NFL: L.A.

After a change of coach, the Los Angeles Rams are suddenly a good football team. A very good one indeed! Sean McVay has the Rams in her second season in L. A. in no time at all and is already playing for the playoffs. A story that Hollywood couldn’t have written better.

In the age of Tanking – if you want to call it that – people often talk about processes that take years to complete. One of the teams that seem to be less interested in winning than in the best chance of an early election in the next draft are the Cleveland Browns. They have been waiting for a positive season since 2007 and have dedicated themselves to the most effective reversal of the analytics and accumulation of draft picks.

Like the past season of the Browns, the Rams were one that was not very successful. The first year in the old and new home country ended with eleven defeats from the last twelve games. The offensive was the league’s most unproductive and longstanding head coach Jeff Fisher had to pack his bags in Week 14.

Like the Browns, the Rams have a very young squad – the second youngest after Cleveland to be more precise – and would have been predestined to use the principle of refuelling for further talent and to be ready for an attack in season X at some point in the season. But the rams had other things in mind.

Intelligent moves in the Free Agency added players with playoff experience to the squad. For the defensive side Outside Linebacker Connor Barwin and Cornerback Kayvon Webster came to complement the already solid defense.

The weak offense was reinforced with Left Tackle Andrew Withworth and Center John Sullivan in the line. The Receiving Corps got a whole new face for Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods’ engagement and third round pick Cooper Kupp.

Even one of the strongest Special Teams units in the league were able to keep the Rams together, but the most important obligation was a different one. The coach’s. Sean McVay’s.

The former offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins came with the mission to breathe new life into the offense. Early in the season, a clear increase in sample size was already visible, but the so-called sample size was still too small. Halfway through the season, the rams are on everyone’s lips. McVay will be putting the probably most spectacular offense of the league on the field after only a few months. The turnaround is simply unbelievable in the short time available.

In just half the number of games, you have more points on your account than in the whole pre-season. The worst offense (14.0) in the Points per Game category is now suddenly the most productive one (32.9). McVay enjoys the attention and recognition of the entire team. The players answer questions about the biggest difference to the pre-season with the changed culture of the coach.

McVay came to L. A. with a clear vision of what his team was supposed to represent. And he was able to integrate the best franchise that existed before him. He took control, but at the same time strengthened the positions of Defensive Coordinator Wade Philipps and Special Teams Coach John Fassel. He pushes the players to their limits, but also knows how to work on himself continuously. He communicates his message, but he also listens.

When the players were asked in January’s exit interviews about the things that need to change in order to change the culture in the franchise, most of the answers were: Greater reliability, higher expectations, more energy.

In McVay, they saw this quickly.

The coach was accepted after a short time, because the way McVay passes on his football knowledge is easy to understand. He was able to build up the trust of players and coaches quickly, because he can take guilt and admit it when he doesn’t know something.

Four weeks ago, he was asked what quarterback Jared Goff needed to do differently in order to get better involvement with Receiver Watkins. McVay took the burden immediately. He’s the offensive playcaller, not the quarterback. Hours earlier, McVay and Watkins sat in the movie room together and went through every offensive play from the defeat of Week 5 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Managing Director Kevin Demoff explains that the special thing about the youngest head coach in the history of the league is not his age or his knowledge of the offenses. It is his ability to communicate, to build a culture and to make people really live it.

Recent victims of the euphoria surrounding the candidate’s team for the coach-of-the-Year title were the Giants at a demoralising 17:51, which gave the Rams a 6-2 record and thus the best start since 2001. At that time the rams reached the Super Bowl.

As far as playcalling is concerned, the rams are one of the most flexible offenses with enormously high speed. Although McVay Goff praised the game for “very good game management” and “excellent off-schedule plays”, the third game with at least 40 points scored this season – of which there were only two in the Rams over the last ten years – is largely due to the creative offense. Any way to do this is right:

McVay recently referred to one of the plays, which was a decisive factor for the successful season so far. With five points behind in the third quarter of week 4 in Dallas, Goff took up a shotgun snap. Tavon Austin ran a jet sweep and Goff fooled the handoff. Todd Gurley was on a typical back wheel route for Running Backs, but didn’t stop and ran through. Goff found Gurley for a 53-yard score.

“I got it from Andy Reid,”McVay explained.”Opening Night. New England versus Kansas City.”

“K.C. the game ran on the first day of play,”Goff explained.”We got it from them. Our coaches do that a lot and it’s really fun. We meet on Saturdays in the meeting before the game and go through the plays. It’s hard to find someone we don’t like or who we think won’t work.”

In his second year, Goff plays like a completely replaced quarterback. In addition to the increased O-Line and the constant danger posed by Todd Gurley, the top league rider in touchdowns (10), he benefits enormously from the versatility of McVay’s Scheme.

“We’re distributing the ball to everyone,”explains Goff.”That makes it very easy for me. There’s always a good option. We have so many talented players here, and for us, as Tiger Woods once said, it’s “victory heals everything.”

Goff set a big exclamation mark in the game against the Giants with the best match of his career. He threw in with only 14 successful passes for over 311 yards and four touchdowns,”I enjoyed many things today,”McVay summed up after the game,”but Jared showed a show today. He led the team very well and found an excellent balance against a strong opponent.”

The subject’s out of town for L. A. also a remarkable one anyway. In recent weeks, the Rams have been victorious away in Jacksonville, London against the Cardinals and now in New York. The young team doesn’t seem to have any problems with travelling. The Rams are now even at the top of the NFC West after a slip-up of the Seahawks and seduce experts to hypotheses in which one is called in a sentence with the Super Bowl.

We’re bringing everything a playoff team needs,”states Tackle Whitworth, who has been six times part of a playoff team in Cincinnati himself,” A good special team, a defense that pushes turnovers and makes it difficult for the opponent to score many points.

Every year, many ambitious actors travel to Hollywood in the hope of becoming great actors. The Rams carry out their own transformation in California. In less than a year, they have gone from a laughing stock to a playoff contender. In less than a year, they have become the team that leads the league in points, from the team that scores the least points to the team that leads the league.

To top the season, you have to survive a difficult second half of the season. The programme includes the Texans, Eagles, Saints, Titans and Vikings – all of them division leaders. There are also trips to Seattle and Arizona. In an already crazy season, however, they can be absolutely confident of running. And McVay, the youngest head coach in the league’s history, would have managed to transform himself into a Hollywood star.