When the Los Angeles Rams put together the most impressive offseason of any team in the NFL, it would have taken an extreme amount of imagination to picture them opening the year at 2-4 and sitting in last place in the NFC West. The Rams were preseason Super Bowl favorites by a hefty margin, but just six weeks into the campaign, they find themselves forced to overcome historically long odds in order to deliver on those expectations.

No team in the Super Bowl era has won its conference after opening the season with a losing record through six weeks. Not only do the Rams have a losing record, but they are two games back from .500 at 2-4.

Winning the NFC was once a Super Bowl prerequisite that many expected the Rams to accomplish without much pushback. Now they would carve their name into the history books if they achieve it.

The volume of talent on the roster is ample enough that nobody would bat an eye if the Rams caught fire, rattled off a prolonged winning streak and peaked at the right time on their way to a championship. The coaching staff is as heralded as they come, too. Nearly all of the pieces are in place, and the ones that are not -- like Myles Garrett as he works his way back from knee surgery -- will be in due time. This has the makings of a loaded team that simply has not yet gelled, and once it does, it could be a monster that obliterates everything in its path.

At the same time, Los Angeles stands at the bottom of its division for good reason. Its special teams EPA is the lowest in the league, and its kicking woes were directly to blame for the Week 5 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Matthew Stafford regressed noticeably from his MVP form, leading to a sharp downturn in explosive plays and general offensive consistency. The pass rush clearly misses Garrett, because the defense's sack rate is the sixth-lowest in the NFL. There are real discipline questions, too, as penalties and turnovers rear their ugly heads.

The Rams cannot turn their season into a success over the next month (they can only do so by pulling off the historic run to the Super Bowl), but these next four games will determine whether it is a complete failure or if they can turn things around.

Rams' remaining schedule

The most difficult stretch of the 17-game slate is complete. The Rams' schedule was always projected as front- and back-loaded with a soft filling in the middle. That central part is even cushier than anticipated, and the home stretch seems nowhere near as grueling as it looked on paper heading into the year. Even with three of their next four games coming away from home, they will be sizable favorites in each of them. Taking care of business would put them at 6-4 entering the bye week.

Once the Rams emerge from their week off, they face a handful of division title contenders. The Packers and Cowboys have glaring issues but remain well within striking distance of the NFC North and NFC East leads, respectively, and beating them will be critical in the Wild Card race. And, of course, the divisional rivalry games against the 49ers and Seahawks could be where the NFC West is won or lost.

Resetting expectations for Los Angeles

If the Rams continue to play at the same level they performed in Weeks 1-6, they cannot be trusted to even beat their overmatched opponents in this favorable upcoming four-game stretch, let alone the more formidable squads that line the back half of the schedule. They deserve the benefit of the doubt because of the supreme talent on their roster and Sean McVay's track record as a superstar coach, but they had better correct course during this next month of advantageous matchups, because their goodwill is running low.

Success from here on looks like this: Stafford pulls out of his slump as he faces more manageable competition, Garrett returns before the bye week and uplifts the defense as he nears midseason form and the revitalized units mask the unfixable problems on special teams.

If those elements come together, the Rams should be in ideal shape to attack the back half of their schedule and clinch a playoff spot. Once they reach the postseason, all bets are off. It becomes a one-game season, and their talent will stack up favorably against anyone they see.

The Super Bowl is still an attainable goal, but there is a reason no team in this position has ever won it. The difference between the Rams and those who came before them, though, is that this is as stacked of a roster as the league has ever seen. If anyone is capable of pulling off the turnaround, it has to be them.