The Rams were seen as legitimate Super Bowl contenders when they sported a 7-1 record. This was after the team traded for quarterback Matthew Stafford in the offseason.
Then the team decided to get cute and add more fire power to a team that seemed to be set. The team went out and traded for Von Miller before the NFL trade deadline and signed Odell Beckham Jr. following his release from the Browns.
The team has now lost three consecutive games since trading for Miller and back-to-back games with Beckham in the lineup.
The team having too much star power appears to be the problem, at least acording to Troy Aikman.
Aikman spoke about the Rams’ super team on 1310 The Ticket and explained why NFL super teams do not work.
“We’ve talked about it — the all-star team just — I’ve never seen it work in the NFL,” Aikman said, as transcribed by Rams Wire’s Skyler Carlin. “I know Washington tried it back in, I think, ‘99. I’ve just never seen a team that goes out and tries to put together this all-star team that can win a Super Bowl, much less success. It usually unravels, and right now, that’s kind of what’s happening to the Rams. They’ve just not been very consistent.”
While he mentioned Washington, he could actually look back to the 2011 Eagles, who were infamously dubbed the “Dream Team” by quarterback Vince Young after the team signed several high-profile free agents including Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins and Evan Mathis. That team went 8-8 and never lived up to their potential.
Aikman isn’t high on the Rams because they are crumbling at the wrong time.
“It was not a good performance at all the other night when we had them, but I don’t know if they’re going to be able to pull it together or not,” Aikman said. “That was a huge game for both of those teams, not only for the Rams to keep pace with Arizona in the division, but also they were still in the hunt potentially for a first-round bye. But it just does not have a good feel. I feel it throughout the entire organization. I just don’t know that they’re going — I don’t think they’re done. I think they’re going to have some moments where they climb back into it, but I don’t know if they’re going to have enough to get over the hump.”
The Rams are 7-4 and would be the No. 5 seed in the NFC as the top wild card. The team is two games back of the first-place Cardinals, but the surging 49ers are creeping up behind them.
Just maybe they can get back on track when they face the Jaguars on Sunday.
