What did LA Rams learn from Super Bowl LVI for next SB win?

LA Rams liabilities

It seems almost impossible for the LA Rams rushing offense to have fallen from being a strength and point of confidence for the team in the 2020 NFL season and subsequent playoffs to a point of concern and filled with questions after the 2021 NFL season and subsequent playoffs, but here we are.

In the post-season, the LA Rams rushed 120 times for 326 yards and one touchdown. In half as many games the previous year, the offense rushed 62 times for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Some may simply gloss over the lack of competent running

The challenge of interpreting the results of the Rams’ running attack from Super Bowl LVI is not in what happened, but what was the underlying cause? The Rams rushed 23 times for 43 yards. While that may be ‘good enough,’ to win a game, it’s not the type of rushing performance that will keep defenses honest going forward.

Diagnostics of Rams rushing shortcoming could be problematic

Now the Rams must diagnose and address whether it was poor run blocking? Was it just a matter of a rusty Cam Akers? Or is it something more fundamentally wrong, and the Rams may need to reload the running back room with fresh legs for 2022?

The problem is that the LA Rams abandoned their commitment (and modest success) at running the ball with veteran RB Sony Michel. If the intent of that shift was to determine how effectively Cam Akers could run the ball going forward after suffering a devastating Achilles Tendon injury, then the Rams brain trust now faces a dilemma. The Rams rushing for 2022 will depend heavily upon how the injuries to players like Akers, Darrell Henderson Jr., Jake Funk, Raymond Calais, and even Xavier Jones can be rehabbed.

The Rams need a moderately successful running game at a minimum going forward. Now, the question is, what do they need to do to achieve that for next season?