What is the secret of the Rams’ (recent) success?

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OnceARam

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This makes me wonder... are we/others underestimating the McVay factor?

This year will be a good test. If McVay can take a small veteran core, mesh it with some young bucks, and come up with a winner, his legacy will be greatly enhanced.

He doesn't play the game. So no, I think you're pushing the bar up too high. I think the players have to be in place first, then it's about the coaching.
 

HitStick

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He doesn't play the game. So no, I think you're pushing the bar up too high. I think the players have to be in place first, then it's about the coaching.

I disagree. Every player in the NFL is talented. It’s the maximization of the talent you have that sets McVay apart from the rest. Look a Bobby Trees. Bobby Trees was looking like a JAG until he got here. CJ Anderson is another example. Coaching can make or break a team, and McVay is a damn good coach.

Two years ago the Rams won a superbowl. Not a single coach between Martz to McVay would have won that Super Bowl IMO. It’s not the players, it’s the coaching
 

OnceARam

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I disagree. Every player in the NFL is talented. It’s the maximization of the talent you have that sets McVay apart from the rest. Look a Bobby Trees. Bobby Trees was looking like a JAG until he got here. CJ Anderson is another example. Coaching can make or break a team, and McVay is a damn good coach.

Two years ago the Rams won a superbowl. Not a single coach between Martz to McVay would have won that Super Bowl IMO. It’s not the players, it’s the coaching

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I think McVay is great, better than average. But players have to execute. And we've had some great players here over his tenure. Same with Martz and Vermeil. All three of these coaches won with 6+ HOF level players.
 

RamFan503

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It's a lot like a pizza you need quality ingredients all the way around so a football team needs quality coaching and quality players. A pizza needs good crust, sauce, cheese, pineapple and canadian bacon! A football team needs a quality coaching staff and a balanced quality roster :)
Geeze! I hope we're better than that shit show of a pizza.
 

Faceplant

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This year and next will be a great measure of how good of a coach McVay is.
 

VegasRam

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It's mostly McVay, but players are a major part, although not for the reason(s) one might think.
(Except for Stafford - he's a god as far as I'm concerned).

Back to the players - I think we're having an 8-10 win season, despite our lack of overall talent and experience, because of the make up of this group. I get it - talent's important, but the subjective intangibles are almost equally so, imo.

Last year we lacked any quote unquote leaders. I know, you're saying WHAT? What about Stafford, Kupp, Donald and Ramsey?
Yes, they are all "leaders", but QBs are by definition, the team leader. So, okay - Stafford I'll give you.
Donald, Kupp and Ramsey are "leaders by example", and while that's not a bad thing, and I hate to use this expression, but they're too fucking serious. (and love ya JR, but you don't pop a teammate period).

So on offense, I see Avila and Atwell as "fun" guys that can keep it light but motivate at the same time. (Whitworth was an extraordnarily huge loss - his kind don't come around, or hardly ever). I also think Higbee's that guy as well, and that his demeanor has contributed to his longevity. Havenstein seems to be smiling most of the time, and quietly reinforces the attitude I'm talking about. Glad he's here rfor the longrun - hell, everybody is, 'cept OND. Allen's actually a fun guy as well.

On D this year, I think Cobie and Jones back there instead of Ramsey and Wagner - (yeah it's a not an insignificant dropoff, but give them time) - as well as now JJ III, Lake and Tomlinson just create a vibe, if you will, that is going to help you unit jell and excel a lot sooner than people expect. Because they're talented AND fun to be around. Kobie Turner looks to be both.

Anyway, I could go on, but you get my point. And btw, not a hint of a fight in practices.
Am I nuts, or is this more important than one might think?
 

oldnotdead

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You need the right mix of player talent acquired by an equally talented GM, and coached by a head coach that knows how to maximize that talent. There is no way in hell that McVay doesn't take this team to at least one more Super Bowl win in the next 3 to 4 years.

I think it was very telling that Snead said they will return to their all in style starting next year. I always have felt that this was the year for them to reset the foundation of the team, to then make a sustained run for multiple Super Bowls.

