A Possible Nightmare Scenario for the Rams in 2025

"It's natural to focus on the Rams' surge after their bye, and ignore the 1-4 start. But that bad start happened too. The Rams also allowed Saquon Barkley to rush for an [Philadelphia] Eagles record 255 yards in a Week 12 game, were 26th in yards per rush allowed, yielded 29 passing touchdowns to tie for the fifth most in the NFL, and were 31st in yards per rush," Schwab said.

"A lot of offseason focus has been on the Rams being close to beating Philadelphia in the playoffs, but they also trailed 28-15 with less than five minutes remaining before a late rally. Maybe that game wasn't as close as we like to remember, and perhaps we're choosing to ignore some of the Rams' holes going into this season. They won eight games by seven or fewer points, and that's hard to replicate.

"They had a point differential of -19. Many advanced stats had the Rams being about in the middle of the NFL last season. For many NFL teams near the middle, the difference between being celebrated and ignored is catching a few timely breaks to turn 50-50 outcomes in their favor. If the breaks don't go the Rams' way this season, they might be nowhere near another NFC West title.

Earlier in the offseason, Sean McVay referenced the Rams' poor start each of the past two seasons. He expressed hope that the Rams can avoid injuries, which played a significant role in one of those poor starts to the season.

Although McVay did not make excuses, it is no secret that it is hard to win games without your best players on the field.

"I think the good thing is when you just look at the last two years, you really realize as much as you say, 'Alright, we're going to carry some good momentum.' I think you want to learn from stuff. Each of the last couple of years, it's a totally separate season. We want to be able to build, and there is a lot of confidence, but it has to be earned," McVay said.

"You finish the season in '23 7-1 down the stretch, you go toe-to-toe with Detroit [in the playoffs] and then we start 1-4 this past year. There are a variety of reasons I could give for that, but as you accumulate experience, there is an understanding that every year really is a new year. When you draw on previous experience to understand that you don't take for granted setting the foundation the right way.

"These guys are people that we feel like will be a part of that, but they're going to earn it. They're going to come into a great group of guys that are going to welcome them with open arms. I do think that we're in a good position to be able to project a lot of confidence, but we have to be able to go earn it and then hopefully stay as healthy as you possibly can, which we've seen what a big deal that is not only for us, but a lot of different teams across the league in what is a really physical sport that we play."

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