But the biggest reason to fear the Rams as perhaps the NFC’s top Super Bowl contender isn’t the side of the ball McVay calls the plays for. It’s a defense with more game-changers than any team in the NFL.

Scoring points is only going to get teams so far in the NFC this year. Consider this: At least one of the following quarterbacks — Jared Goff, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton and Kirk Cousins — is going to miss the playoffs.

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Putting up 30-plus points in a game isn’t enough to guarantee a victory. You must have enough playmakers on the defensive side of the ball to frustrate opposing franchise QBs. And at full strength, no team in the NFC has more difference-makers on defense than the Rams, who also have one of the league’s best defensive coordinators in Wade Phillips.

While the Rams have obvious holes — most notably at linebacker and edge rusher — they are strategically built to still field a high-level defense every week. There are two main reasons for this: They can consistently push the pocket and cover downfield. The Rams are not an elite run defense, and it’s unlikely their sack totals will impress (just four in three games so far) — but if you fall behind against this team, it is nearly impossible to catch up.

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The reason for this goes back to how they’re built. The Rams possess two top-level pass-rushing defensive tackles, starting with Aaron Donald, who is the NFL’s best. L.A. paired him this year with Ndamukong Suh, one of the most dominant interior linemen of the past decade.

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They also possess a starting back-four in their secondary that’s as good as any in the NFL. Based off 2017 Pro Football Focus grades, cornerback Marcus Peters’s 80.7 (on a 0 to 100 scale) was the lowest of the group. Peters and fellow cornerback Aqib Talib suffered injuries in Sunday’s win over the Chargers, but both will be back this season and their performance through three games has already solidified this team as the Super Bowl favorite.

Teams simply cannot find holes down the field consistently against this group. Through three games, the Rams have allowed a grand total of 10 completions on passes targeted 10 or more yards downfield (tied with the Washington Redskins for fewest in the NFL). Four different quarterbacks, including Goff, completed more such passes this past week alone. The crazier thing is that they’ve only been challenged 22 times on such throws, and have picked off more of them (three) than have resulted in touchdowns (two). This has all taken place while teams have been behind the Rams and needed to throw the ball to catch up.

Part of this is a result of the fact that quarterbacks need time in the pocket to throw deep and the Rams haven’t afforded it. Passers have gotten the ball out of their hands an average of 2.40 seconds after the snap against the Rams, the second-quickest rate in the NFL. More importantly: The Rams have done this while only blitzing on 22.5 percent of dropbacks, the league’s 22nd-highest rate. Defenses that can get pressure without blitzing — which leaves defenses vulnerable to big plays — are among the most difficult to succeed against, and through three games L.A. ranks fourth in the league in pressure rate at 39.8 percent.

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Simply put, Donald and Suh are wrecking offensive lines, and quarterbacks know it’s coming. They rank second and fourth, respectively, in PFF grades among interior linemen, and their 26 combined quarterback pressures are the most of any interior duo. That level of disruption is incredibly valuable in today’s NFL and more meaningful long term than any sack total.