I think Stafford has this year and next year to get his second ring. After that it will be with the QB they move up to draft in the first round next year to give them a four year window for sustained Super Bowl runs. With a 5th year option, a first round QB can be given a redshirt year as a rookie behind Stafford and they still will control his rights for 4 more years. Then they can either pay the man or trade him at his max value and do it all over again.

Those who think Snead's all in style isn't sustainable are wrong. If managed correctly its completely sustainable. They went all in with Goff in 2016 and since then they have been to two Super Bowls and won one in 6 years.

Goff's play has shown they weren't wrong about his talent. The difference is that he was drafted under a different head coach. The difference in Goff's play in 2016 then under new HC McVay in 2017 and 2018 proved the difference coaching makes. Now in Detroit under a more compatible system, Goff has blossomed into an elite QB.

Stafford has always been an elite QB, he simply didn't have the complete team around him to make it work. Here in LA he has the coach and the team. The Ram's experience with both Goff and Stafford has shown the value of scheme fit when it comes to talent. That is the secret to the Ram's success under McVay. Players who fit his scheme offensively.

Defensively McVay needs a DC that is as aggressive as he is. When Raheem needs to play aggressively he has shown he knows how. But the problem is he doesn't coach that way all the time. From what I've seen of the practices, I'm hoping that Pleasant is going to return the secondary to its aggressive style he had them playing under Staley who liked a quarters style with a man component. With the addition of JJ Pleasant now has the final piece to play that way. I think that the additions of Johnson, Taylor and Lake Aubrey has the safeties, to pair with Durant, Tomlinson, and Witherspoon/Rochell at CB. Don't sleep on this secondary because once they gel as a unit if played aggressively they could be very good.

The Rams also have really good edges in Young, Hoecht and Hampton. The interior DL is solid with Donald, Murchison and Turner.

Once they hit their stride this is a playoff team. That is how the Rams do it. Snead drafts well. Every GM swings and misses but Snead hits more than he misses and he does it with minimal high draft picks and he's not afraid to selectively bring in a hired gun when he has to.
 

Faceplant

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I've though about this some more, and I'm pretty sure the answer is ME. I have been diligently pacing back and forth on the same line in my garage, turning the volume down when the opposing team has the ball and wearing the same lucky underwear every Sunday since September, 2017. Yep....it's Gotta be me. Yall'z are welcome.

Edit: McVay, please send me payment in the form of cash......or nudes of the wife....... Jk, not tryna get traded to Detroit!!


:sunglasses:
 

Selassie I

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Big Mahalos to @Faceplant ! His dedication clearly got us over the top.


I'll have to give the real credit to our committed/qualified owner.

His commitment to the Rams is almost unbelievable... but the newest wonder of the world known as SOFI is basically a monument to his commitment level and it removes all doubt of Stan's 1000 % commitment to the Rams of even the haters.

He hires real football experts and allows them to do their jobs without getting in their way. He doesn't need to pretend he knows more than everyone and definitely doesn't want any spotlights shining on him. That's part of what I mean by saying he's qualified. It's amazing how many owners operate in the exact opposite way.

He's also qualified because he can financially afford to own an NFL franchise. That is definitely not the case for a large number of other owners. All we have to do is to think back and remember when That Skank was bouncing the paychecks of our players if we want a reminder of the fact that not all NFL owners are qualified.

Stan hires the best... and the best want to be here. The McSlay Culture simply could not exist properly without our BADASS Owner!

I'd also like to point out one other obvious fact... You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit. That fact is somehow unknown to way too many people.
 

GoodBadUgly

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My $0.02 on McVay:

Dude is a "Thought Leader".

Some folks have decent ideas, but they don't have a gaggle of admirers/followers. Some folks have an impressive following but are idiots (check the news for the poster child for this).

McVay is both.

He decides to buck tradition, and not play starters AT ALL in the preseason. Balls the size of blimps for the youngest head coach in history to put his neck on the line like this. Pundits everywhere make fun of him. Now, most of the league has followed his lead, and only coaches who fart dust refuse to get in line. I even heard local radio in Seattle (who always crap all over the Rams) admit he was the innovator in this regard. This list of innovations grow each season.

Assuming he fights the burnout over the years, IMO, he will be known as the best there ever was.