LA Rams weebly wobbly worrisome Week 5 win provides few answers

Winds of change

The Rams gave rookie Robert Rochell a chance at some playing time, and he was far more effective by the end of this one than some early awkwardness. The Rams still have rookies Bobby Brown III, Terrell Burgess, and Ernest Jones to add to the defensive rotation. But I am certainly more hopeful of that happening now that the team has given Rochell a chance.

But, more than anything, this one feels better. A struggle to win on the road in Seattle, one of the most difficult stadiums for a visiting team to succeed. The Rams won a game that they needed to win. While it does not answer many questions, it does prove that this LA Rams team is not in complete freefall. The Rams held the Seattle Seahawks offense to seven points under their season’s average. Does that prove that this defense is fixed? Not yet. But it proves that it is not a train wreck either.

Great teams peak at the right time, which in the NFL is during the playoffs. Right now, the Rams are proving that they have a long climb to get there. But to be honest? I feel better about the team now than after Week 3. This is a team that will make changes, give younger players a chance on the roster, change their offensive and defensive packages.

Yes, there are plenty of reasons for more changes to happen. I’m not thrilled by what I saw from Taylor Rapp or Kenny Young in Week 5.  They are both huge liabilities in pass defense, and are not overly strong in run defense. Hopefully, Raheem Morris will give them a chance to think about things on the bench, and give some playing time to Terrell Burgess and Ernest Jones.

But I can wait. Hopefully you can too. The Rams are certainly not playing their best football right now. But they did play better on the road. So we wait and let the season play out. The LA Rams are one game closer to their magic number of 12 wins. In fact, until some NFL team wins their fifth game, they are as close to 12 wins as any team in the league right now.