Friday 20 October 2017 08:38, UK
Who can take the credit for the Rams' turnaround?
The Los Angeles Rams rolled into Jacksonville last Sunday with confidence and swagger. Just like last season, they held a 3-2 record after five games. But unlike that year, the feeling was different.
The team is different. The coaching is different. These aren’t the 2016 Rams.
Against a Jaguars team that had beaten the Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in previous weeks, it was not going to be easy. But the Rams weren’t phased. With a 27-17 win, they moved to 4-2 and sit in top spot of the NFC West.
Last year, under former head coach Jeff Fisher, Los Angeles lost their sixth game and subsequently lost nine of their final 10 to finish with a 4-12 record, while under first-year head coach Sean McVay, the team look set to break out in 2017.
So, what has changed?
When 31-year-old McVay took over in January, he began to make changes immediately. The first goal: surround his prize number one overall pick Jared Goff with weapons. They gave up a second and third-round pick in 2016, and a first in this season's draft. McVay has made do.
They used free agency to bolster the offensive line with veterans John Sullivan and Andrew Whitworth, added wideout Robert Woods from Buffalo and, on defence, the group mostly stayed the same but veteran Connor Barwin replaced Chris Long as a defensive end-outside linebacker hybrid.
Even with the lack of resources, the Rams went all-out offence in the draft, as the team selected attacking players in the second, third and fourth rounds. Tight end Gerald Everett has shown flashes of big-play ability, while receiver Josh Reynolds has just the one catch on the year.
But it’s the team’s third-round pass-catching pick Cooper Kupp who is making the biggest impression. He has had at least a pair of catches in every game so far, totalling 265 yards and two TDs on 19 receptions. If he had held on to a pass from Goff against the Seattle Seahawks in Week Five, he would have had a game-winning catch to his name too.
Then there's Sammy Watkins - the final offseason acquisition and the icing on the cake for Goff. In August, the Rams sent cornerback EJ Gaines and their 2018 second-rounder for Watkins and a sixth-round pick, in another clear attempt to bolster the offence. Every move was made to ensure last year did not happen again.
Goff sat behind Case Keenum at the start of his first season, but when he finally got on the field, he had one of the worst rookie seasons in recent history. In seven games, he had a 54.6 percentage completion, only five touchdowns compared to seven interceptions, a passer rating of 63.6 and, most importantly, seven defeats to his name.
In six games so far this year, Goff is revitalised. He is already one completion away from matching his 2016 total of 112, has 400 more yards, eight touchdowns, only three picks, and four victories. Instead of looking like a rabbit in the headlights, he is at ease with his offence.
A large part of it is the influence and scheme of his head coach. McVay was behind the success of the Washington Redskins offence with Kirk Cousins in the past couple of years. His reign culminated in a top three offensive finish last year - second in passing - before he made the move to the west coast to become the youngest head coach in NFL history.
He has simplified the offense for his young signal-caller, allowing the QB to make easy reads and build his confidence with simple, quick decisions. Goff was a rhythm passer in college, who played in an up-tempo system that got the ball out of his hands quickly, and McVay is allowing him to get back to his best.
Right now, the Rams are eighth in the NFL in yards per game (359.8), 11th in passing (243.8), 13th in rushing (116.0) but number one where it counts: they have scored a league-leading 179 points this season, an average of 29.8 per game.
While Goff has improved, running back Todd Gurley is also rejuvenated in a scheme that gives him the space he needs.
After a dip in form in his second season Gurley is fourth in the NFL this year with 521 rushing yards and four TDs, plus a further 245, and three scores, through the air.
He is second only to Kansas City Chiefs star rookie Kareem Hunt in yards from scrimmage with 766, proving to be the Rams’ top offensive weapon. He failed to record any 100-yard rushing games all of last season, but already has three to his name in 2017.
The Rams as a franchise have a rich history at running back, but coach Jeff Reinebold was not afraid to compare the third-year runner Gurley to one of the greats.
"It’s a little premature to say it, but he’s really given that offence the same dynamism Marshall Faulk did," Reinebold told Sky Sports. "He is so versatile, you can move him around all over the field and do all sorts of stuff with him."
It’s not just the Rams attack that’s been outstanding though. The team are second in sacks, have returned two interceptions for scores and on special teams Pharoh Cooper scored a 103-yard kick-off return TD in the win over the Jaguars.
"The hiring of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was the best move McVay made" added Reinebold. "The coach can let half of the football team go and he knows he can trust him.
"Their defence had a reputation for being good, but looking at them statistically under former DC Gregg Williams, they weren't actually that great. They blitzed a lot, so they got to the quarterback, but they also gave up a lot of big plays as a result.
"Now, they are a better football team."
McVay has this team playing fast and furious. The Rams haven’t finished a season with a top-half scoring team since 2006, but it looks like that could change this year. Could they even end with a winning record for the first time since 2003?
This weekend, they’ll face up against a high-flying Arizona Cardinals team that is having their own resurgence, in London, at Twickenham.
The Rams are one of the youngest teams in the league, and will battle the oldest in a huge NFC West match-up. Los Angeles will look to make that youth count.
Watch the Los Angeles Rams take on the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham, live on Sky Sports Action (407) from 5.15pm on Sunday.
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