Last season the St. Louis Rams finished at the bottom of the NFC West, easily the best division in the NFL from top to bottom. Their record was 7-9, not good by any stretch of the imagination. Having so much young talent all over their roster, many people have been asking, “Are the Rams ready to make a serious run at the NFC West title?” Well, there’s a few variables involved in answering that question.
The first question that has to be answered is whether or not quarterback Sam Bradford is ready to take his game to the next level. If he has plateaued and is going to stay where he’s at or possibly even regress then the Rams don’t have a shot at beating out the San Francisco 49ers or the Seattle Seahawks in the division. Helping Bradford this season will be newly acquired Kenny Britt. If he’s able to get his head on straight and stay healthy then he’s the Rams’ most talented receiver. Another new addition on offense that is going to help Bradford is offensive lineman Greg Robinson. Him and Jake Long on the left side of the line is going to be a formidable combination and one that should keep Bradford on his feet more than he was last season.
The Rams’ secondary is a big question going into this season and could prove to be a costly weakness. What helps out their secondary is how good their defensive line is. One of the better lines in football last season, they gain rookie Aaron Donald in 2014. This line looks to be outright dominant and a talented front seven can really hide some weaknesses in the secondary. But if the line can’t get pressure on opposing quarterbacks and cause quick throws, then offenses will really be able to sit back and pick apart their secondary.
The schedule for St. Louis doesn’t do them any favors either. First of all, their bye week is in Week 4. Having your bye week that early in the season is almost a waste of a bye week because your players are still extremely fresh and not very banged up as opposed to a Week 9 bye when the players have all kinds of dings that can healed up with an extra week’s rest. They also have a seven week stretch from Weeks 6-12 where they play the 49ers, Seahawks, at the Kansas City Chiefs, at the 49ers, at the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, and then at the San Diego Chargers. The best case scenario in those seven weeks would be if the Rams went 3-4. If they go 3-4 or worse in that stretch, that alone might knock them out of contention for the division considering Seattle won the division in 2013 with only three losses.
So is St. Louis ready to contend in the NFC West? I think they will win some games and give a lot of teams a lot of trouble, but I just don’t think they’re ready to overthrow San Francisco or Seattle. The Rams will probably finish at the bottom of the division again but the NFC West might be the only division they’d finish that low in. They need Bradford to make that leap and their receivers to take the next step in their development. They also need their defensive line to play lights out every single game or their secondary will exposed early and often. There’s a lot of things the Rams need to do to be in contention for the division, but I just don’t see it happening.