How The LA Rams Became Super Bowl Champions

from 2005 to 2016 the rams were consistently one of the worst teams in nfl failing to reach the playoffs a single time during this period every year they had a great draft pick but just couldn't seem to land the difference makers needed to get them over the hump so with a change in philosophy and an offensive genius running the show the rams decided to rely on free agency and trading their draft picks for proven veteran players who would instantly upgrade their roster ultimately leading them to win a super bowl 56 here is the timeline of how the los angeles rams became super bowl champions it all started in 2016 when the rams decided to move back to los angeles and were looking to get away from their recent struggles in st louis and just days before the 2016 nfl draft the rams traded up to the number one overall pick giving up a kings ransom in the process to draft their future franchise quarterback jared goff going into the season the rams will be featured on hbo's hard knocks where we got to see a behind the scenes look at the team and witnessed the development of jared goff first hand shockingly though case keenum would initially be named a starter and would do so until week 11 when head coach jeff fisher decided to bench him in favor of jared goff fast forward to the end of the season when the rams had the worst scoring offense in the entire nfl and decided enough was enough finally firing long-time head coach jeff fisher who had a terrible 31-45 record with the rams in five seasons the time was right and the only bright spot of the entire 2016 season was that aaron donald has cemented himself as a force in the nfl being named the first team all pro for the second straight season [Music] [Music] on january 12th of 2017 the rams found their guy when they named the 30-year-old washington redskins offensive coordinator sean mcvader new head coach the rams were so thrilled about hiring sean mcvay that they didn't even fulfill their interview that was still scheduled with falcon's offensive coordinator kyle shanahan who have been considered the favorite to land the job since jeff fisher was fired in late december the 2017 offseason was a pivotal step for the rams to rebuild the roster that hadn't had a winning season since 2003 to start they traded two players during free agency sending defensive end william hayes to the dolphins and former number two overall pick greg robinson to the lions receiving a six-round pick in return for both players during free agency the la rams were big spenders signing a combined 90 million dollars in contracts bolstering their offensive line defensive backfield and adding some weapons for their young franchise quarterback jared goff going into the draft the rams still had quite a few positions of need that they didn't address during free agency wide receiver was one that stood out even though they had just signed robert woods they still needed to add at least two more to the roster and they did just that when they drafted cooper cup and josh reynolds in back-to-back rounds next up was safety after the team let tj mcdonald walk in free agency they filled his shoes instantly when they selected john johnson iii 91st overall during training camp the rams traded cornerback ej gaines in the 2018 second round pick to the buffalo bills for wide receiver sammy watkins and a 2018 six-round pick at the time sami watkins was seen as a player who had not yet reached his full potential as he had been dealing with nagging injuries so far in his career and sean mcvay and the la rams were just hoping that he could stay healthy before the start of the 2017 season experts were predicting an uptick in production from the rams offense due to the offensive prowess of new head coach sean mcvay almost all expectations for the team were centered around how the development of jared goff went in year two ultimately the rams finished the regular season 11-5 winning the division by two games and making the playoffs for the first time since 2004. in the playoffs the rams will face off against the atlanta falcons in the wild card round as the falcons were looking to get back to the super bowl to avenge their 25 point collapse against the new england patriots the year prior unfortunately for the rams they will go on to lose 13-26 starting their offseason early this time with a little momentum and motivation [Music] coming off of a tough loss in the playoffs sean mcveigh and the la rams had one thing in mind for the off-season and that was to get better by any means necessary they started the off-season with a bang increasing their trade total for the last 12 months to 10 with the additions of a key to lead marcus peters and brandon cooks they also departed from players like tavon austin robert quinn and alec overtree who were key contributors in the team making the playoffs during free agency the rams decided to make a splash by pairing defensive tackle and damokong soo and aaron donald creating one of the scariest defensive lines of all time the 2018 nfl draft was the year the rams decided to change their drafting philosophy switching to a best player available approach since they didn't have any glaring needs that they thought could be filled by later round rookies who usually need a year or two of development at the start of the 2018 season the rams were almost unanimously expected to take another massive leap to become one of the best teams in the nfl the strength of their team was in the trenches with their dominant defensive line stopping the run and their offensive line allowing todd gurley to absolutely dominate the rams started the season on a tear winning eight straight games and scoring 30 or more points and six of them and on the 30th of october the rams decided they need a boost in the past rushing department and decided to make yet another trade this time with the jacksonville jaguars for dante fowler jr giving up a third and a fifth round pick the rams close out the 2018 regular season by going five and three over the last nine weeks finishing the season 13-3 winning their division again and marching their way into the playoffs as the number two seed in the nfc on the second anniversary of his hiring as the la rams head coach sean mcveigh won his first career playoff game when the rams dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage to defeat the dallas cowboys and advance to the nfc championship for the 10th time in franchise history in the conference championship the following week the rams would outlast the saints in a nail-biting overtime game that was decided by a game-winning field goal to advance the super bowl 53 and arguably the most boring super bowl of all time the rams were completely outmatched by bill belichick and tom brady losing 3-13 this was a tough loss for the rams who were absolutely dominant team all season as the number one offense in the entire nfl [Music] after reaching the super bowl and just our second season under head coach sean mcvay the rams front office was all in and were willing to do whatever was necessary to get back there so much so that when free agency came around they let many of their players walk in order to maintain cap flexibility which led them to sign veteran safety eric weddle from the ravens and at the time this transaction was seen as one of the best of the entire free agency period as he was an instinctive player who would make the entire back half of the rams defense better next season after free agency the rams had a tremendous need for