Not your average Rams: Sunday's dominance is indicative of future success

Though the Rams were projected to defeat the Raiders, the absolute demolition that ensued was a bit unexpected. Seeing the Rams on the right side of a blowout was refreshing and felt great. On a week following the Rams' virtual playoff elimination, this victory was about the greatest thing that could happen -- not only as a fan, but it had to be a wonderful confidence boost to all the young members on the team yet to sniff a winning season in the NFL.

Likewise, it showed the personnel currently on the Rams is capable of getting the job done. This is the NFL. Nobody just 'happens' to win by fifty two. Sure, a couple things can fall your way at some point in a season; maybe a two touchdown win becomes a thirty point win because of a couple fumbles. A fifty two point win is sixty minutes of domination.

Domination that happens for a reason: the team has superior talent, execution and coaching. How does it happen that your team comes together to have all three of these things over another professional organization who is also fighting for their job week in and week out? Your team has to be phenomenal at what they do.

Maybe we don't see it week in and week out, but this team is young -- this team lacks experience. It can't be overstated that consistency will be developed in time. Every player showed up today -- Tavon Austin, Trumaine Johnson, Tre Mason... I could go on. Nobody had a poor performance.

To put things in perspective, this win is tied for the ninth largest margin of victory since the NFL merger. In that time frame, there's been roughly somewhere over 10,000 games played. Think about that. That means this game ranks in the top 0.1%. Impressive.

But what does that mean? This was one game. One week. We need to check the scope of other similarly-achieving teams. Here are the other teams to win a game by 52 or more points.

Well, that list doesn't show the Rams will be any better next season because of this win -- but it does put them in a group with mostly playoff teams. It seems between upsetting legitimately contending teams and demolishing weaker teams, the Rams find themselves in groups typically reserved for playoff contenders more and more frequently these days. The only step left is to actually make the playoffs.

In conclusion, there may be no stat that directly shows a team who just shredded a lousy 1-11 squad is ready to take the next step in their franchise, but it isn't about the win or who it was against. Watching that game and giving the team the ol' eye test tells me that this is a team that needs to compete sooner rather than later. They're young, they're talented and their coaching isn't quite as bad as it's made out to be. Given, the team should already be winning -- it's tough to do so without a real starting quarterback. The Cardinals are doing about the best you can without a real quarterback and they even seem to be crumbling in the absence of Carson Palmer.

It may seem like forever since the Rams reached the playoffs and it may seem like even longer since they've had a winning record... it may also seem like the storyline of every season is just 'wait until next season.'

But, it seems the light is starting to become visible at the end of the tunnel. The days of 1-15, 2-14 or even 3-13 seasons seem to be over. Last year and this year the Rams fielded a backup quarterback and are looking to fall just under .500 in each. Improvement is imminent. Slowly and steadily the climb is being made back to the top. Don't lose hope -- don't lose faith.

Tre Mason has emerged as a seriously talented running back. Stedman Bailey is emerging as a legitimate receiving threat. Greg Robinson is in development right now. Our defense speaks for itself.

The point of all this? The Rams aren't 'accidentally' performing well on certain weeks and barely losing on others. They're a team that's close. Every year they get closer. Ram faithful, this isn't a time to abandon the Rams because they seem to be stagnating on sub-.500 records. This is a time to rally behind them -- they're on the verge of something great.

Of course, their stellar play could all just be a huge disappointment if they let us down and plummet back to the bottom of the barrel next season.

It's easy to get carried away after a huge victory such as this one, but what do YOU think is coming in the not-so-distant future of the Rams?