When Rams general manager Les Snead completed his big offseason trade of quarterbacks and brought Matthew Stafford from Detroit to L.A., we assumed he and his team were going for it. (“It,” of course, meaning a berth in the Super Bowl that will be played in their home stadium this coming Feb. 13.)
Little did we suspect that there’s still another level of “all in.” Maybe more than one. Who knows? There are still a few hours before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. PT NFL trade deadline.
The Rams’ acquisition of three-time All-Pro linebacker and former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller on Monday ups the ante and the expectations. It is also entirely in line with the current operating philosophy in Los Angeles sports, and if you are a fan in this town that’s an overwhelmingly positive development (unless, of course, you obsess over draft picks and prospects and potential).
Granted, big deals don’t always guarantee you passage to the promised land. If they did, the National League’s portion of the 2021 World Series would have been played in Los Angeles instead of Atlanta, and maybe Max Scherzer and Trea Turner would have been in the lead car of the parade down Broadway after it was over. And we still have a long season to go before we can determine if the Lakers’ swap for Russell Westbrook, as well as the acquisitions of Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, et. al., will put the 17-time champs in legitimate position for No. 18.
But meekness is seldom rewarded, and pushing the chips to the center of the table when appropriate is how you should operate in North America’s most diverse sports market. That’s what the Rams have done with this deal, which sends 2022 second- and third-round picks to Denver while the Broncos retain responsibility for most of Miller’s 2021 salary.
Miller is 32, he’s in his 10th year in the NFL, and he is the active career sacks leader (110½) and 23rd all-time. His sack totals went from 14½ in 2018 to eight in 2019, he spent 2020 on injured reserve and he’s at 4½ through seven games this year. He sat out the Broncos’ victory over Washington on Sunday with an ankle injury and will have to pass a Rams physical when he gets to town.
But he is also going to be joining a defense that features six-time All-Pro and three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, and fellow outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who has taken advantage of opponents’ preoccupation with Donald to register 10½ sacks and 31 solo tackles last season and 6½ sacks and 17 solo tackles in 2021. And let’s not forget two-time All-Pro Jalen Ramsey, whose position is unofficially (but appropriately) called “Star.”
Now, just who are you going to double-team?
The Rams’ defense was statistically the NFL’s best last year, tops in total yards allowed (281.9), points allowed (18.5 ppg) and passing yards allowed (190.68) and third against the run (91.25). Through Week 8 this season, they’re 21st overall (367.5), 21st against the pass (264.1), 11th against the run (103.4) and 10th in scoring defense (21 ppg).
Their turnover ratio is fifth this year (plus-6) compared to tied for 21st last year (minus-3), though that might have more to do with Stafford-for-Jared Goff as it does anything the defense was or wasn’t doing a year ago.
But in a division where Arizona’s Kyler Murray has replaced Seattle’s Russell Wilson as the quarterback X-factor on the team that is the Rams’ biggest threat … well, the more influencers you have on defense, the better the chance somebody will make a play. And it’s safe to assume that the presence of Donald and Floyd and Ramsey will only enhance Miller, motivated among other things by free agency after this season.
That helps explain the trade in football terms. The other context: Do you suspect the Rams, still six years into rebuilding their fan base after L.A. repossessed them from St. Louis, are not just highly motivated but desperate to be a participant in that hometown Super Bowl? The opportunity certainly exists at 7-1, and to not exhaust every option to get there would be a sin.
“You’re not fearing failure,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday. “When you do stuff like that, that’s followed by expectations. But we have expectations in-house. … I think it’s a real credit to those guys. I think it’s a real credit to Mr. (Stan) Kroenke for being able to allow us to make these moves. And that makes you feel good and that makes you want to work that much harder to try to just make these decisions right.
“Certainly, I’ll be the first to tell you guys that I haven’t always been right on some of the things that we’ve done, but you try to be more right than you are wrong. And usually when you have good players like we’re acquiring, you just get the hell out of their way.”
Under these circumstances, it is easy to forget there was a time when Los Angeles fans weren’t treated to such effort from their teams’ executives, with some exceptions (the Jerry Buss-era Lakers leap to mind). More often, SoCal teams drafted, developed, hoped for the best but operated conservatively, hesitant to make that bold, expensive move. Fans groused but still showed up.Maybe it was Frank McCourt’s stewardship (?!) of the Dodgers from 2004-11 that opened the patrons’ eyes. As later confirmed in divorce court documents, the ambition was to depress payroll (all the while as ownership looted the team) on the assumption that just winning division titles would be satisfactory. McCourt’s bankruptcy ended that charade, and since then fans of local franchises have been nowhere near as willing to settle.
That’s why Mookie Betts is a Dodger. It’s why LeBron James and Anthony Davis and Westbrook are Lakers, why Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are Clippers … and why Ramsey, Stafford and now Miller are Rams. Those executives value winning as much as the fans do.
It’s a welcome change.
jalexander@scng.com
@Jim_Alexander on Twitter
Alexander: Rams trade for Von Miller? It’s an L.A. trend - LA Daily News
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