The Los Angeles Rams have improved in each of the last two years, going from 4-12 to NFC West champions to Super Bowl participants. The only way to continue that streak of bettering their record and postseason finish is to win the Super Bowl, which will be a tough task with so many strong teams in the NFC.
Peter King of NBC Sports likes the Rams and believes they’ll be good again in 2019, putting them in the top five of his offseason power rankings Monday. However, his placement comes with some caveats, particularly in the secondary where Marcus Peters struggled in 2018.
Here’s what King said about the Rams, putting them No. 4 in his power rankings.
The Rams will be good; we know that. But good enough to stave off the Niners and Seahawks in the West? Good enough to play deep into January? You might wonder about Todd Gurley’s future, because of the weird usage pattern in 2018 (first 12 games: 19.4 carries per game; last five games: 10.6 carries) that hinted at a bum knee. I’m not that concerned about Gurley, or the running game, because Sean McVay will figure it out. I’m more concerned with what the heck happened to Marcus Peters last year, and whether in a pass-happy NFC West the Peters-Aqib Talib combo platter can be the top cornerback group in the division like the Rams planned. Peters, per Pro Football Focus, was the league’s 11th-rated corner in 2016 and 18th-rated corner in 2017 … and in 2018, his first year in L.A., he plummeted to 91st, allowing a garish 118.9 rating in balls that targeted him. Peters did play better after recovering from an early-season calf injury, so there’s hope that, if healthy, he can get back to 2017 form. He’ll need to for the Rams to be as good as fourth in the league.
There’s no doubt about it: Peters didn’t meet expectations last season. He struggled in man coverage, was one of Pro Football Focus’ lowest-graded corners in the league at one point and was picked on by opposing quarterbacks when Aqib Talib went down.
Once Talib returned and the Rams went to a more zone-heavy defense, Peters improved. He was more comfortable keeping his eyes on the quarterback and sitting back in zone coverage rather than playing his receiver man-to-man.
He now enters the most important season of his young career, hoping to earn a long-term extension from the Rams as he’ll enter free agency in 2020 if he doesn’t sign a deal with L.A. beforehand.
As for the rest of the power rankings, the Chiefs top the list at No. 1, followed by the Patriots and Colts. The Chargers rank No. 5, one spot ahead of the Saints and two in front of the biggest surprise in the power rankings, the 49ers (No. 7). The Seahawks are 13th and Arizona is ranked 31st, only ahead of the Dolphins.