Do 2022 LA Rams have worst Super Bowl hangover ever?

Other noteworthy Super Bowl hangover teams

While three teams to make this list were all NFC teams, there have been plenty of AFC teams who fell from stud to dud over the years as well:

1981 Oakland Raiders

This hangover worked out for the Raiders – after going 7-9 the year following a Super Bowl win, the team was able to draft Hall of Famer running back Marcus Allen. By 1983, the franchise was back on top, winning it all as the Los Angeles Raiders. But that 7-9 season was far worse than the record shows.

Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett was the hero of the ’80 Raiders, sneaking into the lineup mid-season and winning Super Bowl MVP. After a solid 2-1 start in 1981, Plunkett’s offense was shut out for three straight games. Backup quarterback Marc Wilson quickly replaced him, but the team still led the league in interceptions thrown with 28.

1970 Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson and the Chiefs proved that the Jets’ title a year prior wasn’t a fluke, and the former AFL teams weren’t all that behind the “superior” teams of the NFL. In the last game before the merger, the Chiefs beat the heavily-favored Vikings 23-7. After a slow start to the next season, the Chiefs let go of their star running back Miles Garrett and careened to a 7-5-2 record, four wins down from the year before. They only made the playoffs twice throughout the two decades of the 1970s-80s and didn’t win a playoff game until 1991.

1982 San Francisco 49ers

A year after first-year 49ers starting quarterback Joe Montana led the team to 13 wins and the franchise’s first Super Bowl win, the 1982 season was cut short due to a players’ strike. The NFL season only had 9 games and the Niners only managed to win three. Especially embarrassing was their 0-5 home record. Montana shined statistically and the team eventually bounced back, staying above .500 for the next 17 seasons and winning three more titles with Montana at quarterback.

2022 Los Angeles Rams – Can They Stay Off This List?

A year after winning it all, the LA Rams are already 2.5 games behind the surprising Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West Division lead and stuck amongst a crowded group of 3- and 4-win teams hoping for the third and final Wild Card berth for the postseason. The team didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline, missing out on a few (probably frustrating and injury-riddled) seasons of new San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.

Wide receiver Allen Robinson looked like he was finally showing up as a quality second receiver until a 24-yard dud in last Sunday’s loss against the Buccaneers. While the Rams’ defense was the one saving grace the first few weeks, even it couldn’t keep the equally disappointing Buccaneers offense scoreless in the last game’s closing minute. Stafford looks bad, picking up from where he left off last regular season and throwing far too many interceptions. But with no running game to speak of, an ever-changing offensive line, and WR Cooper Kupp seemingly the team’s only option, what chance does he have?

For all intents and purposes, this season is probably over. Tanking’s not an option, as the team bartered their future for a title in the form of trading first-round draft picks for Matthew Stafford. The ideal situation is to win six to eight games, regroup and get healthy, don’t let their four core players (Stafford, Kupp, CB Jalen Ramsey, and DT Aaron Donald) demand a trade, and bounce back next year – not unlike the Raiders and Niners of the 1980s.