Los Angeles Rams must learn to handle pressure of being a Super Bowl favorite

The Los Angeles Rams still have plenty of work to do when it comes to living up to the hype of being serious Super Bowl contenders.

Without question, the Los Angeles Rams will go down as one of the top winners of the offseason when looking at all of the key moves made by the team to increase their Super Bowl odds, whether it was the recent signing of Ndamukong Suh or pulling off two trades to give them a new dynamic duo at cornerback in Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. After winning the NFC West title in 2017, the Rams were already expected to be one of the early favorites to make a run at next year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta, but those expectations have hit a whole new level over the last couple of weeks.

Not to mention, expectations will hit an even higher level if Los Angeles is somehow able to pull off a trade to acquire Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants. But since that trade is all talk at the moment since the Giants are asking for two first-round picks in exchange for Beckham, let’s just assume the Rams head into 2018 with their current roster, which is still in solid shape.

It was one thing for Los Angeles to be excited about their high-powered offense led by Jared Goff and Todd Gurley after becoming the first team in NFL history to go from worst to first in scoring, but with Suh joining Aaron Donald on the defensive line along with their new duo at cornerback makes the defense just as exciting to follow as well. However, as good as the Rams look on paper, every football fan knows there are no guarantees when it comes to the NFL, and no matter how good this team is at the moment, nothing matters until September rolls around when regular season games get underway.

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If anything, Los Angeles should at least be slightly concerned over this new type of pressure they’re not used to dealing with by being one of the top early favorites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy next February. Whether they like it or not, the Rams will be playing with a target on their backs throughout the 2018 season as arguably the team to beat in the NFC, and if they aren’t prepared to handle this pressure, it could result in a long season.