SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California) – Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams compared his team’s latest surprising setback — this one an 18-16 heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals — to being stuck in a pouring rain in sunny Southern California.
“You’re either in the storm, coming out of the storm or going into the storm,” Williams said after the Cardinals stormed SoFi Stadium after Chad Ryland’s game-winning field goal at the buzzer. “Right now, we’re in the middle of a storm. It’s raining. It’s not shining at all. That’s why we have to keep working.”
Yes, it rains from time to time in Southern California, and the Rams haven’t been able to avoid puddle-sized raindrops since the team’s disastrous and botched trip to Australia to start the year.
The heavy favorite to start the year, earning the moniker “Dream Team” due to successful offseason trades for Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie (both of whom didn’t play Sunday due to injury), the Rams have stumbled embarrassingly out of the gate to a 2-4 record.
And the Rams have now joined a list no team with title aspirations wants to be on. Los Angeles is the fifth outright preseason Super Bowl favorite with a six-game losing streak in the past 50 seasons, joining the 2015 Seahawks, 2002 Rams, 1999 Vikings and 1987 Giants, according to FOX Sports Research.
Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay will try not to do what the 2002 Rams did, which is miss the playoffs after entering the year as Super Bowl favorites. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
None of those previous four teams reached a conference championship game and, of course, the Rams will try not to join them. But for that to happen, the team will have to go through some extensive soul searching as they prepare to face the Las Vegas Raiders on the road next week.
Rams coach Sean McVay knew this would be one of the toughest coaching jobs of his career. He has been adept at leading teams with big personalities in past years, including a Super Bowl-winning team that included Von Miller, Odell Beckham Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Eric Weddle.
Like those teams, McVay has had to manage big names like Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald this season. But this year, McVay has struggled to bring it all together and make those sensational personalities play with passion and to their full potential.
And McVay knows it too.
“I’ve got to do a better job and figure out how we set guys up,” Rams coach Sean McVay said after Sunday’s loss. “But we’ve had some really critical mistakes at some really unfortunate moments. That’s what our narrative has been this year. And we can’t keep saying we haven’t done it before, because this year we’re doing it.
“We have to be able to fix it. And it’s my job to do that.”
This part of the schedule was supposed to be the easy stretch for Los Angeles. After a rough five weeks to open the year, Weeks 6-10 consisted of facing the Cardinals twice to go along with games against the Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders.
But as it stands, with the Rams stubbing their toe on offense with untimely penalties, uncharacteristic mistakes, unforced errors and turnovers, they’ll be lucky to beat any of those teams.
“It’s definitely a reality check,” Blake Corum said. “But we know we’re good. We know we’ve got the guys. We know we’ve got the culture. We know we’ve got the team. But, like Coach (McVay) said, it’s time to get back to work. We’ve got to watch this film and see where things aren’t aligned and then fix those things.”
The problem is that this team, considered the best in the NFL, is struggling to compete against bad teams. The Cardinals are playing for draft position and the right to take a franchise quarterback next April. Their only other win this season is against the other team from LA: the Chargers, who are one of two teams remaining winless after Sunday’s games.
New Arizona coach Mike LaFleur now has more wins at SoFi Stadium (2-0) this season than both teams in Los Angeles (the Rams and Chargers have a combined win at SoFi Stadium this season). But he and the Cardinals have struggled outside of Southern California. They entered Sunday’s contest with the worst scoring defense in the league, but held the Rams to 286 total yards and 16 points after Los Angeles also failed to convert on both of its fourth down attempts.
“We’ve got to go out there and grind and we’ve got to stop hurting ourselves,” center Coleman Shelton told me. “You can’t go out there and play against two teams every time we play a game. We can’t play against them and against ourselves. We have to be a team and work and do our best to put ourselves in the right position.”
“I think it’s a bunch of things,” Colby Parkinson told me when I asked about unforced errors. “The lack of focus is definitely at the top. But we have to be more aware, play inside and play outside, just focusing on one game. I think as a whole we can all do better in that.”
Special teams were once again a problem for Los Angeles. Junior running back Blake Grupe made a 44-yard field goal to start the game, but on the ensuing kickoff, the Rams gave up another big return and Grupe had to fumble, injuring his knee.
Grupe’s leg was on a post in the locker room afterward, and Los Angeles had to use punter Ethan Evans on field goals and punts. Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett served as pallbearer. Because of the injury, McVay went for a two-point conversion on Corum’s 15-yard touchdown in the first half, which led to Matthew Stafford absorbing a wild, blindside hit from Arizona tight end Josh Sweat that set off a fumble.
Speaking of Stafford, he completed 25 of 32 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Meanwhile, Kyren Williams had just 10 carries for 50 yards. Still, Williams played 71.4% of the offensive snaps, but he still suggested he would have liked to be more involved in the offense.
Asked why his team’s offensive energy was inconsistent, Williams said bluntly: “I can’t tell you. Maybe it’s because I’m not there.”
Williams’ comment and apparent jab at his coach quickly gained traction on social networks after Sunday’s game, but he’s still bought in to turn things around. McVay and the Rams can take solace in the fact that they’ve been here before. They started 1-4 in 2024 and finished 10-7, making the playoffs. A year ago, they started 3-6 and finished 10-7, reaching the postseason after going 5-12 in 2022.
“You use this adversity for moments in the future that will allow us to be who we want to be,” Williams said. “You go through things in life so that helps you grow. When you’re uncomfortable, that’s where the real growth happens. So right now, obviously we’re uncomfortable with where we are in the standings and losing these games.
“But here we have to dig deep, have the faith that we know we have and keep working. The work works. And believe in the work.”
