Are Los Angeles Rams the NFL’s most disappointing team in 2019?

A year after finishing 13-3, the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams have already lost twice as many games in 2019 and the reasons why are numerous.

A mere 20 years ago, the now-Los Angeles Rams (then St. Louis) won a Super Bowl. And the club sustained some success over the next few years as head coach Mike Martz took over for retiring Dick Vermeil and led the club back to the “Big Game” in 2001. Of course, things didn’t work out as well that year as they were upset by the New England Patriots at the Superdome.

There would eventually be a drought when it came to the franchise as the club went well over a decade without sniffing the postseason. The team returned to Los Angeles in 2016 and enter young head coach Sean McVay one season later. He helped the franchise post its first winning season since 2003 and first postseason appearance since 2004 with an 11-5 record.

A year later, the Rams finished 13-3 and would finish the year in Atlanta in Super Bowl LIII. And things did not go their way on this latest Super Sunday as the team failed to score a touchdown in a 13-3 loss to the Patriots.

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And that hangover in terms of the offense seemingly carried over into this season. Yes, McVay’s club did win its first three games in 2019 and totaled a combined 77 points and eight offensive touchdowns in those victories. But since that undefeated start, the club is a disappointing 5-6 and has won no more than two straight games since.

Last Sunday at Dallas, the Rams were embarrassed by the Cowboys, 44-21. It marked the third game this season in which McVay’s squad allowed at least 44 points. A team that scored 527 points a year ago has managed only 332 points in 14 outings this year.

In 2019, there were 55 offensive touchdowns and 19 turnovers. This year, McVay’s offense has reached the end zone only 34 times and the Rams have given up the ball 23 times, 20 of those by fourth-year quarterback Jared Goff. And a less-than-effective Todd Gurley and a shaky year by a once-impressive offensive line has Los Angeles ranked 24th in rushing this season one year after running for the third-most yards in the league.

Last season, the Los Angeles Rams rode their offense to a conference title as this club allowed 24 points per game but was continually bailed out by Goff and company. In 2019, it’s been a lack of complementary football that has relegated McVay’s team to a third-place spot in the NFC West regardless of what happens on Saturday at San Francisco and next Sunday at home vs. the Cardinals.

In essence, the Rams really haven’t been able to count on anything consistently this season — except for their own inconsistency.