interior offensive linemen and cornerbacks but for some reason they decided not to address those needs in the draft utilizing the best player available approach instead to start the 2019 season the rams dealt with some adversity as for the first time under sean mcvay the rams had a losing record after six games mainly due to injuries and a lack of depth to replace those players after years of trading draft picks and solid death players so what did the rams do they made a trade and on october 15 2019 the rams decided enough was enough and called up the cleveland browns in order to bolster their interior offensive line by training for former second round pick austin corbett who was immediately inserted into the starting lineup at left guard later that day the rams decided to trade marcus peters to the baltimore ravens who were having a magical season with lamar jackson taking the lead by storm but the real story was how everyone was confused on why the rams would trade away the ball hawking peters who was having a historic season in terms of interceptions and while everyone was wondering why the rams traded marcus peters for a ham sandwich adam schefter hit us with this an absolute stunner to the nfl world but this wasn't the end a week later the rams decided it was time to cut ties with another cornerback this time it was the agent of keeb to leave who was well past this crime and was seen as a capped casualty besides the rams needed to pay jalen ramsey anyway fast forward to the end of the season when the rams failed to make the playoffs and were beginning to lose faith in their offensive stars gurley ever bounced back from his long time knee ailment is jared goff good enough to be the quarterback to take us back to the super bowl these were the questions the rams faced going into the 2020 off season [Music] after a season where the rams failed to reach the playoffs for the first time under sean mcvay the rams knew they needed to make some changes and quickly so the first order of business was trading brandon cooks to the houston texans a player who was no longer needed due to the ascension of a young cooper cup in free agency the rams worked to bolster the defensive line by providing defensive tackle aaron donald with some much needed help in defending the run after releasing tigerly the rams had a huge hole at the running back position and they needed an immediate replacement and cam makers somehow fell right into their laps in the second round they also added players like jordan fuller and van jefferson who were seen as some of the best value picks of the entire draft shockingly the 2020 season was all about defense for the rams as they harassed opposing quarterbacks with a plethora of pass rushers but one thing that seemed to plague them all season was the horrendous play from quarterback jared goff who were suffering through a thumb injury and have become an extremely inconsistent quarterback due to not being able to grip the ball properly this created some conflict between the team and jared goff because they wanted to bench him but golf insisted on playing through it due to the stellar play of the defense for the rams they still managed to make the playoffs earning a wild card birth and a trip to seattle to face off against russell wilson and the seahawks a dominant performance by the nfl's number one ranked defense and a breakout performance by rookie running back cam akers the rams were able to upset the number three seeded seahawks and advance to the divisional round unfortunately they had to travel to green bay to face the top-seeded packers who played mistake-free football and turned to raider rams to advance to the nfc championship game controlling the line of scrimmage all game against the top ranked rams defense [Music] [Music] almost immediately after the season ended the la rams pulled off another blockbuster trade when they decided to send former number one overall pick jared goff to the detroit lions for matthew stafford a quarterback who had been suffering in detroit his entire career with a new quarterback the rams went into the off-season feeling on top of the world now with a proven quarterback sean mcvay felt like he could completely open up his playbook and allowed his receivers to use their full abilities to get open downfield which was staffers specialty at this point the rams had become known for trading players for late round picks and this off season was no different when they sent long time defensive end michael brockers to the detroit lions right along with jared goff it was kind of funny because michael brockers was talking smack about jared when he was traded in the 2021 nfl draft the rams made a lot of head scratching selections drafting players well above their expected rounds and even taking players most teams wouldn't have even drafted going into the 2021 season the los angeles rams were seen as the team to beat returning all but two defensive starters and upgrading at the quarterback position allowing the offensive mind of sean mcvay to run at his peak performance and on october 25th the rams decided to make another trade sending kenny young for yet another late round pick but what would happen just a week later really changed the game on november 1st 2021 the denver broncos decided to trade future hall of famer von miller to the la rams for a second round pick this was a huge addition to the rams defense as it created a dangerous pairing of aaron donald and von miller but the rams didn't stop there and after being released by the cleveland browns a week prior on november 12 2021 odell beckham jr decided to sign a one-year deal with the la rams at this point the la rams had officially assembled a super team and were seen as the favorites to win the super bowl by the end of the season the rams were just creating chemistry with their new additions for the playoffs odell beckham and vaughn miller were fitting in nicely and have begun to insert themselves as vocal leaders to kick off the 2021 playoffs the rams hosted the first ever playoff game on monday night football in this wild card game the rams thoroughly dominated their nfc west rival the arizona cardinals in the first ever postseason game held at sofie stadium next up was the divisional round against the defending super bowl champion tampa bay buccaneers in this game the rams got off to an earth but it seems as though they became satisfied and had allowed the buccaneers to storm back having to kick a game-winning field goal to advance to the conference championship the rams came out sluggish making tons of mistakes to start off this game against the 49ers allowing them to score 17 straight points without answering but a late game rally allowed them to take the lead and advance the super bowl 56 the rams have finally got their opportunity to avenge super bowl 53 and with all eyes on them they didn't disappoint it was a hard fought game against the cincinnati bengals who weren't going away easy but in the fourth quarter it was the cooper cup show after obj was officially ruled out of the game the rams won the super bowl 23-20 and have finally became world champions up until this point in nfl history most super bowl teams were built through the draft and many teams felt it was impossible to do it any other way but the rams prove to the rest of the league that it is possible leading us to question who's next [Music] you

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Id: 1NFMJb5Bv8E

Length: 15min 37sec (937 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 01 2022