The Rams are going to the Super Bowl.
There, I’ve written it, I can’t believe I’ve written it, but I’ve written it, right here, first paragraph, in fanboy-living color.
The Rams are going to the Super Bowl.
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Las Vegas has them at 9½ wins. Bet the over. Bet it big. They will win 11 games and a weakened NFC West and a soft NFC and then…
The Rams are going to the Super Bowl.
Don’t succumb to the fears about Matthew Stafford’s back. Don’t listen to the worries about the fragile offensive line. Embrace the ascending young defense. Love the bolstered receiving corps. Trust the brilliant coach.
Read more: Can Matthew Stafford stay healthy? Rams’ Super Bowl aims depend on it
Seriously, the Rams are going to the Super Bowl.
Nobody else is saying it, but you know many folks are thinking it, and if I’m going to pen my annual Rams preview column, it needs to be said.
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“I feel really good about this team,” said Rams president Kevin Demoff, who in the last decade has engineered them into one of this town’s model sports franchises. “This is by far the most talented we have up and down the roster.”
The sunny hope for this season actually begins at the snowy end of last season. Remember? Who can forget?
The Rams’ young defense gave up 24 total points in the last three regular-season games that mattered, then held the powerful Minnesota Vikings to nine points in the wild-card playoff game, sacking Sam Darnold with nine crunches for minus-82 yards.
Then came the divisional round in Philadelphia, a game nearly stolen from the eventual Super Bowl champs but for two plays and 13 yards.
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It was snowing, final seconds, the Rams were down by six but driving, 13 yards from the end zone, a winter wonderland … then a frozen nightmare.
Backup center Beaux Limmer allows Jalen Carter a free pass into the backfield and down goes Matthew Stafford for a nine-yard sack.
Limmer is beaten again by Carter and Stafford is forced to throw a hurried and errant pass to a covered Puka Nacua that is batted away.
Game over. Season over. Just like that. Just that close.
But know this: That’s not happening again. Not this season. The Rams have since addressed three of their biggest failings in that final game.
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Stafford’s final pass isn’t guaranteed to be going to a covered Nacua. The Rams sadly sent injury-plagued Cooper Kupp packing, but happily replaced him with one of football’s great one-on-one pass catchers in Davante Adams.
After Adams tired of the hijinks in Las Vegas early last season, he was traded to the New York Jets, where old buddy Aaron Rodgers tossed him seven touchdown passes for 854 yards in 11 games. Adams is 32, but he can still play, and his athleticism complements Nacua in ways that Kupp could not.
Many in training camp gushed about Adams’ circus-like ability to grab a flying football, and some noted that in a joint practice against the Dallas Cowboys, he looked downright unguardable.
“He’s the most naturally gifted receiver,” marveled Demoff.
And, like seemingly everybody who joins the Rams, he is thrilled to play for Sean McVay and with Stafford, their combination of brains and skill giving him a legitimate shot at a ring.
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Think Odell Beckham Jr. with more wows.
“It was clear this was where I needed to be,” Adams told reporters. “Being part of a great franchise, and a great team that made a good push last year.”
Then there was the matter of keeping Stafford upright for those final two Philly plays. Enter center Coleman Shelton, a former Super Bowl champion with the Rams who once spent five years here. After spending one year with the Chicago Bears, the Loyola High grad returned to anchor the center of the offensive line, which is sturdier and more seasoned. Here’s guessing Carter doesn’t charge through so easily this time.
“Very happy to be back,” Shelton said to reporters. “Obviously you want to be around as many great coaches, great players … it’s exciting.”
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Finally, there was the required fixing of a run defense that was dominated by the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley. Yes, the Jared Verse-led pass rush became the first defense to record seven-plus sacks in consecutive playoff games. But, goodness, they couldn’t find anyone to drag down Barkley, who blew through them on 78- and 62-yard touchdown runs in the snow after rushing for 255 yards against them in the regular season.
Read more: Saquon Barkley-proof? ‘Relentless’ Rams defense eager to challenge NFC’s finest
Hello, Poona Ford! The Rams signed the lineman, who just had his career-best season with the Chargers for one reason and one reason only. Stop Saquon Barkley and anyone like him.
“They’re young, they’re hungry,” Ford said of the Rams’ defense, adding that coordinator Chris Shula said, “he wants me in the middle to help stop the run and stuff like that.”
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“Stuff like that” wins championships, and the Ram have that stuff.
Worried about Stafford’s back because he missed training camp? Understandable, but also know that Stafford has played at least 15 games in three of his four seasons here. He’s tough. He shows up. And since returning to the field recently, he’s looked great. And when he looks great, the Rams are great.
In each of his 15-games-plus seasons here, the Rams made the playoffs and had a top 10-ranked offense. Stafford also leads all active quarterbacks with 51 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime. Yes, he’s 37, but John Elway won a Super Bowl at 38, Peyton Manning won at 39, and Tom Brady won at 43.
“If this team stays healthy, we have every ingredient to make a deep run,” said Demoff.
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Worried about the offensive line? Expect McVay to help them out with one of the league’s deepest tight end groups led by relentless Tyler Higbee.
Worried about the sometimes shaky secondary? Verse and young stars Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Braden Fiske will take a lot of pressure off the pass defenders.
Worried about how they’ll handle the hype? They will. They always do. All because they have the league’s best coach in McVay. The former boy wonder has grown into one of the most impactful leaders in all of sports, directing the Rams to a Super Bowl championship and two Super Bowl appearances while making the playoffs in six of his eight seasons.
His only droughts? During Super Bowl hangover years. And the last time they lost in a divisional playoff? They won the whole thing the following year. Hmmm.
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They have what looks like a relatively easy schedule while playing in a weakened NFC West where Seattle doesn’t have an offense, Arizona doesn’t have the fire, and San Francisco is once again a Christian McCaffrey twinge from total destruction.
Read more: Who’s got it better than the AFC West? Division might have greatest coaching roster ever
Their main non-divisional matchups are with teams from the awful AFC South and NFC South, meaning they face only three legitimately tough opponents.
At Philadelphia, at Baltimore, and home against Detroit.
Throw in the usual stumble or two and you’re looking at 12-5 and a top seed in the playoffs.
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Once there, as everyone knows, allow Stafford and McVay into the postseason and anything can happen.
“We’re amongst a group in the NFC that’s got a real shot,” said Demoff. “Now we just have to go earn it.”
When the season ends Feb. 8 in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium, it will be almost exactly 10 years since the NFL approved the Rams exit from St. Louis and return to Los Angeles.
Happy Anniversary. See you at the Super Bowl.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.