Through the eye of a needle

You can easily sell yourself on the path for the 2025 Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl.

• The defense could pick up where they left off and make life difficult for opposing QB’s
• Davante Adams is the best X receiver LA’s had since Odell Beckham, Jr., filling a long-time need
• Matthew Stafford still has gas in the tank and the most dangerous weapons he’s had in a while
• Jared Verse is ready to step into the elite echelon of NFL pass rushers
• New additions—such as Nate Landman, Emmanuel Forbes, & Terrance Ferguson—will prove important as incremental difference makers

But getting to the Super Bowl is much easier said than done. There are only two certainties in the NFL: (1) parity, meaning the worst teams in the league often find ways to make a jump into contention and the best teams are pulled back towards the rest of the pack; and (2) attrition, the roster in which you enter Week 1 is going to look much different than the team you put on the field in Week 18.

The Rams—while certainly among the league’s most talented—are built on a high wire act. Reaching the pinnacle is just one possibility in the potential range of outcomes.

Parity

Let’s first stay within LA’s own division, the NFC West.

The San Francisco 49ers finished in fourth last season and remain a talented team that can easily re-enter the contention discussion. San Francisco will benefit from a last place schedule—and before accounting for parity—they will face one of the easiest slates in all of football on paper. Parity is acting as a wind in their sails to pull them off the bottom of the heap.

Then there are the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, who are both becoming sneaky teams in the division race.

The Cardinals spent the offseason completely retooling their defense. While in recent seasons they’ve deployed funky schemes as an equalizer, they now have the horses to line up and beat you best on best. It’s disappointing that they didn’t acquire more offensive weaponry, though second-year improvement by Marvin Harrison, Jr. might be enough for them to make an incremental jump.

It’s also difficult to know what Seattle is this season. Some believe they have the best defense in football, though the offense faced immense turnover and carries a wide range of outcomes. Can the Seahawks fix their rushing attack and use that to elevate a passing game with Sam Darnold and a mostly new cast of pass catchers?

These are simply the forces of parity only within the NFC West division. When you zoom out and view the NFC conference as a whole, there are certain to be new entrants into the playoff race.

Atlanta Falcons – Their fate hinges on the productivity of Michael Penix, though they have a wealth of weapons on offense. The defense is rounding into shape.

Green Bay Packers – Likely to improve from the seventh seed a...