It’s amazing how a team that won Super Bowl 56 just falling apart the following year. Even reversing their record from 12-5 in 2021 to 5-12 in 2022.

I find the reason for this descent is an interesting one but before I get to it. Let’s begin with how they started to open their contending window.

On January 12th 2017, the Rams hired Washington Redskins OC Sean McVay to be their head coach after a dreadful 2016 season at 4-12 with a 7 game losing streak to end their season with one of the worst offenses in the league in a variety of categories from scoring, passing, rushing & turnovers along with having no 1st round pick in the 2017 draft after trading up for Cali QB Jared Goff in the 2016 draft. However, they managed to turn around the sloppy offense from 2016 to one of the best scoring offenses in 2017 making the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They weren’t fully ready for the big dance yet as they lost in the Wild Card Round to the Falcons but were on a great trajectory to be competing for a title.

2018 was the year that everything was going their way as they starting off with a 8-0 start to finish up at 13-3 with the 2nd seed in the NFC Conference. Destroying the Cowboys in the Divisional Round & showing great perseverance against the Saints in the NFC Conference Game. Yes, we have the No PI Call that gave the Rams extra life to go for the game tying FG to go into OT but the Saints started OT with the ball & had bad luck when Drew Brees’ arm was hit that caused an unlucky interception for LA to get the game winning FG. You had your shot & blew it. Back to the Rams, they made the Super Bowl for the first time since 2001. However, it was an awful game for LA as the Patriots Defense just smothered the Rams offense allowing only 3 points. In a sound bite from Sean McVay on the sideline, he describes that the Patriots defense replicated the Bears defense, who the Rams played in the regular season that destroyed them by allowing 214 total offensive yards, 162 passing yards, 52 rushing yards which were all season lows for the Rams that year along with having 4 turnovers in that game which was the most they did.

2019 & 2020 were mostly years of underachieving for the Rams that regressed from the run game not being as electric as they were from McVay’s first 2 seasons, defense was very hit & miss outside of Aaron Donald & Jared Goff wasn’t the same QB that was showing the same progress from 2017 & 2018 after getting his massive payday from the team. As for those 2 seasons I said that were underachieving, 2019 was a bad fall from making the Super Bowl the year prior where they missed the playoffs but finished with a 9-7 record. 2020 was an alright year for the team with a more solid defense but offense was alright at 10-6. They did win a playoff game against their division rival & leader Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card Round in Seattle but they were picked apart by the Green Bay Packers with their MVP QB Aaron Rodgers in the Divisional Round. The offense couldn’t keep up where the Rams had to rely on Goff who dealt with a finger injury to his throwing hand he suffered in the regular season against the Seahawks.

2021 was looking to be their final year of trying to compete for a Super Bowl & they ultimately decided to trade off QB Jared Goff to the Lions in exchange for Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford as they were going to be on a rebuilding year for what feels like their quarter century rebuild. As LA got the QB they wanted to compete with, they should be ready for 2021 & they were showed up with a 12-5 record winning the NFC West. Convincingly winning against their division rival Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card, had a near scare against Tom Brady & the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they nearly came back from 27-3 deficit but ultimately iced it on the final drive for the Game Winning FG by Matt Gay and finally, playing against their other division rival San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Conference Game. San Francisco had great luck against the Rams in last few years winning 6 straight regular season matchups against LA prior to the game & it was getting close for another clear victory by San Francisco but luck would be on LA’s side as they managed to come back from a 10 point deficit in the 4th quarter & making it back to a Super Bowl after 3 years. They play against the Cincinnati Bengals with a young offense led by 2nd year QB out of LSU Joe Burrow and a stout defense with Trey Hendrickson, Logan Wilson & Jessie Bates to name a few. The game was tightly contested throughout the whole game where it can be decided on the final drive. Ultimately, it was the Rams offense with the go ahead TD from Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp in the red zone & the Rams defense that stuffed RB Samaje Perine on back to run plays on 2nd & 3rd down before Aaron Donald sealed the game after getting to Joe Burrow’s face and disrupting him enough to have him throw the ball away. The Rams were finally Super Bowl Champions after so many 1st round draft picks toss to the side for key veteran additions to make it all work.

