Sam Bradford Is Primed To Lead the St. Louis Rams to the NFL Playoffs in 2011

Sam Bradford's arrival in St. Louis brought the cellar-dwelling Rams to the last step on the stairs towards the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Rams, the NFC West crown slipped out of reach on the final day of the 2010 NFL regular season.

The 2010 season was pinned as a transition year from the beginning as Bradford immediately stepped in as the starter. He didn't start the season exceptionally well. The former Oklahoma standout threw three interceptions on his debut against the Cardinals and followed that with five more over the next four games.

Things weren't looking good for the team as they sat at 2-3 and had just lost by 44-6 to the Detroit Lions. Rams fans knew that the team was a long way away from being the powerhouse they desired. Most quarterbacks must wait until their third year to become effective in the league.

Sam Bradford is not most quarterbacks.

Bradford had thrown eight interceptions after five games; he finished the 16-game season with 15. It was at this point that Rams fans first found out that their team's turnaround was going to be accelerated because of the 23-year-old quarterback.

A big victory over the San Diego Chargers—without notable special teams malfunctions—spurred the Rams on after Week 6. The Rams started a run of 5-6 to finish out the season. While 5-6 isn't good, the difference in the team's performance was telling. Offensively, this hinged on Bradford.

The offense should take another major step heading into this season as the team added a versatile and athletic pass-catching tight end through the draft—Lance Kendricks. They also added some depth to an area of need at receiver—Greg Salas and Austin Pettis.

The biggest addition, however, will be Josh McDaniels. McDaniels may have had a horrid time as a head coach in Denver but he was the orchestrator of the New England Patriots offense in 2007. 

McDaniels is an offensive genius who played a vital role in the Patriots' perfect regular season that year. He called the plays as Tom Brady threw for a record 50 touchdowns and the offense carried the team to the Super Bowl.

McDaniels is looking to mirror that offense in St. Louis as the team started transitioning to a shotgun offense last year. He should be able to get the best out of Danny Amendola, who is arguably the best slot receiver in the league, while Donnie Avery will provide an adequate deep threat should he return fully fit from his knee injury.

The Rams will get better offensive production to support their well-coached defense next season. The Rams finished 12th in points allowed last season, while Steve Spagnuolo gave himself another star defensive end with the addition of Robert Quinn in the draft.

Oshiomogho Atogwe will need to be replaced in the secondary so expect the team to aggressively seek out a safety in free agency.

If Spagnuolo—who was a reputable defensive coach in New York—can continue to get the best out of his defensive unit, then the Rams are definitely primed to make the playoffs next season. 

Despite a very difficult schedule on paper for the 2011 season, the Rams should win the NFC West.

The Seattle Seahawks don't look to have improved over last season as the quarterback situation still remains unclear. It is difficult to describe the Arizona Cardinals' quarterback quandary with words outside of Max Hall and John Skelton, while it is difficult to determine what the 49ers">San Francisco 49ers will look like under Jim Harbaugh.

The Rams may have a difficult strength of schedule to overcome outside of the division but the NFL is a year-to-year league so I wouldn't take much credence in those statistics.

Strength of schedule statistics don't take into account the offseason additions/losses of a team or the variable of a player's changing performance from year to year. For example: How scared would teams have been ahead of playing Brandon Lloyd last season compared to this season?

The St. Louis Rams are primed to make it to the playoffs in 2011. How far they go from there will likely lie on the shoulders of their young franchise quarterback.

Either way, exciting times lie ahead in St. Louis.

I doubt many Rams fans could ever imagine reading a positive article about the Rams offense that didn't mention the name Stephen Jackson before last year.

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