5 ways the LA Rams now playing like a champion should

1. Rams reclaimed their vitality in a critical win.

The LA Rams win over the New England Patriots was not a grudge match, nor was this one about revenge. But if the Rams had lost this game, do you think the media would pause for a moment to headline “Belichick continues mastery over McVay”?

No. National media would run with that story and milk it for all its worth. In fact, sometimes it appears as though that articles over any bump in the Rams’ season this year has been pre-written, tying the Rams struggles in one game to systemic flaws in the organization, coaching staff, and front office. Any failure against a resurgent Patriots team would have triggered a deluge of such articles. By winning, the Rams have delayed that for one more week.

Fear of failure

Sometimes the worst thing in the world to do is to try to avoid making a mistake. Parents know this without having to recite it. The best way to stop a toddler from walking is to proclaim ‘Oh look! You’re walking!’. As soon as the words are uttered, the toddler stops in his/her tracks, looks down, wobbles, and falls on their butt. So too when teaching a child to ride a bicycle for their first time without training wheels, never exclaim ‘Look! You’re riding the bike!’. Once more, the child looks down, stops peddling, and takes a tumble.

Success happens. You don’t end up succeeding by avoiding failure, just like you never get where you want to go by driving away from someplace.  Success means trying and failing and trying again. The only way not to fail is to never try. Winning means taking chances. That means risking draft picks in a blockbuster trade. It means going for it on fourth and short. It means giving an unrecognized player a chance to play.

Not all chances pay off. Sometimes passes are incomplete or are intercepted. But success only happens when a team takes chances. Hopefully, we’ll learn to focus more on what this Rams team is doing well than on the infrequent occasion that things do not go according to plan. The Rams do take chances. In the end, perhaps that is the most champion-like action they do. They faced a formidable Patriots team and chanced a win by placing the ball in a rookie running back’s hands.