In 2017, they don;t have to deal with a move…so there's that

Many things went wrong in 2016 and had an effect. I am on record as saying that you can’t reduce it to one or 2 things…doing that leaves too much out.

There are also many differences between 2017 and 2016. One big one is a coaching change. Some other things that stymied them in 2016 are just gone now. For one, Goff is no longer a rookie. That makes a difference. He says so himself and so do observers who have seen him in OTAs etc. How much of a difference? Hard to say.

And another thing they don’t have to deal with in 2017 is moving. It’s hard to say to what extent moving muddied things for the team and coaches, but it had an effect. It too was not the only thing, but it had an effect. It was one of the many things that did. Guys who cover the team like Farr, who has been through a move, said you could see it had an effect. (I am picking up on something VB said here: Five things the Rams must accomplish in training camp, VINCENT BONSIGNORE, link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/25/bonsignore-five-things-the-rams-must-accomplish-in-training-camp/ ).

And that’s gone now.

Here’s just a few comments about the move, to back that point up:

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Bonsignore: Five things the Rams must accomplish in training camp

That isn’t to excuse the depths the Rams fell to in the eventual 4-12 season. Many of their problems were carryovers from their former home, unrelated to distance and upheaval.

It’s simply to point out there was an obvious and constant undercurrent of instability this time last year. And no matter how much the Rams tried to deny or manage or work around it, it was just wishful thinking. Instead they spent a year trying to get comfortable while never really getting comfortable.

The difference now can’t be understated. The Rams are no longer the new family on the block. They are established members of the community.

And as they approach their second training camp at UC Irvine as the Los Angeles Rams, you get the sense 100 percent of the focus is back on football rather than spread across various different areas

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From the showrunner who headed up All or Nothing:

A ‘Nothing’ Season for Rams Turns Into Compelling TV

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/07/14/los-angeles-rams-all-or-nothing-amazon-nfl-films-series

We knew it was going to be tough going into it, they moved the whole franchise. So we knew we probably weren’t going to be in the NFC Championship like the Cardinals the year before, but we still thought it was valuable.

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from Joe Curley, Q&A with RFU board (credit to Elvis, RFU admin)

No team, barring strike-shortened seasons, had made the playoffs off a move in more than half a century. I was on record as saying an 8-8 season would have been a significant achievement. And we all know how it played out.

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