In the Rams’ last two seasons combined, they lost 11 games. This year alone, they’ve dropped 10 of their first 14 games, tying the NFL record for the most losses ever by a defending Super Bowl champion.
No one saw this type of season coming from the Rams. They looked like they were set up for another deep playoff run before the season began, even after losing players such as Von Miller, Darious Williams, Austin Corbett and Andrew Whitworth. But everything that could go wrong for the Rams, has.
After losing to the Packers on Monday night and falling to 4-10, the Rams were officially eliminated from playoff contention. Toward the end of his press conference, Sean McVay was asked if he could’ve imagined the Rams would be where they are today after winning the Super Bowl.
“I think it’s hard to say that you could. You certainly can’t, but this is the reality we’re in,” he said. “This is where we’re at. There’s a lot of things that when you look at it, especially when you get a chance to step back after the season’s over, all right, how do we try to avoid some of these things? My job is to focus on, let’s finish up the season with the right competitive spirit, with the mindset and mentality that’s reflective of who those guys are in the locker room and who those coaches are and that’s what we’ll do. There’s been a lot of things that I’ve thought about that I think you can make sense of why you’ve gotten here, but it still doesn’t make it any easier and it’s a very humbling season, for sure.”
Among the many factors that have negatively impacted the Rams this year are the injuries to their offensive line, the departure of Miller, the retirement of Whitworth, Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp going down, and then losing Aaron Donald for three-plus games to top it off.
Again, anything that could’ve gone wrong has gone wrong. It’s been a miserable season in Los Angeles, but there is a saving grace: the ring they won 10 months ago. No one can take that away from them.