The Rams Were Supposed to Be a Superteam. They're 2-4 and in Last Place.
The Los Angeles Rams were built to win it all. Right now they can't get out of last place.
Arizona beat Los Angeles 18-16 on a 43-yard field goal from Chad Ryland as time expired. Ryland hit all six of his kicks, each worth three points, and that was enough to sink a Rams team that was supposed to cruise through the 2026 season. The Guardian
As of Oct. 19, 2026, the Rams are 2-4 and sit last in the NFC West. They have lost three of their last four games. The division is the NFL's four-team grouping for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Arizona and Seattle, and the first-place finisher earns an automatic playoff spot.
The loss to Arizona stung for another reason. Before that game, Los Angeles had beaten the Cardinals in 16 of their last 19 meetings. This one flipped on discipline and kicking, not fireworks.
The fall is jarring because the expectations were sky-high. Entering the season, the Rams were described as the closest thing the NFL had seen to a superteam in some time, a roster stacked with star talent at almost every spot. They were expected to compete for the Super Bowl.
Oddsmakers agreed. Los Angeles opened as the favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at +550, which means a $100 bet would have paid $550 in profit. In a preseason poll of analysts, the Rams led seven contenders with eight votes to lift the Lombardi Trophy, the championship awarded to the Super Bowl winner. NFL.com Quarterback Matthew Stafford was leading the group when those odds were set.
That status is gone. By Oct. 16, ESPN reported the Rams had slipped to +700 and were no longer the favorites for the first time all season. ESPN Then the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers passed them as outright favorites at +580 ahead of a Monday night game against the Commanders. Fox Sports
The division race has tilted fast, too. The Rams had already fallen three games behind the 49ers in the NFC West standings. They are no longer favored to win the division, with one projection giving them just a seven percent chance.
Head coach Sean McVay did not sugarcoat it after the Cardinals loss. “We won't win a game unless we figure out how not to beat ourselves,” McVay said. NFL.com
What makes this stand out is how the mistakes keep showing up in close games. The film shows a talented roster, but penalties, stalled drives and missed chances have erased that edge. For fans, this means the margin is gone. Los Angeles does not look like a team waiting to flip a switch. It looks like a team that has to fix itself before it can chase anyone.
