Rams once again face new level of pressure as contender heading into 2019

After coming up short in Super Bowl 53, the Los Angeles Rams face a whole new level of pressure as a contender heading into the 2019 season.

During the 2017 season, the Los Angeles Rams turned out to be one of the biggest surprise contenders in the NFC, and the last thing any football fan expected was to see a team that won just four games the year before would go on to win the NFC West.

Unfortunately, the inexperience factor seemed to eventually kick in for the Rams after coming up short in the playoffs later on against the Atlanta Falcons, but on a positive note, at least their surprise success seemed to indicate a bright future.

Originally back in 2017, the plan for Los Angeles seemed to be that the team would need at least a year or two to adjust to playing under Sean McVay after the Rams took a major gamble on hiring the youngest head coach in NFL history.

Thanks to previous success as a member of the Washington Redskins, the Rams felt confident enough in McVay having what it takes to help Los Angeles reach new levels on offense, especially with the development of Jared Goff.

Two years later, the Rams are preparing for their third training camp under McVay, and if the previous two years are any indication of what 2019 should have in store, Los Angeles should continue being a serious contender in the NFC.

Of course, that’s always easier said than done since like most teams, the Rams have a few key questions in need of answering over these next few months, with Todd Gurley‘s knee arguably ranking near the top of the list.

Around this time last summer, one of the biggest questions surrounding the Rams was how the team would respond one year after emerging as a surprise contender in the NFC, which they responded by earning a trip to the Super Bowl.

As bad as it sounds, no one really knew what to expect from Los Angeles since the team was handling a new level of pressure playing with targets on their backs as a top contender in the NFC.

But after proving to be able to handle the new level of pressure a year ago, the Rams face a whole new level heading into 2019 after coming up short the way they did in the Super Bowl during their loss to the New England Patriots.

Watching Los Angeles put in all that work to reach the Super Bowl only to fail to score a single touchdown against New England was beyond frustrating for obvious reasons, and also puts a ton of extra pressure on the defending NFC champions heading into the new season.

Even if the Rams come out firing on offense to kick off the new season once September arrives, the pressure is still going to be on after what took place last February.

So as Los Angeles continues to prepare for the start of training camp for the 2019 season, here’s to hoping McVay and the Rams have what it takes to deal with this new level of pressure once again.

Otherwise, it’s going to be a long next couple of months, although there’s at least no reason for concern with all of the talent this Rams team has to work with.