Incredibly, this Rams mind-blowing pattern appears to be happening once more

The LA Rams were left for dead after a 5-12 record in 2022. The Rams had won Super Bowl LVI in convincing fashion, but the following season proved to tax the Rams strategy beyond the breaking point. After five years of uncanny and ever increasing success under head coach Sean McVay, the Rams plummeted last year due to a rash of injuries forced to sign guys off the street to help the team finish out the season.

The Rams adopted a radically different approach to the 2023 NFL season, Rather than restock the Rams roster with returning players, accomplished veterans, and rounding out the team with young players. the Rams shed all veterans with the exception of DT Aaron Donald, TE Tyler Higbee, RT Rob Havenstein, QB Matthew Stafford, and WR Cooper Kupp.

That strategy left the Rams roster at less than half of the 90-man allowance of players as the Rams entered the 2023 NFL Draft. With some carefully orchestrated trades, the Rams were able to address almost all roster needs with 14 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft, plus a solid crop of undrafted rookies.

Rams roster reinforced with high-reward veterans

Further still, the Rams vetted free agents who could make both significant and positive contributions to the Rams roster in 2023. The Rams added free agent DBs Ahkello Witherspoon and John Johnson III to shore up the Rams secondary, signed RB Royce Freeman to give the Rams ground game a punisher. and traded for IOL Kevin Dotson and TE Hunter Long to give the Rams more physicality in the offensive trenches to protect QB Matthew Stafford and open rushing lanes.

While the Rams have not exactly dominated the NFL this season, this young team has shown remarkable resiliency over the season so far. That has been especially true after the Rams had lost three consecutives games before their Week 10 BYE.

The Rams have roared back to near relevance with a two-game winning streak since the BYE, and are in position to return to .500 if they can win their third consecutive game in Week 13 as they host the Cleveland Browns.

Rans 1-2-3 pattern is

1. You go back, Jack, do it again
2. Rams roster improves with more experience

You go back, Jack, do it again

The LA Rams seem to be rolling along in a three-year life cycle. If you examine the exhibit below, you will see the patterns staring back at you as plain as day. Ever since the Rams hired Sean McVay to become the team's head coach in 2017, the Rams have held true to a pattern of a struggling team, followed by a playoff season, followed by a season in which the Rams compete in a Super Bowl.

While McVay had no influence over the Rams record in 2016, the pattern of the Rams roster developing rapidly over that 3-year cycle has held true throughout the past eight years. Of course, the Rams are not yet in a position to compete in the post-season just yet, but we will address that matter in the next slide. For now, suffice it to say that if the Rams earn a berth for the playoffs this season, the team will have cemented a pattern that could lead them to the NFL Championship at the end of the 2024 NFL season.

The pattern

Cycle I:
2016: 4-12
2017: 11-5, 0-1 NFL Playoffs
2018: 13-3, 2-1 NFL Playoffs, Lost in Super Bowl LIII to NE Patriots 13-3

Cycle II:
2019: 9-7
2020: 10-6 1-1 NFL Playoffs
2021: 12-5, 4-0 NFL Playoffs, Won in Super Bowl LVI over Cincinnati Bengals 23-20

Cycle III:
2022: 5-12
2023: 10-7, 6th seed, NFL Playoffs
2024: TBD

So far so good, or is it? With six games remaining on the Rams schedule, the Rams have to win no less than four games to have even a remote chance of earning a playoff berth. In reality, the Rams will be better off running the table, or at least winning five of the last six games. That will mean that the LA Rams, a team that could only win three of nine games before a Week 10 BYE, will need to finish the 2023 NFL season by winning seven of eight games after the BYE.

So far, the Rams are 2-0. Now, let's talk about why the Rams may be better as the season progresses.

Rams roster improves with more experience

The LA Rams roster is not just new to the NFL, but new to the Rams coaches as well. That complicates the team in terms of how players are viewed by the coaches, how the coaches platoon players, and how the Rams design their plays to optimize the performance of the team. While the Rams have had erratic performances so far this season, it has not been all futility.

Even as players have made mental mistakes, it has served to highlight specific areas that the Rams coaches can address and reinforce in practice. And on a higher perspective, the Rams coaches themselves have learned what does and does not work for this team, We have cheered on as the Rams offense has won five games by committing to a rushing attack, which is something that the Rams are discovering to be a strength for the first time since RB Todd Gurley rushed for the Rams in 2018.

Rams rookies will lead the way

In the end, the Rams roster should be expected to improve dramatically as the season wears on. The Rams offense is led by the pass catching of rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua. The Rams ground assault is led by the running of second year running back Kyren Williams. And the Rams offensive line received a B-12 booster shot by drafting IOL Steve Avilla.

On defense, the story is much the same. The Rams are getting outstanding production from rookie outside linebacker Byron Young. And the powerful pass rush of rookie NT Kobie Turner, a young man who has already put up 4.0 quarterback sacks for this defense from the nose tackle position, You can thank the vigilance of third-year inside linebacker Ernest Jones for the cohesive manner in which this defense takes care of business.

This young Rams defense, almost entirely rebuilt this season from the ground up, has fought hard this season, and is currently the 16th-ranked defense in terms of points allowed. Even if the Rams do not compete in the post-season this year, the Rams have certainly given fans reason to be very optimistic for the future.