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St Louis Rams
Colours: Blue and gold
Mascot: Rampage
Stadium: Edward Jones Dome
Home City: St Louis, Missouri
Super Bowl wins: 1 (3 appearances)
Records over last 5 years: 24 wins, 55 losses, 1 tie, 0 playoff appearances
Best Players: Robert Quinn, Jonny Hekker, Chris Long
Bio: At the turn of the century, the St Louis Rams were the most talented offensive team in football. Nicknamed the “Greatest Show on Turf”, the team won Super Bowl XXXIV on the back of the talents of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torrey Holt; all legitimate hall of fame caliber players.
Fortunes changed quickly for the Rams, however. After their latest Super Bowl appearance in 2001, St Louis has missed out on the playoffs in 10 of the 12 seasons. Their current 9 year playoff drought is the third worst in the league, and in the past seven years they haven’t even come close.
The Rams, however, seem to be followed by bad luck. Between 2007-2009, St Louis won only 5 games. They were the laughing stock of the NFL, even though they played in the NFC West, which was widely considered to be the weakest division in football.
Recently however, and certainly in the last two years, the Rams have improved immensely. They have a ferocious pass rush, dynamic receivers and one of the youngest rosters in the league. They also have the second overall pick in this year’s draft thanks to a trade with the Washington Redskins in 2012. Everything about them is promising.
The problem, though, is that now the NFC West is no longer the weakest division in football. Now, it is almost certainly the strongest. Seattle and San Francisco lead the division, with San Francisco having made the Super Bowl last year and Seattle appearing in it this year. Behind them are the Cardinals, a team that would probably have won half of the divisions in the NFL this past season but who didn’t even make the playoffs because of the strength of the NFC West.
Behind these teams, the Rams don’t stand much of a chance. They have a talented roster, but no team in the NFL has a harder path to the playoffs each and every year for the foreseeable future.
