Los Angeles Rams fans went into the 2022 NFL regular season full of high hopes for another run at a Super Bowl title. Fans of the Rams were confident their team could become the first side since the 2004 New England Patriots to win back-to-back Super Bowls. However, as the regular season reaches the halfway stage, the Los Angeles Rams are struggling to look like playoff contenders, never mind looking like they will get their hands on the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The Rams reached the 2018 Super Bowl in what was Sean McVay’s second season as head coach. Three years later, McVay guided the Los Angeles Rams to another Super Bowl after enjoying a 2-5 season. They went on to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 at their SoFi Stadium home ground. The Rams looked superb during the 2021 season and were unplayable at times, which is the main reason all the sites offering Super Bowl betting online had the Rams as one of the favorites to win this season’s Super Bowl. How wrong those predictions look now. What has gone wrong for the Rams in such a short space of time?
Sacrificing Longevity for Short-Term Gain 
General Manager Les Snead has a reputation for making big plays regarding signing players. You look like a genius when you throw your weight behind one or two key transactions, and it works out. However, you look like a chump when it does not go to plan.
Snead pulled off a mega transfer in 2021 when he convinced quarterback Matthew Stafford to leave the Detroit Lions and join the Rams after 12 seasons in Detroit. The Rams traded quarterback Jared Goff as part of the deal, having signed Goff to a four-year $134 million contract extension a couple of months after reaching the 2018 Super Bowl. The Rams gave the Lions a third-round draft pick in 2021 and two first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.
The Stafford trade worked out because he was instrumental in helping the Los Angeles Rams become Super Bowl champions during his debut season. However, the lack of draft picks in subsequent years has left the Rams’ roster short of depth, and that lack of depth is showing.
Rams also traded draft picks for Sony Michel, who has since left to play for the Los Angeles Chargers. It was a similar story with all-world linebacker Von Miller, who helped the Rams become Super Bowl champions but now plays for the Buffalo Bills. More recently, the Rams offered two first-round picks and a second-rounder to the Carolina Panthers for defensive end Brian Burns. They did not get their man, but the Rams’ willingness to trade future stars for ready-made talent is shortsighted at best.
The Constant Rotation of Coaching Staff
Every post and pre-season, the Los Angeles Rams scramble to hire coaches to fill the gaps left by old staff leaving for new pastures. This was the case again this year with offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell left to join the Minnesota Vikings as head coach. Chris O’Hara, and Wes Phillips, key men to the Rams’ coaching staff, also left for the Vikings to work with O’Connell.
The Rams replaced O’Connell with Liam Coen, who spent a solitary year as offensive coordinator for the Kentucky Wildcats, and promoted several other personnel to more prominent roles.
A lack of consistency in the coaching staff, coupled with a severe lack of a long-term plan, instead relying on ready-made stars, is beginning to hurt the Rams. The offense needs to score more points, which is lacking this season, despite awarding Stafford a $160 million four-year contract extension. Stafford has been sacked 24 times in seven games, the most of any quarterback in the league; he was only sacked 30 times in 17 games last season. The Rams need to protect their star man so he can do what he does best: feed his talented wide receivers. It makes you wonder if any of the early-round picks the Rams gave up could do a better job than the current offensive line.