The Rams have a good problem, even if the only good problem is no problem.
Outside expectations are sky-high. Even though the Rams haven’t been to the Super Bowl in five years, they’re the favorite to emerge from the NFC and to win the whole thing.
Coach Sean McVay addressed the high bar the Rams are facing in his Saturday session with reporters.
“The last time I checked, none of that stuff means anything,” McVay said. “It’s what’s great about the league. People care, there’s a lot of attention, but this is the greatest team sport there is. We’ve got to come together as a team. We’ve got to stay humble. There’s a lot of stuff in the midst of the journey that we don’t control, but I think our ability to be connected, to be courageous, to handle the storms when they do come up and be inside out more than ever before is going to be really important.
“But we’re not going to allow the outside expectations to change the way that we approach every day with the way that we work, the way that we enjoy it, have the appropriate mindset and energy. And that’s something that I think is really important for us to represent and I think that’s more felt than anything else. And so that’s what we’re going to do, but none of those things mean anything. They don’t win games, and how can we be present, stack days, and enjoy the opportunity to come together as a team? We’re not going to let external expectations inhibit our ability to go swing and be courageous.”
The challenge is to get the players to ignore the outside chatter, and to accept the fact that, every week, they’ll get the absolute best that every opponent will have to offer.
Even with a wide array of uniforms, the one constant is the target they’ll have on their backs. Along with a schedule that has them in prime time for seven games — and that has them playing on a Wednesday, a Thursday, a Friday, multiple Sundays, and multiple Mondays.
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