INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The fear was real.
For Kam Curl, a smooth, battle-tested safety who signed a free-agent deal with the Los Angeles Rams in March, the promise of a fresh start with a bona fide contender was steadily replaced by a familiar foreboding.
First, quarterback Matthew Stafford’s dissatisfaction with his contract clouded the team’s offseason. Then, after the injury-riddled Rams wheezed to a 1-4 start heading into their bye week, the organization’s highest-level decision-makers contemplated trading star receiver Cooper Kupp, which would have been viewed as a sign of surrender in 2024.
Curl, who’d spent his first four seasons with the Washington Commanders, had seen this movie before, and he was not looking forward to a sequel.
“I’ve been a part of something like that, so that was in the back of my head,” Curl told me after the Rams’ unruly but rewarding 44-42 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. “Last year, when we traded (defensive ends) Chase (Young) and Montez (Sweat) at the deadline, was not the best experience.
“So yeah, I was a little traumatized. You know what was running through my head. And I was really hoping that wasn’t happening (here).”
The Rams resisted the urge to purge, and, in retrospect, Curl isn’t the only one thrilled that they did. On Sunday, facing a virtually unstoppable opposing quarterback in Josh Allen — an “alien,” as L.A. coach Sean McVay called the MVP candidate — the Rams (7-6) nonetheless emerged with a victory that kept them in the thick of the playoff hunt.
Only a game behind the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks (8-5), an opponent it defeated previously and will host on the final weekend of the regular season, McVay’s team gets no respite: The Rams will face another division rival, the San Francisco 49ers, in a crucial road game Thursday night.
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