where they stand 3 games to go (starting w/ Eisen singing their praises)

Hammond: Sean McVay, Les Snead and the Rams deserve some apologies

Rich Hammond

https://theathletic.com/2259000/2020/12/14/rams-sean-mcvay-les-snead/?source=twittered

It’s time to line up — six feet apart, of course — outside the office doors of Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead, and apologize. Or maybe just send a holiday card to team headquarters, signed with a smiley face and an “Oops.”

Because, let’s face it, a lot of people got it wrong about the Rams.

Their window for winning did not close. The front office did not unwisely spend the organization into salary-cap quicksand. Their coach, derided in some corners as “McMartz,” did not get “figured out.”

The Rams, left for dead in some punditry circles 12 months ago after they only finished — gasp! — 9-7 and narrowly missed the playoffs, are back. At 9-4, they’re in first place in the NFC West with three games remaining, and it’s far from impossible to think their defense could carry them deep in the playoffs.

That sound you might hear is a segment of Rams fans scrambling to delete those January tweets, the ones asking whether McVay and Snead were on the hot seat (11 months after a Super Bowl appearance, mind you). Here’s how the critics got it wrong.

The roster construction

Snead had a rough 2020 offseason. He got pilloried for the Jared Goff contract extension, for the dumping of Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks soon after signing both to huge extensions and for the uncertain contract status of Jalen Ramsey, who had been acquired for two first-round draft picks.

The Rams were held up as buffoons, as an overeager front office that pushed its poker chips all-in while holding a pair of 4s. Conventional wisdom held that they would be saddled with a bloated Goff contract, with a ton of dead cap money and without the ability to upgrade in the short term with first-round picks.

This ignored a couple things. First, Snead is not an island. To blame him, exclusively, for any front-office misdeeds is misguided and unfair. It’s a collaborative effort. When contract offers are drawn up, there are a few other people in the room — or on the Zoom call. Had things gone wrong for the Rams this season, it’s possible Snead would have taken the fall, but he would not have deserved it.

Second, this is the NFL. It’s melodramatic when people write off a team for being in “salary-cap hell.” A good front office always figures out how to move around money and create cap room. A team might kick the can down the road a bit when it comes to restructuring existing contracts — and that’s sometimes unwise — but it’s always an option.

So the Rams did what was necessary. They restructured Goff’s contract and found enough money not only to re-sign Andrew Whitworth, Michael Brockers and Austin Blythe but also to sign Ramsey, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods to contract extensions. (Granted, 2021 is shaping up to be tough, because of a sharply reduced salary-cap ceiling, but the Rams won’t be alone in dealing with that headache.)

Declaring the Rams dead also ignored Snead’s draft prowess. Even though the Rams haven’t had a first-round pick since 2016, they’ve drafted and developed Kupp, Gerald Everett, John Johnson, Samson Ebukam, Joe Noteboom, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Micah Kiser, Taylor Rapp, Darrell Henderson, David Edwards, Cam Akers and Jordan Fuller into full- or part-time starters. A handful of other players, including 2020 picks Van Jefferson, Terrell Lewis and Terrell Burgess, appear to have good long-term potential.

The Rams certainly did not make it easy on themselves. A team that hands out a high percentage of its cap space to its top three or four players absolutely must hit in the draft and with mid- to lower-level free-agent signings. The margin for error is extraordinarily slim, and the Rams aren’t getting enough credit here.

Their defense certainly is headlined by Aaron Donald and Ramsey, but they’ve been complemented by low-round draft picks, undrafted free agents and unheralded unrestricted free agents such as Joseph-Day, Leonard Floyd, Justin Hollins, Troy Reeder, Troy Hill, Fuller and Darious Williams. Ridicule the Rams if you must for handing out excessively generous contract extensions and making high-risk trades, but also credit them for smart decisions that determine the difference between a good team and a mediocre team.

The defense

Since I’m demanding apologies from others, I’ll offer my own.

A year ago, I wrote that Wade Phillips shouldn’t take the fall for leading what was widely viewed as an underachieving defense. The Rams’ unit was far from dominant, but I feared that McVay would scapegoat Phillips and fail to address his own shortcomings as the offensive architect and play caller.

Indeed, the Rams and Phillips parted ways after the season. But I missed something big. It wasn’t about a defensive scheme or the number of yards allowed. McVay had something in mind. He wanted to reshape the focus of the entire team and return it to the roots that made the Rams so successful in 2017 and 2018, McVay’s initial two seasons.

That meant being dynamic. It meant a vibrant locker room. It meant enjoying football, rather than suffocating under the burden of high expectations. McVay needed a running mate on defense who could foster that. The Rams challenged McVay to find a defensive version of himself, so he took a calculated risk and brought in 37-year-old Brandon Staley as a first-year coordinator.

The results have been jaw-dropping. Staley essentially installed his defense during the spring and summer via Zoom, and now it arguably is the best in the NFL. McVay bet on himself, bet that he knew what this team needed and bet that he could find the right fit. With Staley, he hit the jackpot.

Staley’s defense has Donald in position to be the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. And, oh by the way, about that Ramsey trade and extension? Staley’s use of Ramsey in the “Star” position has allowed him to play to his potential as one of the league’s best shutdown cornerbacks.

Staley is only four years removed from coaching Division III college players, but he knows what he’s doing in the NFL, particularly with the Rams’ secondary. If he keeps this up, he will be on head-coaching short lists soon.

The offense

McVay rode the wave in 2017 and 2018, then almost drowned under it in 2019. Neither situation was fair.

McVay was not a “genius” when he got hired almost four years ago and quickly transformed the Rams’ awful offense into one of the NFL’s best. He is smart, but he didn’t invent something new. He came in with a smart, progressive system, one that capitalized on the skills of his best players. Eventually, opposing defenses adjusted, and the onus went back on McVay to react to those changes. He wasn’t “figured out” in 2019, just as he wasn’t a “genius” the previous two years. It was absurd to think the Rams were going to average 30 to 35 points per game forever. It was unfair to compare him to former Rams coach Mike Martz, who largely sputtered after a Super Bowl appearance in the 2001 season.

Granted, McVay seemingly has been slow to adapt and has been stubborn, at times. Not until the latter half of the 2019 season did the Rams move to more 12 personnel packages, and that delay probably cost them a playoff spot.

Last season, I called for McVay to re-hire a full-time offensive coordinator. It seemed clear that another voice and another set of eyes would not hurt. McVay hired Kevin O’Connell, and while on some level it might have been an ego blow to admit he needed help, it was the correct choice.

The Rams’ offense has been far from dynamic this season, averaging 25.0 points per game — mid-pack in the NFL — but this is a different Rams team. It’s a defense-first squad. The Rams don’t need to score 30 points per game to win, and McVay knows it.

McVay has navigated a tricky committee of three running backs — two of whom have been hurt at various points this season — and done his best to manage Goff’s inconsistency. In recent weeks, the Rams again have transitioned to more 12 personnel, an indication that McVay is learning and adapting.

Moreover, O’Connell’s presence has allowed McVay to accomplish another goal — to be more hands-on with the team, in general, and not just bury his head in the offense. The “genius” of McVay in 2017 was not in his offensive scheming. It was in his kinetic personality and his ability to connect with each of his players and get them to believe in him and in themselves. Perhaps the Rams got away from that a bit last season. Football became more of a chore and less fun.

McVay seems to have that pep back, and so do his players. They’re one win away from a playoff berth and a chance to send a message to a lot of people. But before the Rams can say “We told you so,” their critics ought to admit they were wrong.