Why the St. Louis Rams Will Be Super Bowl Contenders This Season

You read that correctly. The St. Louis Rams will be Super Bowl contenders this year and it's because of their defense and the weakness of the NFC.

At first, the Rams as contenders reads crazy because they're less sexy than the up-and-coming Minnesota Vikings or Carolina Panthers.

And Nick Foles, the Rams' starting quarterback, has been abysmal.

Here are his stats and corresponding league ranking among qualified quarterbacks.

Categories	Stats	NFL Rank
Passing Yards/G	185	30
Completion %-age	58.2	27
Touchdowns	7	t-28

As a Philadelphia Eagles fan who saw Foles play for two-and-a-half years, that's who he is, Rams fans. Please don't expect much more. He's an average to below-average quarterback. He holds on to the ball for too long and has limited mobility.

Some fall for the 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in 2013, but it was an anomaly. (But take solace, Rams fans, Sam Bradford isn't lighting up the world for my team, either.)

Newly signed Wes Welker won't help stimulate that offense either. 

Welker hasn't played since week 17 of last season and has had numerous concussions in recent years. At best he's a great option on third down and at worst, he suffers another concussion. (I'm really worried about the latter.)

But, while Foles' ranks are at the bottom, it doesn't mean the Rams offense can't move the ball. They're fourth in the league in rushing, averaging 135.5 yards per game, thanks to Todd Gurley. The below video shows Gurley's versatility as a power rusher, too, per the NFL.

Notice the second and third efforts are important parts of this run. Gurley really is the second coming of Adrian Peterson. He continued his historic start, per ESPN's Darren Rovell.

If Foles can play at least an average level, with Gurley supplying the power rushing game, the Rams can contend, a la the Seattle Seahawks in 2013. It's not their offense that has the most talent. The Rams' potential for a run all hinges upon that defense.

Before the Seahawks in 2013, I believed that in the new NFL, offense won championships. That was until I saw the best offense in NFL history (the 2013 Denver Broncos) dismantled by that Seahawks defense.

Take it a step further. It wasn't the Seattle secondary that dominated that Super Bowl either. It was the defensive line, the same position group that dominated in the New York Giants' Super Bowl wins in 2007 and 2011.

If the Giants taught us anything, it's two things: the first is the defensive line is the greatest weapon against any offense, and the strength of the St. Louis Rams is the defensive line.

Robert Quinn, Chris Long and Aaron Donald make up the most talented and least talked about defensive line in football. Quinn and Long aren't healthy right now, true, but when they are at full strength that line will be what propels them for a run. Notice how menacing Quinn and Donald have been to opposing defenses, per Brandon Bate.

Quinn has more forced fumbles than J.J. Watt and Charles Tillman, widely regarded as the NFL's best defensive player and best player at forcing fumbles, respectively. Gerald McCoy, a top-three draft pick in his class, has fewer sacks than Donald, a second-year player.

Here's how stellar the Rams defense has been so far. They're fifth in total yards (2,590), fifth in total yards per game (323.8), fourth in passing yards per game (219.8) and 13th in rushing yards per game (104).

They're sixth in the league in points per game, giving up 18.3 per contest, and that's without their line being at full strength for half of the season. With a defense that can limit scoring, it will go a long way for their struggling offense. 

The second thing those Giants teams showed us is the Rams just have to make the playoffs. In the NFC, where Carolina has a commanding lead on the top seed, the Rams at 4-4 are more than alive. They have a legitimate shot to make a run.

The Rams are only two games back of the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, whom the Rams play at home Dec. 6. The Rams are up 1-0 in the season series against the Cardinals, so a sweep would do wonders for their chances. With a layup division game Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams at worst can finish 4-2 in the NFC West.

Of the Rams' final eight games, five are against teams with losing records. Four games are at home. In a weaker conference and a division that isn't as brutal as years past, who says the Rams can't make a run? They just have to make it.