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Such is the nature of the National Flux League these days. Less than three weeks after Rams linebacker Mike Jones stonewalled Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson to author the most dramatic conclusion in Super Bowl history, the outcome of the game might well be reversed if the teams were to meet again right now. Certainly whatever balance of power existed between the teams has been negated by the events that transpired since Jones' game-saving tackle.

In one of his more lucid moments as a head coach, Jerry Glanville noted saliently that NFL stands for "Not For Long." That the observation came several years before the NFL adopted its current free agency system makes Glanville more practical than prescient, but certainly no less precise, especially when reviewed with an eye on the events of the past week.

Since the flag fell last Friday on the start of this spring's free-agent signing period, the Tennessee management triumvirate of president Jeff Diamond, general manager Floyd Reese and coach Jeff Fisher has worked hard to negotiate that final yard of Georgia Dome carpet. At the same time, the remainder of the NFL's general managers appear intent on disintegrating a once-estimable talent advantage the Rams seemed to hold over the rest of the league.

Rams officials haven't even had a chance yet to discuss the design of the club's Super Bowl rings and already 30 other teams have designs on knocking St. Louis from its lofty perch. St. Louis is under siege from less-talented teams and its roster is under scrutiny by those who make a living out of comparing the relative strengths of franchises around the league.

Just one week into free agency, a prominent NFC personnel director termed "negligible" the edge the Rams currently have over two or three other top-shelf franchises. Said the personnel director: "You know the old saying about fame being fleeting? Just look at the Rams in free agency. It's like the vultures are circling, trying to pick them clean, and here's a team that really hasn't even had the time yet to enjoy its (Super Bowl) win. That's still a hell of a good team, even given the players they've lost. But people definitely are trying to erode the Rams, no doubt about it."

It used to be the NFL was all about copycats, the less successful clubs annually pirating ideas and philosophies and schemes from the winners. But now the rallying cry has become, "If you can't beat 'em, steal their players."

If the NFL has become an instant gratification league, one in which owners demand excellence in a compacted time frame, it has also evolved into an entity where victory must be quickly savored. Two days after the Rams won the first title in franchise history, coach Dick Vermeil retired. Less than two weeks after the win at the Georgia Dome, the organization not only had to prepare for the start of free agency but was forced to make tough decisions on veteran starters. On top of all that, new head coach Mike Martz had to finalize a staff that is now a combination of leftovers from Vermeil's three seasons and assistants with varied backgrounds.

During all of this, the front office structure was reshuffled, with vice president Jay Zygmunt and personnel director Charley Armey receiving new titles and enhanced clout.

It has been, allowed team president John Shaw, a disconcerting period during which employees never had a legitimate chance to appreciate the euphoria of the Super Bowl victory. Then again that cycle, from riches to reality, has suddenly become the norm for a league that every spring is marked by wholesale player movement in the free-agent market. The pillaging of the Rams was anticipated by the St. Louis front office, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept.

"We anticipated this happening when we won the Super Bowl," said Armey, elevated from his former post as vice president of player personnel to general manager in the wake of Vermeil's retirement. "It's not like they've caught us completely off balance here. Certainly we didn't want to lose anybody. But we also know that's the reality of the salary cap. The thing that 'Joe Fan' has to understand is that you only have so many dollars, and you have to balance off how you spend those dollars."

The Rams went into free agency with a salary cap surplus of $12 million-$13 million and feeling privately smug about their chances of retaining most of their own key unrestricted free agents and perhaps adding a veteran role player or two. But already subtracted from the roster are reserve defensive end Jay Williams, who signed with Carolina; starting offensive right tackle Fred Miller, who defected to the Titans; and backup linebacker and special teams standout Charlie Clemons, a restricted free agent who signed an offer sheet with New Orleans that the Rams will not match.

Starting center Mike Gruttadauria is being pursued by at least three teams. There is talk that an AFC team might attempt to sign "transition" free-agent cornerback Todd Lyght. Ryan Tucker, the versatile reserve offensive lineman who was penciled in as the replacement for Miller at right tackle, on Thursday signed an offer sheet with Miami. The Rams, out of desperation, probably will match the offer sheet on Tucker, a restricted free agent, but will be forced to pay him $4.75 million for the 2000 season, instead of the $472,000 they had planned. Another restricted free agent, strong safety Billy Jenkins, has likewise drawn interest from Miami and other teams.

The Rams don't feel picked on, but they certainly don't want to see the team picked apart by the roster raiders, either.

