What the St Louis Rams’ 2015 Schedule Tells Us

This has been a dull off-season NFL fans. The Rams’ flurry of signings in the early days of free agency made for a few moments of excitement but, since then, our attentions have mostly turned to monitoring Joe Barksdale’s movements.

There has been a dearth of offseason misdemeanors, and column inches have been taken up with endless mock drafts and analyses of the Rams’ major needs (yes, we get it, we need offensive linemen). It has made for a boring month-and-a-bit that has had us all crying out for the Draft on April 30^th.

Luckily, however, the NFL threw us a bit of a lifeline this week by releasing next season’s schedule and tearing us away from watching the NBA playoffs and reminding us that we are also football fans. Starved of stories to write about, reporters instantly dusted off their laptops to pick the schedule apart and unravel its meaning.

Social media commentators in Rams Nation were also quick to jump on the opportunity and threw about predictions that saw the team win the Super Bowl after a perfect season, or go winless, or somewhere in between.

Many assessed the merits of the Week 6 bye week, or the back-to-back AFC North away games, or of season finale not being against the Seattle Seahawks. From doom-and-gloom scaremongering to triumphant acclamation, the variables were all dissected in a feast of over-thinking.

Despite all of this discussion, there is really only one prediction that can be safely made at this point, one that is beyond doubt and which comes with a guarantee, and it is……

That the schedule does not help us to predict anything.

This is no not so much meant as an eye-shattering surprise for the reader as it is a cynical assessment of the response to the schedule being released. For starters, the schedule highlights teams which are not yet complete.

The 2015 Rams that will be facing the Seahawks in Week One are far from set. Free agency is still not over, the Draft needs to be held, roster cuts are yet to be made, and undrafted rookies still need to be undrafted. Offseason progression is hard to predict, and no one can foresee how roster and coaching changes will impact a time (see Nick Foles, for example). And, yes, the O-line still needs patching up.

Importantly, intangibles can further affect a team’s performance, and these cannot be predicted at this stage…to say nothing about injuries! And these factors do not just apply to the Rams, but also to each of the thirteen teams they will be facing next year.

Yes, predicting (and betting) is fun and gives us something to do, but it would be wrong to crown or condemn a team based on a list of teams that are just to be finalized.

So, sorry to be a bit of a Scrooge. And, yes, the schedule is an important event, especially for those planning their trips to watch the blue-and-gold. But if the Rams have taught us anything over these years, it is that if there is one thing that can be predicted it is their unpredictability.

Anyone up for another mock draft?