LA Rams already fixed 2 of 5 items on 2022 punch list

If and when the LA Rams roster is at full strength, the team is always very good. That has been the case for the past five seasons, ever since the organization hired head coach Sean McVay to lead the team. Since that time, the LA Rams have never had a losing season, and always seem to be in the hunt for a playoff berth, and more.

The trick for the team, and therefore, the front office, has been how to keep the LA Rams roster healthy?  That has been a bit of an enigma because some of the highest levels of NFL athleticism do not always translate into durability. One more balancing act for the LA Rams front office to walk a tightrope across? Yeah, that about sums it up.

The team’s roster was not at full strength often throughout the 2021 NFL season. In fact, the Rams were not only not at full strength for Super Bowl LVI, they weren’t even close. Entering the game, the LA Rams were down one key offensive player, starting wide receiver Robert Woods, and then another starter, tight end Tyler Higbee was unable to go.

Rams roster needs …reworked?

The team was without backup tight end Johnny Mundt, backup running backs Xavier Jones and Raymond Calais, and had just gotten running back Cam Akers off injured reserve after an Achilles Tendon tear six months earlier. The LA Rams offense depends upon either a strong running game or a trio of viable receivers, to truly make it truly work. The Rams soon lost the option for either in the first half.

With just 3:54 left in the first half, the Rams lost Odell Beckham Jr. to a knee injury. Until that point, OBJ had caught two of three passes for 52 yards and one touchdown. But with his injury, the Rams’ offense was unable to score consistently for the rest of the game.

The defense tried to keep the Rams in it and was rather successful at doing so. But the offense was all but spent by the end of that game.  Considering that the offense was the focus of the team’s offseason resources, it was a bit fortunate for the team that the season ended where it did. An NFL Championship victory? Yes. But a finish on fumes.