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'A New Start!' This Year's Rams Remind Sean McVay of First Season With Team

The Los Angeles Rams' unexpected success this season reminds head coach Sean McVay of his first years with the team.

The Los Angeles Rams had a better season than most expected them to have, and this year's team reminds head coach Sean McVay of his first years with the Rams.

The year before McVay became the coach of the Rams, the team was 4-12, and was absolutely in a rebuilding stage. But in his first year as the head coach, McVay led the team to the playoffs with an 11-5 record.

Todd-Gurley

This situation is almost identical to what went on this year, as the team made it to the postseason after being ruled out from day one. The Rams were coming off of the worst record ever by a defending Super Bowl champion, and then battled through all of the injuries and made it to the Wild Card.

"It’s a good parallel,” McVay said. "It does feel like this was kind of a new start to the journey that we’re on."

Another similarity is a very young running back becoming a key contributor. Although Todd Gurley had an amazing rookie season, his second year in 2016 was less amazing. But in 2017 under McVay, he had over 1,000 yards rushing while also having almost 800 receiving yards. 

And the same sort of progression happened this year.

Kyren Williams stepped up for the Rams when they needed him to, as the team was in desperate need of running back help. Williams didn't just play a minor role either, he broke out and looks like he could be a building block for the future.

McVay thinks that this team reminding him of his 2017 Rams team is encouraging, as this could be the sign of a promising future.