THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — One year ago, general manager Les Snead and the Los Angeles Rams’ front office decided they had to jump through the championship window that had suddenly, shockingly appeared before them.

Now that they’ve landed on their feet in Atlanta, Snead has zero regrets about writing the checks and making the commitments necessary for his Super Bowl-bound team to make that leap.

“After winning the division last year, after contending last year, we sat back and said, `We definitely feel like we can do this, and we could do this consistently for a little while,”’ Snead said Wednesday. “I think the moves this year were (about saying), `Let’s improve. That wasn’t good enough.”’

The Rams reached the playoffs last season for the first time in 13 years, with rookie coach Sean McVay leading a seven-win improvement for a franchise that hadn’t had a winning season since 2003.

But Los Angeles promptly lost its first postseason game to the Falcons, putting a slight damper on that incredible one-season turnaround.

Knowing the tenuousness of NFL success for every team except the Patriots — and realizing the impact that a Super Bowl run could have in the Rams’ new hometown — Snead decided it was already time to do everything possible to help homegrown stars Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and Jared Goff.

“That feeling after Atlanta was hollow, even after the sweetness of the breakthrough,” said Snead.

So the Rams made several enormous bets on themselves, and every single one of them has paid off.

The Rams acquired defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters and edge rusher Dante Fowler to bolster their defense.