The Los Angeles Rams’ season came to an end on Saturday at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and the explosive Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.
While head coach Sean McVay was able to keep things close despite a battered Aaron Donald and an offense missing several key pieces, the Packers simply had too much for L.A. to handle, winning 32-18 at Lambeau Field.
Despite the loss, the Rams certainly outdid expectations this season. They finished 10-6 and won their Wild Card Weekend matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, while many felt they were not even a playoff team. They were able to do this because of their defense, which finished the season as the best in football in almost every phase.
Winning the Super Bowl is always the goal, but McVay was still proud of what the Rams were able to do this season, according to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“There was a lot of positives,” McVay said Sunday. “I thought we saw a lot of young players step up. I thought we saw the rise of a really special defense, and I’m excited about the opportunity to evaluate and move forward. I am very appreciative of this team, I’m proud of a lot of the things (we accomplished), but I think you’ll get more appreciative and look back on it with a better feeling of it the further you get away. But because of the confidence I had in this group, I am disappointed that we’re still not playing, and that’s a compliment to the confidence I had in the team and the group of men we were all working with.
McVay and the Rams front office will now need to figure out a way to improve their roster in order to contend for a Super Bowl in 2021. For now, though, it seems the Rams coach is just happy having been to the divisional round after missing the playoffs outright in 2019.
A majority of the Rams key pieces should be back in 2021, including Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.
Brandon Staley named new L.A. Chargers head coach
While the Rams will bring back many of their key pieces from 2020, they will have to find a new defensive coordinator. Brandon Staley, who deserves a large amount of the credit for the Rams defensive success, was hired as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chargers parted ways with Anthony Lynn after a 7-9 season and will now turn things over to the 38-year-old Staley, who lacks experience but is believed to be one of the bright young minds in the sport.
