Turf Show Times
Throughout the 2025 postseason, the Los Angeles Rams were the only team to give the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles a challenge. They were in control following the safety at the end of the third quarter. Even after falling behind, the Rams came 14 yards away from kicking an extra point to win.
It’s more complex than “if the Rams would have beaten the Eagles, they would have won the Super Bowl.” However, they were a touchdown away from hosting the NFC Championship Game and would have been favored against the Washington Commanders. Who knows what would have happened in the Super Bowl? NFL games are very matchup dependent. Had the Rams beaten the Eagles, there’s no guarantee that they also beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Multiple things can be true here. The Rams were extremely close to hosting another NFC Championship game. However, this is still a roster that overachieved in a sense. Prior to the season, they were projected to win 8.5 games and were +350 to win the NFC West. They won 10 and clinched the division before Week 18. That’s not a negative, but over the last two years, not many expected the Rams to be where they ended up. The coaching staff has gotten the most out of the roster which still has a lot of needs. Outside of quarterback and special teams positions such as kicker and punter, there arguably is not a position that the Rams don’t need.
Back in 2022, the Rams had a ‘run it back’ mantra. They were going to run it back with a star loaded roster that had a ‘studs and duds’ team-building approach. The result was getting complacent, a misuse of resources, and the worst season under Sean McVay. Run it back with the same roster and the Rams will fall short again. The defense remains void of a top talent in the back seven. The offense still lacks a lot of explosiveness.
Of course, the Rams will bring back some of the same core. Still, it is a roster in a bit of a transition phase. They went from a ‘three pillars’ of Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Aaron Donald to Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, and Jared Verse. Two of those players are on the same timeline.
However, the Rams can’t expect to simply bring back the same players and just hope for a different result next time. At the end of the day, while close, the Rams have fallen short each of the last two years in the postseason. The NFL is forever changing and it’s never as simple as “just running it back” and hoping things go differently. That’s not to say that drastic changes are needed. Young players will certainly continue to develop and improve. With that said, the front office still needs to take steps to get over the hump.
Darious Williams will be another year older at cornerback while Ahkello Witherspoon has been a band-aid on the outside. The Rams...
