The Rams were always championship or bust. Now they’re in the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl was the Rams' destiny and now it's a reality.

You can think of yourself as adventurous. You can believe you take the biggest, most drastic risks on a path to success, and, on some level, it’s probably true. But chances are you’ll never know a feeling like Rams did this year. Because while you know your limitations, the Rams have none and need none.

They went all-in to reach Super Bowl LVI, and their bet paid off. There aren’t many more euphoric feelings in life than conviction and confidence paying off together. Of course, there are few teams like the Rams.

For the second-straight year, a team will play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. This time it’ll be the Rams, playing in the greater Southern California area, after dispatching the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 20-17.

A nemesis conquered, and a team that was supposed to be here living up to expectations. Now Los Angeles opens -4.5 at Tipico Sportsbook to beat the Cincinnati Bengals for the Lombardi Trophy.

Extra, extra. Read all about it. This is what it means to live up to every bar.

While I’m sure the home locker room at SoFi Stadium will rock well into the night, you could be forgiven for not being blown away by what the Rams accomplished. Not because they haven’t been impressive. In every phase and in every play, they have been the most consistently excellent team of this postseason.

The Cardinals stood no chance. The Buccaneers, try as Tom Brady Magic might, trailed by more than three touchdowns for most of a Divisional Round matchup. And the 49ers, when it came down to it, didn’t have enough to pull off an NFC upset.

Especially Jimmy Garoppolo.

It’s hard to be impressed by what the Rams achieved simply because the Rams were supposed to be on this lofty stage. When you trade for Von Miller, Odell Beckham Jr., and Matthew Stafford and add them to a star-studded core of Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, and Cooper Kupp, you’re supposed to play in February. No one can match that arsenal. Anything less than playing in The Big Game is a crushing disappointment.

The Rams may not have always played like they flat-out had more talent than everyone this season. In fact, they may have had more than a fair share of lowlights for a team with so many bright spots.

The fourth seed in the NFC? That’s falling short of where we thought the Rams would be.

A 12-5 record, with alarming inconsistency from game to game?

No, no, no. This wasn’t the plan. Everything’s all wrong.

But, in the end, winning the conference convincingly? That was predestined. It was what the Rams wanted, and it was what they were capable of.

A year ago to the date, Los Angeles traded Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford. Before Sunday evening, while underwhelming, Goff was the only man to take the Rams to the Super Bowl in the last 20-odd years. Stafford, a perennial butt of the joke in Detroit, was coming to the Rams as the centerpiece of one of the most outstanding bets in NFL history, all while never winning anything of consequence before.

In the ensuing off-season, McVay couldn’t stop gushing about his new signal-caller, praising him and his football brilliance at every opportunity. McVay knew he had a talisman who would bring him a ticket to the dance: A living, breathing quarterback upgrade.

337 passing yards and two of the biggest touchdown passes in Rams history, in an NFC title game no less, should be vindication alone for McVay’s belief. He knew what he saw. He traded for Stafford to get him back to a Super Bowl. No one seems wiser than McVay now. He had a belief in one player, and it paid off in spades.

Now Stafford joins Goff’s company, seeking the one thing that may have always invalidated his career with the Lions. A championship. What’s even more unbelievable is that he, as the Rams’ leader, is supposed to be here.

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