Rams may have blown their chance to train at ideal site for the Windy City

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! That's not a direct quote of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, but it certainly fits the bill as something he might say. After all, regardless of the weather, the distance, or who is starting, McVay seldom deviates from his plan. And that has proven to be frustrating for fans at times.

Even when running the football averaged more than 7.0 yards per play, the head coach shifted the emphasis to passing. It's that rigidity that can put fans into unnecessary anguish. But with the team facing brutally cold temperatures this week, how effective is practicing in the comfort of summertime temperatures? And thus, we have a golden opportunity that is missed by LA's coaching staff.

While the NFL frowns upon cooperation between teams, the idea has sound logic. LA could have opted to rent a college site with similar weather conditions, and housed players and coaches for the week to ensure resilience to the cold and wind. Those factors will impact both teams, but will prove to be a system shock to the warm-weather visitors.

LA Rams missing a golden opportunity to adjust before facing Bears

There are multiple college football team stadiums and practice facilities that could serve as an ideal location to acclimate players and coaches alike to the time zone and climate differences in time to mitigate their impact before Round 2 of the NFL playoffs.

There are two schools of thought here. The first is to immerse the entire team in the cold, thereby eliminating the distractions of feeling cold during critical moments in the game. And by practicing in that cold, LA's chances of avoiding distractions increase significantly.

McVay adheres to the other school of thought. In his version, the team avoids the cold and time change as long as possible, maximizing practice sessions. Then, the team shows up, roughs the cold for the duration of the game, and escapes with a win (hopefully). And it could play out that way as well.

Veterans who have faced the cold in their careers absolutely prefer McVay's strategy. But this is a young team in many roles, and they have not yet developed adequate cold-weather experience to handle this game.

Hindsight is always 20/20 vision. And it could be that a win will make the debate pointless. Still, there is logic to getting to the clock and the thermometer before kickoff. If the team wins, nobody will give it a passing thought. But if the team loses, this could haunt fans for quite some time.

As always, thanks for reading.