NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tavon Austin went around the locker room and hugged everyone in sight, his cap and T-shirt representing the NFC West title his Los Angeles Rams just clinched. It has been a very different season for Austin, for two very different reasons. He spent the previous four years with the Rams and never once experienced a winning season, let alone a dominant one. Now the Rams are among the game's elite, sititng at 11-4. But Austin is only a small part of it.

It didn't strip the joy away.

"If anybody knows me, they know I’m a team player," Austin said in the aftermath of a 27-23 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Christmas Eve. "My time will come. That’s all it is. I’m just going to soak this up."

Jeff Fisher caused a lot of eye rolls over the weekend after saying he "had a lot to do" with a Rams roster that is suddenly the class of its division. But there is some truth to that, represented by the fact that 12 of the Rams' 22 starters were brought in while he was the head coach from 2012-16. That means a lot of the players who celebrated Sunday's victory still vividly remember what it felt like to be irrelevant this time of year.

Such as edge rusher Robert Quinn, in his seventh year with the Rams.

"It was worth the wait," Quinn said, "I’ll tell you that."

"It means a lot, man," linebacker Alec Ogletree, a first-round pick in 2013, said of the Rams' climb to division champs. "I'm still sitting here just trying to wrap my mind around it." Jim Brown/USA TODAY Sports

Or offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, the longest-tenured member of the team.

"This is eight years of fighting for that top spot," Saffold said, "and finally being able to get it means everything to me."

Or inside linebacker Alec Ogletree, in his fifth year.

"It means a lot, man," Ogletree said. "I'm still sitting here just trying to wrap my mind around it."

Or cornerback Trumaine Johnson, on his second franchise tag.

"'I’ve been with this team six years and have been on the other side," Johnson said. "Hard times."

The Rams were coming off 10 consecutive losing seasons. They went 4-12 last year, their first one back in L.A., and Fisher was fired before it was even over. The Rams entered 2017 with an overwhelming amount of work to do with their offense and in their new market. They had no idea if Jared Goff could be their franchise quarterback, no idea if Todd Gurley would regain his dominance, no idea if Aaron Donald's best years might be wasted on also-rans.

On Sunday, Goff -- a first alternate for the Pro Bowl -- joined Kurt Warner as the only Rams quarterbacks with multiple games of 300 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the same season.

Gurley gained 276 scrimmage yards, more than any player all season, and is getting some serious love for MVP.

Donald?

"The last time I won a championship, I was 7 years old," he said, beaming. "It's been a long time."

Michael Brockers, a sixth-year defensive lineman, recalled what he used to often think: If the Rams' offense could just be mediocre, and not awful, the defense could be good enough to make this a potential playoff team. Now, under standout rookie head coach Sean McVay, the Rams have an offense that has helped them average 31 points per game.

"And now we have a great team," Brockers said. "For this defense to gain an offense like this, it’s like a Christmas gift in itself. We’re thankful."

McVay -- who, at 31, is the youngest head coach in modern NFL history -- took over a team that ranked last in the NFL in every major offensive category last season and helped turn it into one that ranks second in points, second in touchdowns and seventh in yards.

He got plenty of help from Les Snead, the sixth-year general manager whose job was spared in the wake of Fisher's firing. Snead signed Andrew Whitworth and John Sullivan to bolster a beleaguered offensive line, added Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp to inject some much-needed talent at receiver and brought in Connor Barwin and Kayvon Webster, two veterans familiar with the system of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.

They all blended perfectly with the talent that remained, and McVay, as talented a leader as he is a playcaller, made it all work.

"The way he’s been coaching us," Saffold said of McVay, "we should’ve been 16-0."

"We had a lot of talent; it just didn’t work out on the field," Quinn said. "But McVay and Wade, they've got two great systems, and we have a lot of great players to play in those systems."

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The longest-tenured Rams have stepped up as the stakes have risen. Quinn, Donald and Brockers have wreaked havoc in the backfield; Ogletree and Mark Barron, a surprising scratch Sunday because of a sore Achilles tendon, have been dynamic in the middle; Johnson is having one of his best seasons; Lamarcus Joyner has transitioned into one of the game's best safeties; and Saffold is playing at a Pro Bowl level.

Austin, who had his punt-return duties stripped away and now barely sees the field, is still waiting on his turn.

He's still hopeful, too.

"I know the guy I am, I know the person I am, I know who I play for -- these guys right here," Austin said. "Even if my role has changed, it’s a great feeling. Like I say, you never know when you might be back, when your turn might come."