New head coach Mike Martz already has lost five aides from the Rams' championship team.(AP)

One St. Louis official acknowledged there is a heightened sense of urgency within the team's daily progress meetings now, but insisted no one is reaching for the panic button. Armey pointed out the Rams lost five starters in free agency last spring and won the Super Bowl this year. He is correct in noting the St. Louis talent pool is deeper than at any time in the past couple decades and the team should survive. But at what price?

The offensive line, which was quietly developing into one of the NFL's finest units in 1999, might have to break in two new starters for 2000. Without Williams, former sixth-round pick Lionel Barnes, who showed some flashes but little consistency in his '99 rookie campaign, now is the top backup at end. Clemons, who was a fiend on special teams and beginning to show promise as an outside pass rusher, will have to be replaced by Leonard Little.

Most bothersome to some outsiders is the attitude of the Rams in their dealings with some of their own free agents. When player representative Harold Lewis phoned to apprise the Rams that he had a $4 million a year offer from the Titans for Miller, a Rams officials quickly pronounced that the team couldn't compete at that price for their starting right tackle. In fact, St. Louis budgeted only about $2.75 million per year to retain Miller.

Not surprisingly, the Rams have jumped back into the Gruttadauria derby and they hope to keep the center from defecting. In a preemptive move, the team also is expected to make an extension offer, believed to be worth $8 million-$10 million annually, to defensive end Kevin Carter. The league sack leader in '99, Carter will enter the final season of his current contract in 2000. There already have been attempts to extend the contract of quarterback Kurt Warner, the NFL's Most Valuable Player in '99. The team last week signed starting guard Tom Nutten to a three-year contract extension.

"It's tough, because you have to pick and choose anymore as to whom you can keep," Zygmunt said in the days preceding the Super Bowl. "What every team does is attempt to keep its core group together, to identify the players you can't afford to be without, and re-sign them. Keeping some sense of continuity is critical."

Of course, not even the staunchest true believers in the organization believe the departure of Vermeil is trivial. Funny thing, because only a year ago the franchise attempted to buy out the last three years of Vermeil's contract. This year, Shaw and Zygmunt begged Vermeil to take another night to consider his decision when he informed them of his retirement plans.

The line of succession already was established when Martz was decreed head-coach-in-waiting during the playoffs. He is respected by the players and there figures to be little alteration in the way the Rams are operated. That said, there have been significant changes in the coaching staff as Martz has put his fingerprint on his assistants. Five aides from the Super Bowl staff, including much-respected special teams coach Frank Gansz, are gone. Only four of the coaches Vermeil hired in 1997 remain on Martz's staff.

"I think most stuff will be status quo," wide receiver Isaac Bruce said. (Martz) will do some stuff different than Dick, but the changes will be primarily cosmetic."

Meanwhile, the transformation of the Titans from Super Bowl runner-up to champion, at least in the minds of team officials, is dramatic. The Titans suffered a substantial defection when offensive right tackle Jon Runyan, ranked by SportsLine as the premier player available in the unrestricted free agent pool, signed with Philadelphia. But they recovered by signing Miller, and got him for much less than it would have cost to retain Runyan.

No one believes Miller is as good as Runyan. But the money saved was invested in linebacker Randall Godfrey, who represents an upgrade for Tennessee, and the club was still involved in trying to sign Kansas City safety Reggie Tongue on Friday afternoon. Talk to anyone around the league and they believe the Rams' foundation has been eroded at least a bit and that the Titans have closed the gap.

Little of that fazes the Rams, however, who contend they will put up a solid defense of their first title in 2000. With free agency continuing and the draft less than two months away now, who knows when St. Louis officials might have the luxury of kicking back for a few days and actually enjoying the championship? For now, it doesn't seem to bother the Rams, who believe the 1-yard difference between them and all challengers remains a notable gap.

Said Martz, who has not been a head coach since departing Mesa College in the mid-1970s: "As soon as (Vermeil) announced his retirement, I sat down with Charley and Jay for about 4½ or five hours. We developed a strategy (to stay on top). Charley made the point that, on the average, teams retain only 34 of their 53 players from the previous season's roster. I feel pretty good about us being able to keep more than 34 of our guys. And I feel good about the guys we'll keep."

Maybe so. But some Titans players wouldn't mind a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIV and feel they would pick up right where Dyson's knee hit the Georgia Dome carpet.

"With what we've done in free agency," defensive end Jevon Kearse said, "that 1 yard might not even be inches right now."