NFL Analysis Network

Rams Make Brutal NFL History Following Week 13 Loss

The Los Angeles Rams’ tumultuous season continued in Week 13 as they were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks 27-23. This looks nothing like the team that won the Super Bowl in February as the Rams have struggled mightily in every facet of the game this season.

The loss to the Seahawks drops their record to 3-9 on the season as the playoffs will not be in their future. According to the NFL on CBS Twitter account, the Rams are setting history, but not in a good way. That is the worst start for a reigning Super Bowl champion in NFL history.

Usually, when a team struggles to this extent, the franchise can at least take some solace in the fact that they will be receiving a very high selection in the next draft. Alas, that is not the case for the Rams, who traded their 2023 first-round pick as part of the package to acquire Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions during the 2021 offseason.

Detroit is loving all of the losses that the Rams are enduring as it means that they could have two top-10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. For a team on the up-and-up such as Detroit, that could help push them to that next level should they be able to hit on their selections.

Everything that could have gone wrong for the Rams this season has gone wrong. Their struggles offensively stem from the inability of the offensive line to block anyone. The loss of Andrew Whitworth to retirement was the first domino that set this unit back.

The backfield has been a disaster as Cam Akers still lacks the explosion he showed before an Achilles injury during the 2021 season. Darrell Henderson was eventually released as well after some ineffective performances. Their anemic rushing game put a ton of pressure on Stafford, who was unable to pick the team up.

Stafford was beaten and battered throughout the season and is now on IR after suffering his second concussion. His inability to develop chemistry with any pass catcher outside of Cooper Kupp also didn’t help as the signing of Allen Robinson in free agency did nothing to perk this offense up.

Losing offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, who was hired by the Minnesota Vikings to be their head coach, certainly plays a part. It is the third straight year that Sean McVay made a change to his coordinator spots as Wade Phillips was replaced in 2020 by Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator and O’Connell was named offensive coordinator after the Rams didn’t have one in 2018 and 2019.

Staley was hired away to become head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers after one season on the job and was replaced by Raheem Morris. The constant changing to the coaching staff certainly is tough to overcome, but the problems that the Rams are facing are much deeper than the people calling the plays as they just don’t have the talent at some positions to keep up.

With Stafford, Kupp and Aaron Donald headlining the injuries the team is currently dealing with, the Rams could very well set the record for the worst record in NFL history by a reigning Super Bowl champion.

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