5 keys for LA Rams for Week 15 win

Rams are getting hot at the right time

Akin to the mail carrier motto: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”, the LA Rams seemed to have turned the corner on facing and overcoming adversity. This is a team that has played short-handed and won. That has had to revamp their entire offensive philosophy and won. And perhaps most of all has competed in the ultra-difficult NFC West Division and is winning.

This is a team that has lost their starting running back, wide receiver, second tight end. This offensive line is anchored on the blindside by a 40-year-old. And the team is chock full of young players, or simply players who are still making introductions to teammates and coaches.

This is a team that signed speedster DeSean Jackson, then said goodbye to him eight games into the season. This is a team that drafted multiple athletically-gifted, speedy rookies, who contributed little this season before ending up on IR for the remainder of the season. And yet, the team is still winning.

Best of all, this team is getting hot at the right time.

All year long, the front office has been tinkering with the roster. Adding outside linebacker Von Miller (who remains on Reserve/COVID-19), wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (who was surprisingly instantly promoted to WR2 after the season-ending injury to Robert Woods). The Rams have a knack for not only adding to the top end of the roster but for significantly enhancing the bottom tier of the roster as the season progresses.

Rams roster coming together

Tinkering? Well, you could say restocking. You could say repairing. You could even say improving, depending on how the season plays out, right? Well, where would the Rams be if they sat on draft picks rather than made moves to chance to improve this team? Would the Rams be in this position of winning their third consecutive game? Or would we be discussing the meltdown of the LA Rams and how we all wished the team had taken a chance at the NFL Trade Deadline? Some folks simply second-guess everything.

The LA Rams had to take those chances, had to attempt to improve this team as much as possible. Andrew Whitworth is 40-years old. Aaron Donald gave everything he had in 2020, and it wasn’t enough. The Rams needed more. The front office delivered, as best as they could.

Right now, it feels like it could all come together. The missing ingredient, that secret sauce to success, appears to be a determined commitment to run the football. That ability to knock opposing defenders on their asses and run past them has ignited the entire roster.  The defense, now rested less game clock to cover, has been both stout and opportunistic. The offense has proven that a physical running game need not mean abandoning the deep ball. In fact, it seems to have enhanced that quick-strike ability.

Even the LA Rams special teams’ play has been markedly improved. A victory in Week 15 would tie the LA Rams win total from 2021, and three games remaining would give the LA Rams significant momentum heading into the playoffs.

But this will be a brutally difficult game for both the LA Rams and Seattle Seahawks to compete. Both teams face uncertain rosters, and therefore are challenged at game planning. Hopefully, the LA Rams will keep it simple enough to allow the team to play to its strengths.

Five keys to winning. How many will the Rams adopt in Week 15?