Just 10 months ago, the Los Angeles Rams were on top of the sports world. The Rams just won Super Bowl LVI in their home stadium, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. After years of being close, Sean McVay's team finally made it to the NFL's summit.
Now, though, that Super Bowl victory looks like an age ago. The Rams have been a shell of their former selves this season, looking almost unrecognizable from last season.
With their loss to the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, Los Angeles is officially out of playoff contention. The Rams now join an undesirable group of teams to miss the playoffs and finish with a losing record after winning the Super Bowl. They are the first defending champion to miss the playoffs since the 2016 Denver Broncos and the first to finish with a losing record since the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Somehow, it still gets worse for Los Angeles. At 4-10, the Rams have already tied the record for most losses by a defending champion. With three games to go, it is nearly certain that the Rams will break that undesirable record.
It's easy to say that the Rams are experiencing the worst Super Bowl hangover ever. However, a few previous teams give them a run for their money. Let's go over the three worst Super Bowl hangovers in NFL history.
3. 1987 New York Giants
The 1986 Giants were an absolute wagon, and arguably one of the greatest teams in league history. Behind league MVP Lawrence Taylor and quarterback Phil Simms, the Giants finished the regular season with a 14-2 record, then steamrolled San Francisco and Washington in the playoffs. Bill Parcels and the Giants then capped off their amazing season by defeating the Denver Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI.
By contrast, the 1987 Giants were a mess. New York lost its first five games of the season, becoming the first defending champion to do so. The Giants were never able to recover, finishing with a 6-9 record and missing the playoffs.
Taylor was the team's only Pro-Bowler, after the team had eight the year before. This was also the first season where the Giants missed the playoffs and finished last in the NFC East since 1983.
Fortunately for the Giants, this season proved to be an outlier. Over the following three seasons, New York racked up a 35-13 record, winning the division in 1989 and 1990. They then capped off that run with a win over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV, Parcels' final game in New York.
2. 1999 Denver Broncos
In 1997 and 1998, the Broncos dominated the league. Denver compiled a 26-6 record across both seasons and won Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII. After getting so close so many times, legendary quarterback John Elway capped off his career with back-to-back titles to cement his legacy.
In 1999, though, Denver greatly struggled to adjust to life without Elway. Denver stumbled out of the gate by losing its first four games, made even worse by 1998 MVP Terrell Davis suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 4. The Broncos never recovered from their poor start, finishing last in the AFC West with a 6-10 record.
The Broncos recorded their first losing season since 1994, and the worst-ever record by a defending champion in a full season. The only defending champion with a worse record was the 1982 San Francisco 49ers, who finished 3-6-1 in a strike-shortened season. For years, the 1999 Broncos were arguably the worst defending Super Bowl champion ever.
1. 2022 Los Angeles Rams
The 2021 Rams showed the benefits of going all-in. Los Angeles brought in star after star, including quarterback Matthew Stafford before the season and pass rusher Von Miller at the trade deadline. That new talent, combined with old stalwarts including Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp, fueled the Rams to a 12-5 season.
In the playoffs, the Rams smoked the Cardinals in the Wild Card round, survived the Buccaneers' furious comeback in the Divisional round, and came back to beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. They then capped off their amazing run with a nail-biting victory by upending the upstart Bengals in the Super Bowl. By winning it all, the Rams proved that teams can win by acquiring proven players and forgoing draft picks.
On the other hand, the 2022 Rams are showing the drawbacks of going all-in. Los Angeles lost many key players in the offseason, including Miller, Odell Beckham Jr., and Andrew Whitworth. Despite bringing in big-name players like Bobby Wagner and Allen Robinson, the losses are proving to be too great.
Los Angeles got off to a 2-1 start, but quickly fell apart soon after. The Rams lost six straight games from Week 8 to Week 13, with some coming in blowouts. Devastating injuries to Stafford, Kupp, and others only exacerbated their struggles.
Arguably the worst part is that the Rams don't even have their first-round pick. They traded it to the Lions as part of the Stafford trade, assuming they would still be a contender. Now, they are giving a surefire top-five pick to Detroit in a twist of fate.
Regardless of the cause, the Rams' title defense fell apart remarkably quickly. It's difficult to argue that they aren't experiencing the worst Super Bowl hangover of all time.