NFL 25 Dream Teams that ended up being failures
By Nick Villano
NFL 25 Dream Teams that ended up being failures: 4. 2002 St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were the “Greatest Show On Turf” in the 2001 season. They road Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt to one of the greatest collections of talent this world has ever seen. They lost the 2001-02 Super Bowl to the soon-to-be dynasty New England Patriots. It was time to bounce back in 2002, and they should have been the favorites to win it all.
Something just… happened in 2002. It’s hard to explain. Kurt Warner declined in a way we’ve never seen a QB decline before. He went from MVP level to not very good seemingly overnight. In fact, when Mark Bulger took over for him, he looked like the quarterback of the future. Then, Mark Bulger also got hurt and was lost for the season.
Marshall Faulk injured his ankle and missed six games. Former Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch was drafted to play wide receiver, but he wanted to be a quarterback. He had a nasty injury in the preseason, and he left the team. Steve Bellisari was also a former college quarterback who was changing position, but this time to safety. He didn’t play a game with the Rams. Aeneas Williams was also placed on IR, giving a blow to the defense.
The Rams were a legacy that was supposed to be a dynasty. They went to two Super Bowls and they won one. It was supposed to be the kind of talent accumulation that wins for a decade. Instead, it lasted three years and it fell apart spectacularly.