Rams’ next challenge: Staying atop West
INDIANAPOLIS – Smarting from his team’s wild-card playoff exit, which followed a surprise NFC West title, Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead wrote himself a note.
“Remember the feeling,” he typed atop a Word document he refers to regularly to keep himself organized. The file features to-do lists, reminders and ideas.
But the pain of being eliminated in Los Angeles Coliseum by the Atlanta Falcons stung Snead, and he wanted to ensure it remained fresh in his mind, thus the line. He changes the color or style of the font occasionally to keep the message fresh.
But Thursday, it was “bold red,”
Snead said.
“You lose that playoff game,” he recalled while speaking at the NFL scouting combine, “and when you leave the locker room for the last time, it’s not a fun trip home. And so ‘ Remember the feeling’ means let’s use that as motivation to get a few steps farther next year.”
The Rams’ 11-5 campaign represented a dramatic turnaround for a franchise that went 4-12 in 2016 and hadn’t enjoyed a winning record since 2003. Rookie head coach Sean McVay infused the organization with life. He turned running back Todd Gurley into the league’s offensive player of the year while quarterback Jared Goff went from apparent bust to rising star. Coordinator Wade Phillips’ defense ranked among the best in the NFL. By season’s end, the Rams were making waves amid a fickle local fan base still unaccustomed to supporting a pro football franchise.
But Snead and McVay now deem the accomplishments of 2017 largely irrelevant. They have to take that approach to ensure long-term success, especially given the state of the NFC West.
After winning their final five games last season, the San Francisco 49ers have begun mounting a return to relevance after finding their franchise quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo and laying a foundation with young talent. The Se- attle Seahawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011 but remain a talented bunch even in the midst of a retooling effort.
As the Rams will soon learn, the burden of remaining atop the heap often dwarfs the pressure of trying to get there.
“You got to this level of the video game, but you want to go farther,” Snead explained. “Whether you were here last year trying to get to this level, or here this year trying to get to the next level, same desire to wake up every day and say, ‘OK, how do we get better?’ Because yesterday was successful, but not good enough.”
The Seahawks can relate. Prolonging success while working to stay a step ahead of the competition in a league that promotes parity proves most challenging. But coach Pete Carroll refused to chalk up 2017’s shortcomings to a slew of injuries suffered by his top defensive players. Instead, he fired his offensive and defensive coordinators and the offensive line coach, replacing them with men he believes will provide a fresh approach.
“I wanted to find a way,” Carroll said, “and there were some tough decisions to get that done. But I wanted to work at changing an approach to it so we can find some newness to uncover.”
Keeping abreast of the Rams and 49ers will likely only get harder.
General manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan credited Garoppolo for sparking San Francisco.
“He balled out. He played really well, made our team better,” Lynch said.
Meanwhile, the growth of 15 rookies who saw significant playing time last season also fuels optimism as the Niners aim to add to a budding core with an aggressive free agency and draft.
But the Rams remain the team to catch in the NFC West, and they aren’t resting on their laurels.
Snead has already pulled off a trade for cornerback Marcus Peters and hopes to re-sign safety Lamarcus Joyner, cornerback Trumaine Johnson and receiver Sammy Watkins. On top of that, Snead is trying to secure defensive player of the year Aaron Donald to a contract extension. And Snead hasn’t ruled out the possibility of additional trades for veterans or on draft day.
“It’s an urgency to get better. It’s an urgency to improve,” he said. “You have the things you want to address, and there’s a lot of avenues to address them.”