L.A. Rams' 3-1 start different than last year's 3-1 start Published: Oct 02, 2017 at 03:17 AM Around the NFL Writer The . Last year at the season's quarter mark, L.A. sat at 3-1, atop the NFC West, Clyde Drexler Jersey and, perhaps, the world. As documented by , the collapse was epic. The won a single game the rest of the season, fired Jeff Fisher midway through, and watched the No. 1 overall pick look lost and lose every start he made. Basically, the became . With L.A. off to an identical 3-1 start in 2017, sitting atop the NFC West, and, yes, the world, are we in for another cla sic collapse? Is this team made up of many of the same characters in for a better outcome this time around? "Yeah, but you know this is only the beginning," running back said after Sunday's over the , . "We've been here last year at 3-1 and then we only won one game after that. So, we have to keep that in mind as well and we definitely have to keep moving forward and get better every week. Don't get complacent." Based on just about every metric this year's 3-1 start is vastly different than last year's. Let's start with a basic visual test. This year's squad under coach Sean McVay oozes confidence. looks comfortable and his poise in Calvin Murphy Jersey the pocket is nothing like what we saw last year. looks fast and spry. And the defense is more than Aaron Donald-or-bust. None of those things could be said about Fisher's squad. P. J. Tucker Jersey In 2016, even with the 3-1 start, succe s felt fluky. The players seemed to know it. The coaches seemed to know it. Certainly, fans knew it. This year feels different in every way, right? "Aw, hell yeah!" Donald said after the game. Yes, Aaron. Hell, yeah. Whereas the 2016 ' first three wins felt almost accidental, McVay's squad has a distinct flavor of dominance that won't melt away like last year's cotton-candy squad. Kevin Patra (@kpatra) McVay deserves credit for building up an offense that has staying power. The have scored 30-plus points in three of their four games this season -- tied for most 30-point games in the NFL this season (Patriots). Under Fisher, L.A. scored 30-plus points once last season and the had a grand total of three games with 30-plus points in previous 32 contests entering 2017. In 2016, the averaged 14.0 points per game. This year they are averaging Christian Wood Jersey 35.5 through four games. McVay's unit could get shut out the next six games and be averaging more than 14 points per game (14.2). Kevin Patra (@kpatra) Goff has back-to-back games with multiple pa sing TDs and no INTs for the first time in his career. His pa ser rating of 112.2 is third-best in the NFL and has risen 48.6 points from 2016 to 2017 -- would be the largest increase in pa ser rating from Year 1 to Year 2 since the 1970 merger, per NFL Research. Gurley has 100-plus rushing yards in back-to-back games after going the previous 26 contests with just one 100-yard rushing game. The running back has caught a receiving TD in three straight games. Before that stretch, he had exactly zero career TD receptions. There will be bumps in the road. As with every team, there are still flaws that will be exposed throughout a 16-game schedule. The difference between last year's and this year's is that today it doesn't feel like the bottom is going to inevitably crater. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Clint Capela Jersey Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.