kevin O’Connell, involved in game planning.

McVay turned around a franchise that hadn’t won more than eight games in a decade. Surely he can lead a team that won nine games a year ago to a bounce-back season and make a deep playoff run.

Offensive firepower


Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks may not be in the picture anymore, but the Rams still have plenty of playmakers on offense. Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson are both young, dynamic running backs. Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods are as reliable as they come at wide receiver, and the combination of Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett gives the Rams an excellent tight end duo.

Los Angeles has finished top 10 in yards in each of the last three seasons, so their offense hasn’t been the primary issue. They’re still scoring points and the offensive line should improve, as should Jared Goff after a down year in 2019. The playmakers are in place, it’s just a matter of the line giving Goff enough time and Goff getting them the ball.

Improved cohesiveness on O-line


(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The offensive line was terrible last season, there’s no doubt about that. But it did get better late in the year when Bobby Evans, Austin Corbett and David Edwards entered the starting lineup. The Rams are hoping that success carries over into 2020, specifically the cohesiveness after there wasn’t much of that last season.

If the Rams can get back to fielding the same five starters for most of the season, it’ll go a long way toward improving the entire offense. After the front office more or less ignored the offensive line this offseason, it was a vote of confidence for the players currently on the roster. There’s reason for hope with this unit after seeing some promise at the end of last season.

Defensive stars


The Rams defense will look vastly different in 2020 than it did last season. Gone are Dante Fowler Jr., Cory Littleton, Clay Matthews, Nickell Robey-Coleman and Eric Weddle, who either left in free agency, were cut or retired. Some of those departures were caused by the Rams, but in the case of Fowler and Littleton, they’re truly losses that Los Angeles would’ve preferred not to suffer.

Still, the Rams have a lot of really talented players on that side of the ball. Specifically, they have two superstars on defense. Aaron Donald is the best defensive lineman in the NFL, and Jalen Ramsey can make the same case at cornerback. Every team would love to have one of the two on their roster, yet the Rams have both.

Not to mention, John Johnson and Taylor Rapp are budding stars at safety, who could break out as Pro Bowlers in 2020, which would further improve the Rams defense. They may have lost playmakers, but the Rams are still rich with talent on defense.

Coaching changes
It was shocking to see the Rams make such major changes this offseason. Wade Phillips was let go, John Fassel left for the Cowboys, McVay moved on from Skip Peete as his running backs coach, and an offensive coordinator was hired for the first time since Matt LaFleur was in L.A.

The addition of Brandon Staley as the defensive coordinator will create a more versatile scheme that’s better equipped to adapt to a given opponent. He’s already talked about using Ramsey in unique ways and emphasized the importance of position flexibility.

On offense, Kevin O’Connell will assist with not only game planning and coaching the quarterbacks during the week, but also in game management on Sundays. It was a show of awareness when McVay hired O’Connell, indicating his willingness to delegate rather than trying to handle everything on his own.

These changes will help the Rams on both sides of the ball, even if they were unexpected after last season ended.