Just in the nick of time, the Rams stopped their season from becoming a collection of excuses.
asserted
Rams → stop → excuses
For why a roster built to chase a championship was already chasing the rest of its division.
asserted
roster → build → division
For why another trip to Philadelphia ended with another reminder of everything they still couldn’t do.
asserted
they → end → everything
For why October had barely begun and a team with such grand ambitions was already running out of room.
asserted
team → begin → room
Call it what you want, but with so much money poured into the roster and so much hope pinned on a Super Bowl run, the Rams were staring at something far more troubling than a slow start Sunday.
asserted
Rams → call → start
And in doing so, they might have saved themselves from a humiliating year.
uncertain
they → do → year
The Rams’ 24-20 comeback victory Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field deserves to be viewed through that lens.
asserted
victory → deserve → lens
They erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit against the opponent that keeps turning their aspirations into frustrations.
asserted
that → erase → frustrations
They also pulled themselves back from a place that would have made the coming weeks considerably more desperate.
asserted
weeks → pull → place
“Plenty of plays where we didn’t get the result we wanted,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said.
asserted
Stafford → get → result
“But we got the result we wanted at the end of the game.”
asserted
we → get → game
A loss would have dropped the Rams to 1-3, three games behind the unbeaten 49ers, who already own a head-to-head victory over them.
asserted
who → drop → them
Then consider who comes next.
asserted
who → consider → ?
Buffalo visits this week, bringing the possibility that a bad start could have become a 1-4 crisis before the Rams even reached the middle of October.
uncertain
Rams → visit → October
Especially when the teams you are trying to catch keep winning.
asserted
you → try → ?
The Rams were dangerously close to learning that distinction.
asserted
Rams → learn → distinction
Then, in the blink of an eye, the Rams finally looked like the team we expected them to be.
asserted
them → look → team
And they did it without Myles Garrett, still recovering from knee surgery, and Aaron Donald.
asserted
they → do → surgery
Those two difference-makers are expected back.
asserted
makers → expect → ?
Thanks to Sunday’s late-game heroics, they could return to a team positioned to pursue everything it set out to accomplish, rather than one spending the rest of its season trying to undo the damage.
uncertain
it → return → damage
“There were so many things that we can clean up, but for our group to come alive when they did and find a way to make the plays, and so many different guys, I’m really proud of them,” said McVay.
asserted
McVay → be → them
No, their season would not have officially ended Sunday.
asserted
season → end → ?
Nobody hands out elimination notices after four games.
asserted
Nobody → hand → games
There would have been the usual reminders about how much football remained, how quickly things change and how the answers were somewhere inside their own building.
asserted
answers → remain → building
All increasingly difficult to sell.
asserted
All → sell → ?
For a team coached by Sean McVay and quarterbacked by Matthew Stafford, with expectations that extend well beyond merely surviving the regular season, another loss would have demanded some uncomfortable questions.
asserted
loss → coach → questions
And when were they going to prove it?
asserted
they → go → it
Philadelphia made those questions particularly pointed.
asserted
questions → make → ?
The Eagles had become the opponent against whom the Rams kept explaining what went wrong instead of demonstrating what had changed.
asserted
what → become → whom
Eventually, the particulars matter less than the pattern.
asserted
particulars → matter → pattern
Sunday threatened to become another entry in that file.
asserted
Sunday → threaten → file
Then the Rams’ defense stopped Philadelphia on fourth down at the Los Angeles 2-yard line, keeping a 20-10 deficit from becoming something worse.
asserted
defense → stop → deficit
Stafford and the offense finally seized the opening.
asserted
Stafford → seize → opening
Kyren Williams scored twice in the fourth quarter, and Byron Young helped slam the door with two sacks on Philadelphia’s final possession.
asserted
Young → score → possession
“I think a lot of teams would have folded in those situations,” McVay said.
asserted
McVay → think → situations
“I think our defense kept giving us a reason to believe.”
asserted
defense → think → reason
And the Rams finally had a result they could build on.
uncertain
they → have → result
That does not excuse everything that preceded the comeback.
asserted
that → excuse → comeback
Stafford’s two interceptions, damaging penalties, and special-teams mistakes helped create the emergency.
asserted
interceptions → create → emergency
Those problems require attention even when the flight home feels considerably better.
asserted
flight → require → attention
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
