Quarter Pole Review: Are the Los Angeles Rams as Good as They Seem?

After stumbling out of the gate to begin the season, the Los Angeles Rams are on a three-game winning streak heading into Week 5.

The NFL has reached the quarter pole of the season, and with that comes questions regarding each team. It goes without saying that the Los Angeles Rams have gotten off to a start that very few saw coming, and beginning the season with a 28-0 thumping to the San Francisco 49ers only reinforced those low expectations.

Following the opening night debacle, the Rams went on to win a tough home opener versus the Seattle Seahawks, who many regarded as a Super Bowl caliber team. Although it was an ugly win where the Rams failed to even get into the end zone for the second week in a row, they rode their defense to a tough 9-3 win.

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Week 3 took the Rams across the country to Florida to face off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that could not have been more on the opposite side of the spectrum of a football game than that of the week before. In an effort to change up the dynamic of the offensive play calling, the Rams finally gave Case Keenum a little slack by allowing him to go down field. The risks in letting the ball fly paid off in a shoot-out win where Los Angeles found the end zone four times  on offense and pulled off a 37-32 win.

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A home win versus a contender, followed by a road win versus a team that had been showing flashes of superior offensive play only paved the road to what many would call the Rams and many other teams toughest test in facing the Arizona Cardinals at home. Admittedly, I didn’t have the highest expectations given that this was basically the same team from the NFC championship game from the year before. But the Rams mental and psychical toughness shone through the double and played lights out defense on the back of their defensive units, virtually making Carson Palmer and his pass catchers a non-issue and completely shutting down David Johnson, sneaking out of the desert with a 17-13 win.

So are the Rams as good as they seem to be? Do they belong atop the rankings in the NFC West? Well the answer isn’t really crystal clear at this point, but a few points can be made.

The offense is mediocre at best. That can be said pretty definitively. They will score, they can make the occasional big play, but they just don’t have the depth to be able to be relied on every week. However, the offense has a safety net that will give them chances to score every week.

This team’s defense is what nightmares are made of and every game plan will be surrounding the defense. They are the main part of the equation in the formula for winning. Going into Week 5 and facing a Buffalo Bills team at home following a short winning streak of their own will give an opportunity for Los Angeles to make their case.

If the Rams can contain the Bills’ defense and find ways to score, if they can grind out a decisive and statement win leaving Week 5 with a 4-1 record, Los Angeles will have made a claim to be considered a good team. At the very least, a team worth considering formidable, and a team worth watching week in and week out.

As ugly as some of the wins have been, they are certainly entertaining to watch for Rams fans.