After winning it all, rumors started to go around that Rams HC Sean McVay & All Pro Star DT Aaron Donald would be in the mixed of possibly retiring following the Super Bowl win. It was a dreadful warning sign that something was going to end up being wrong. While both decided to continue their NFL careers, free agency would be cruel for the Rams as they had to say goodbye to key contributors like Edge Rusher Von Miller, CB Darius Williams & WR Odell Beckham Jr along with the retirement of LT Andrew Whitworth. It would be seem that the Rams had a shot to make the playoffs again with the uncertainty around San Francisco & Seattle with the QB position along with the Cardinals possibly falling apart after the DeAndre Hopkins suspension. Their season was over at the 1st game of the season against the Buffalo Bills being torched & mauled to a 31-10 loss & they never recovered from it as with a shaky O line, questionable defense & a QB Carousel from Matthew Stafford suffering another back injury, John Wolford not being able to pick it up, Bryce Perkins showing how raw he was & Baker Mayfield who signed with the team just when they were on the tightrope of playoff elimination. It was an outright disaster with injuries to key players like Center Brian Allen, LT Joseph Noteboom, WR Cooper Kupp & DT Aaron Donald. Falling to a 5-12 record as a result. The most losses by a defending Super Bowl since the 1999 Denver Broncos that fell to 6-10. Kinda unfair with 1 season having 1 less game than the other.

You do wonder how we got here & the answer would be this. The Rams lost a very important individual that was able to keep them afloat by the time 2021 came around. That’s their scouting director in Brad Holmes. He ended up being hired by the Detroit Lions to be their General Manager in the 2021 season. He was the GM that traded off Matthew Stafford to LA & got Jared Goff. The Lions were dreadful in 2021 with a 0-10-1 start before finishing up at 3-13-1 with the 2nd Overall Pick. However, in the 2022 season for the Motor City, they ended finishing their season at 9-8 after a 1-6 start but missed out on the playoffs due to head to head tiebreaker loss to the Seattle Seahawks as they made the playoffs. The drafting from Brad Holmes in Detroit compared to LA since 2021 is almost night & day.

While it’s easy to say 1 team that would suck enough to get high picks to get the better players makes them the winner but it’s more of who did better in the later rounds. During Brad Holmes’ time in LA from 2016 to 2020, he had starting caliber players like Safety Taylor Rapp (2nd Round), Safety John Johnson (3rd Round), WR Cooper Kupp (3rd Round), Center Brian Allen (4th Round), DT Greg Gaines (4th Round), Safety Jordan Fuller (6th Round) & WR Van Jefferson (2nd Round) to name a few. The Rams don’t have that nowadays.

During his time in Detroit, Brad has that with WR Amon-Ra St Brown (4th Round), LB Derrick Barnes (4th Round), Safety Kerby Joseph (3rd Round), LB Malcolm Rodriguez (6th Round) & Edge James Houston (6th Round).

2023, at this time, is looking like a rough year for them as they went through a fire sell by trading & releasing key / big name players from their roster like:

CB Jalen Ramsey – Traded to the Miami Dolphins

WR Allen Robinson – Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers

DT Greg Gaines – Released & Signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Edge Leonard Floyd – Released & Signed with the Buffalo Bills

LB Bobby Wagner – Released & Signed with the Seattle Seahawks

Safety Taylor Rapp – Released & Signed with the Buffalo Bills

Returner Brandon Powell – Released & Signed with the Minnesota Vikings

Safety Nick Scott – Released & Signed with the Cincinnati Bengals

DT A’Shawn Robinson – Released & Signed with the New York Giants

It even gets worse for them as they tried to trade off Matthew Stafford in the 2023 off-season just after 1 year under a new contract from winning the team a Super Bowl. Also, rumors of possibly trading off 3 time DPOY All Pro DT Aaron Donald if the team starts off poorly during the season. It looks like they may be rebuilding but we won’t know until the preseason begins.

*Featured photo courtesy of Turf Show Times*