In 1999, the St. Louis Rams ruled the NFL. Having defeated the Tennessee Titans in one of the most memorable Super Bowl endings, the Rams lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy. For the four years immediately after that triumph, they made the playoffs and were affectionately as "The Greatest Show on Turf," and with good reason, since they boasted the offensive trio of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, and Isaac Bruce.
The Rams were an impressive offensive force and Mike Martz, head coach of the Rams after Dick Vermeil retired after their 1999 Super Bowl win, led the team to another Super Bowl in 2002. Martz operated a pass-heavy offense that would see the Rams go into the big game against the New England Patriots as 14-point favorites. However, the Rams were humbled by an Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expired, giving the Patriots a 20-17 victory. Even though the Rams went to the playoffs in the next two seasons, that Super Bowl could be seen as a changing of the guard. The Rams, who had been a premiere force for three years, were going to fall by the wayside, whilst the Patriots would go onto become, arguably, the best team of the 2000s.
After the departure of Martz, they hired Scott Linehan has head coach, who had previously held offensive coordinator positions. In his first season in 2006, his team finished 8-8, but it was the next year when the Rams began to go down a slippery slope. In 2007, Linehan's men stumbled to a 3-13 season.
Following that season, the Rams long-time owner Georgia Frontiere died and ownership passed onto her children, Dale "Chip" Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. The duo would announce in early 2009 that they were going to put their majority shares up for sale. Earlier this year, Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-born businessman, expressed his interest in purchasing the team, yet it would be Stan Kroenke, already a minority owner, who would become the owner. The Rams were starting to become stable in the boardroom and this season, under Steve Spagnuolo, has seen them become a better team on the field.
Spagnulo, the mastermind behind the New York Giants defense in their Super Bowl-winning year, took the helm as head coach in 2009. His inaugural season was a disaster, as the team finished 1-15. But with the first draft pick in the 2010 draft, they picked Oklahoma's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Sam Bradford.
After a poor start to the season, which saw the Rams lose their opening two games by just 4 points to the Arizona Cardinals and then 2 points to the Oakland Raiders, the team then had two home games in a row, both of which they won, before going to Detroit and getting hammered by the Lions in their only real embarrassment this season.
By the time they reached their bye week in Week 9, they were 4-4. Since then, they have won one and lost two, leaving them with a 5-6 record, which currently puts them atop of the NFC West. Their home stadium, the Edward Jones Dome, is becoming a difficult place for road teams to visit. Of the six games played there, they have won four of them, but with only two home games remaining this season, they may have to pickup wins on the road to get a playoff berth.
One of the keys to their success is their rookie quarterback, Bradford, who has been in great form. He's passed for 2,466 yards and thrown 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. In the first eight games, he threw 11 TDs, a feat which equalled the previous record by a rookie, which was achieved by Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger. With an improving Danny Amendola to throw to and a reliable Steven Jackson in the backfield, the Rams offense is on the right track.
So, the question is, how far can the Rams go this season? Despite an improving offense, they still make mistakes on both sides of the ball, but they sit in the middle of the pack on most statistics. Furthermore, they are a team in transition and they don't expect to be lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy anytime soon. Having said that, the Rams are in the worst division in the NFL. They host the 49ers in Week 16, which could be crucial, especially since they lost in overtime to them earlier in the season. Their final game is on the road at Seattle and there is a good chance that they will still be in with hunt at that point and a win there could put them in the playoffs.
Expect the Rams to finish the season 8-8 and that should be enough to make the playoffs in a waffle division. Don't, however, expect them to set the world alight in the postseason, but that's not to say they won't advance further.
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