The LA Rams are a team with a long and storied history, but they have not always created that history in Los Angeles. When they were founded back in 1937, they were based in Cleveland, only moving to their current home after the Second World War.
They struggled to achieve any real success for a long time, but ended the last century with their first-ever Super Bowl. The Rams then won the ultimate NFL prize for a second time last year, beating the Cincinnati Bengals.
That meant hopes were high for their chances this season, but not many would put a Super Bowl bet on them at this point. They currently have odds of around +20000, putting them firmly among the outsiders.
LA Rams 2022 Season: What Has Gone Wrong?
This has been a miserable season for the Rams so far, as they have dropped to the bottom of the NFC West division and are also circling the drain in the NFC Conference. Early matches in the regular season produced a disappointing return of three wins and three defeats, with heavy reverses against the Bills, 49ers and Cowboys having a sobering effect on fans after the Super Bowl triumph of the spring.
It was to get worse though, with a run of straight defeats during October and November that left them bottom of their division. It is an astonishing collapse in fortunes that has a lot of fans and pundits pointing the finger in various directions.
Not only is their record in 2022 so far practically unheard of among teams defending the Super Bowl, it is uncharted territory for the Rams under Sean McVay. The young coach turned the team from serial losers into regular competitors for the play-offs, before landing them the biggest prize last season – no one thinks he has suddenly become a bad coach.
Major Squad and Backroom Losses
If McVay is not the problem, what is? Well for one thing the Rams lost some key players from the squad this summer. Darious Williams, Von Miller, Austin Corbett and Andrew Whitworth all left and they were really important players in getting them to the Super Bowl last season.
They also suffered heavy losses on the coaching side. The departures of Kevin O’Connell, Wes Phillips, Marcus Dixon, Ejiro Evero among countless others left McVay with far less support than he had in the past.
Looking at both the playing squad and backroom team exits, it is possible that more pundits should have seen their 2022 nightmare coming. There have been other problems too.
The Injury Issue
There is no question that the Rams have been pretty unlucky when it comes to injuries this year. That is especially true when it comes to offense, with the concussion suffered by quarterback Matthew Stafford being the latest example.
He is a really vital player for the team, but his absence is not the biggest hammer blow to strike the Rams chances in 2022. That has to be the injury to Cooper Kupp.
The wide receiver picked up a serious ankle injury in the week 10 defeat to the Cardinals that has ended his season. His central importance to the Rams led some observers to say that they could not retain the Super Bowl without him.
The truth of that is now clear to pretty much everyone. Again, it is not the sole reason for the disastrous season, but it is another major contributory factor among many.
Draft Failure
Perhaps the last of the reasons for the dire performance was the draft. Once again they approached it aggressively and did not manage to secure the depth of quality needed – notably in offense.
They have no other wide receivers or quarterbacks of the standard of Kupp and Stafford, leaving them adrift in an NFL where the passing game is paramount. They also chose not to re-sign good players who were available as free agents.
It represents an across-the-board failure that looks like they did everything they could to sabotage their chances of a second successive Super Bowl.
At this point, their odds of progressing beyond the regular season stand at around 1 percent, meaning that the 2022 season has to be regarded as a write-off. Too many games have been lost, including crucial matches like the early November clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It is a big letdown for Rams fans after the highs of last season, but the NFL is known for producing unpredictable outcomes. That is what keeps people watching.
For the LA Rams it is all about getting through to the end of this season and then taking stock before the next one. A lot will have to change to avoid the same sort of disappointment.