The first quarter of the NFL season is in the books, the Los Angeles Rams are 4-0, and face another round of questions and tests:
How will they handle prosperity?
The Rams were a feel-good story last season, a team that bobbed back up after years of mediocrity (or worse) and had a media darling in coach Sean McVay. But there have been a lot of one-year wonders in this league, so the tendency is to approach quick turnarounds with skepticism.
Clearly, last season was no fluke. The Rams are the best team in the league at this point, and that brings the weight of expectation _ and typically brings out the best in opponents.
How will they handle adversity? It's coming in some form. It always does.
So far, it has been pretty smooth sailing, even with the loss of kicker Greg Zuerlein, cornerback Aqib Talib, linebacker Dominique Easley and returner Pharoh Cooper. In Thursday's victory over Minnesota, there were some breakdowns in coverage and not enough of a pass rush off the edges. Still, the interior rush came to life, and when the Rams offense is rolling like it is, it's going to be hard for teams to keep pace.
How will they handle the road?
Four of the next five games are away from the Coliseum, with the only home game during that stretch coming Oct. 28 against Green Bay. So far, the Rams are road warriors, with a 9-1 record away from home under McVay, counting London, with the only loss coming at Minnesota last year _ a score they settled last week.
What about the NFC West?
The next three weeks will be crucial, as the Rams play at Seattle and at San Francisco, their two biggest divisional road challenges. They are 7 {-point favorites at Seattle, where last season they obliterated the Seahawks 42-7. That was the most lopsided loss in coach Pete Carroll's tenure, a defeat safety Bradley McDougald called "embarrassing and humbling."
It all goes back to handling prosperity for the Rams, because the rest of the teams in the division have hit hard times while Los Angeles continues to rise. The 49ers have lost quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The winless Arizona Cardinals already have moved on to rookie quarterback Josh Rosen.
The Seahawks lost Sunday the last vestiges of the Legion of Boom secondary when safety Earl Thomas suffered a broken leg, then gave the finger to his team as he was being carted off the field. He has been in a contentious contract dispute with the club and looked to be on his way to Kansas City by way of trade before he was injured.
"Give him a little slack," Carroll said of Thomas on Monday, during his weekly day-after-game radio show on ESPN 710 Seattle. "This is a very, very difficult moment that most people would never understand what it's about."
It won't get easier for the Seahawks defense. They're facing a Rams team that in four games has scored 33, 34, 35 and 38 points.
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