The uncanny ability of LA Rams HC Sean McVay to win openers

I – Rams are healthy

Perhaps the most significant factor in the Rams’ early success is the fact that the Rams enter the season at the peak of health. While there are those players who are injured along the way and will be back later in the season, the team is typically at its peak in Game 1.  And as history indicates, the peak LA Rams is better than the peak of any other NFL team.

That is not to say that an odd bounce of the football or a snafu late in the game could not leave the LA Rams on the short end of the scoreboard, but it hasn’t just yet. And after five successive wins, I believe that level of success is based more on the quality of the Rams roster than the randomness of how a football bounces in a game.

Even in this one, the Rams are facing a Buffalo Bills team without a potential 1000-yard receiver in Van Jefferson, an outstanding rookie outside linebacker in Daniel Hardy, and an up-and-coming but suspended defensive lineman in Bobby Brown.

No shade, just facts

Now, this is not an attempt to throw shade at a very dangerous Buffalo Bills team. But the Rams’ offense is powered by veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, a quarterback who in the eyes of many is inferior to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Is he though? By rights, Stafford led the LA Rams to four consecutive wins in postseason play, including three game-winning drives and two fourth-quarter comebacks.

Ultimately, I want my quarterback to be capable of winning games, not capable of great stats in a losing effort. That may seem to be anchored in common sense, but it gets overlooked whenever the NFL seeks out the best players to honor at the end of the season.

The Rams win openers and are especially effective at doing so as a home underdog. That is simply how these LA Rams roll.