People forget that gutty performance in Detroit when he was getting his ass kicked and still had a young Rams team close to pulling off a win.
I still can’t believe Sam Darnold won a Superbowl
- Thread starter Legatron4
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There's a narrative to it that is beautiful for sure:
-Cardinals kicked our ass in LA in week 4 of that year - we beat them later and took the division, but it felt good to exact that revenge
-Beat Tom Brady who was the defending champ, at home - we finally beat him in the playoffs
-Niners in the NFCCG, had lost to them 6 straight times
-Bengals in the Super Bowl, but our skill players by the end of the game outside of Kupp were Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson, Van Jefferson and Brycen Hopkins - and Matt led a gamewinning drive, with zero running game
Three game winning drives overall. Yep.
It should not be overlooked that OBJ was looking like a Super Bowl MVP, went down, and Matthew still found ways to get the W
Trent Dilfer won a Superbowl. Brad Johnson won a Superbowl. Jo Flacco won a Superbowl. Nick Foles won a Superbowl. It happens. But those guys were pretty much irrelevant after that. I see the same path for Darnold at some point.
The problem with Seattle is they hired a top defensive mind, so they're going to be tough with him in charge. He has his own system of checks and shit which maximizes his defensive pieces.
To Darnold's chances of getting another ring, I'd say that's going to largely come down to their defense. Last year they got the stops they needed in big moments, but I don't think that defense was truly an elite unit. An elite unit will keep a game close even if your offense is befuddled by the opponent. This offseason they added Clark, which is gonna suck as that dude is active as hell, but it's not like they're a unit for us to fear. And meanwhile the Rams defense is going to be a lot better.
I think we're gonna handle them just fine this year. But one key with a QB over time in getting shots at rings is will he consistently have strong defenses. I believe that's what Brady rode to all those titles. Belicheat always got the most from his defensive unit in big games, which got Brady the ball back a lot and allowed him to be the hero. MacDonald is similar I think. Only positive really is that every time he gets a good OC he'll be hired away the next offseason, well that plus it seems like McVay has a good grasp of how to beat his scheme thus far.
To Darnold's chances of getting another ring, I'd say that's going to largely come down to their defense. Last year they got the stops they needed in big moments, but I don't think that defense was truly an elite unit. An elite unit will keep a game close even if your offense is befuddled by the opponent. This offseason they added Clark, which is gonna suck as that dude is active as hell, but it's not like they're a unit for us to fear. And meanwhile the Rams defense is going to be a lot better.
I think we're gonna handle them just fine this year. But one key with a QB over time in getting shots at rings is will he consistently have strong defenses. I believe that's what Brady rode to all those titles. Belicheat always got the most from his defensive unit in big games, which got Brady the ball back a lot and allowed him to be the hero. MacDonald is similar I think. Only positive really is that every time he gets a good OC he'll be hired away the next offseason, well that plus it seems like McVay has a good grasp of how to beat his scheme thus far.
No one mentioned Klint Kubiak?
Klint was Passing Game Coordinator in SF in 2023 when Darnold was there.
Coincidentally, the next year Darnold exploded in MN.
Klint was OC in Sea last year and Darnold got a ring.
Perhaps, another coincidence, or not.
View: https://youtube.com/shorts/hAP9y_8OM-M?si=KaFpelMChwGOfnke
In between the Darnold years, Klint was Saints OC in 2024.
The Rams struggled to beat the Saints that year and Derek Carr was not sacked and did not turn the ball over.
Capping it off, Klint got Brady to hire him as HC.
Brady was fooled into losing a fortune with FTX, so this probably doesn't count for much.
Klint was Passing Game Coordinator in SF in 2023 when Darnold was there.
Coincidentally, the next year Darnold exploded in MN.
Klint was OC in Sea last year and Darnold got a ring.
Perhaps, another coincidence, or not.
View: https://youtube.com/shorts/hAP9y_8OM-M?si=KaFpelMChwGOfnke
In between the Darnold years, Klint was Saints OC in 2024.
The Rams struggled to beat the Saints that year and Derek Carr was not sacked and did not turn the ball over.
Capping it off, Klint got Brady to hire him as HC.
Brady was fooled into losing a fortune with FTX, so this probably doesn't count for much.
BonifayRam
Legend
If I was going to make a statement about what the Rams ran into last season on the Seahawks.....
2025 was a peak in its roster. Team was somewhat new unknown quality to the NFL. Seahawks is now another well ran NFC West division team like the Rams & 9ers.
I think the Rams were directing a lot of its attention hard towards the 9ers & Eagles. Yes that attention was surely needed but they might have let Seahawks fall under the radar in 2025. Against those 2 teams Eagles/ Seahawks /9ers, Rams went 2 wins 4 losses.
2025 was a peak in its roster. Team was somewhat new unknown quality to the NFL. Seahawks is now another well ran NFC West division team like the Rams & 9ers.
I think the Rams were directing a lot of its attention hard towards the 9ers & Eagles. Yes that attention was surely needed but they might have let Seahawks fall under the radar in 2025. Against those 2 teams Eagles/ Seahawks /9ers, Rams went 2 wins 4 losses.
Seattle winning at all, makes me sick.
I still can't believe:
The team blew that big lead vs. the Eagles early in the season. And those 2 blocked FGs.
Kyren's fumble going in for perhaps the winning score vs. the 49ers. Or Mac Jones throwing for 342 yards.
That pick six Stafford threw vs. the Panthers.
They punted straight down the field to Rashid Shaheed vs. Seattle after taking the lead.
The Rams should have been the #1 seed with home field throughout the playoffs and a Super Bowl title with Darnold being an afterthought.
The team blew that big lead vs. the Eagles early in the season. And those 2 blocked FGs.
Kyren's fumble going in for perhaps the winning score vs. the 49ers. Or Mac Jones throwing for 342 yards.
That pick six Stafford threw vs. the Panthers.
They punted straight down the field to Rashid Shaheed vs. Seattle after taking the lead.
The Rams should have been the #1 seed with home field throughout the playoffs and a Super Bowl title with Darnold being an afterthought.
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That Was Then…This Is Now.I still can't believe:
The team blew that big lead vs. the Eagles early in the season. And those 2 blocked FGs.
Kyren's fumble going in for perhaps the winning score vs. the 49ers. Or Mac Jones throwing for 342 yards.
That pick six Stafford threw vs. the Panthers.
They punted straight down the field to Rashid Shaheed vs. Seattle after taking the lead.
The Rams should have been the #1 seed with home field throughout the playoffs and a Super Bowl title with Darnold being an afterthought.
LARAMSinFeb.
Legend
Our D line destroyed Darnold in the 24 playoffs, hurried him into 4 ints the first matchup of 2025, then became less effective the latter half of the season. Any theories as to what happened with our pass rush last year?
3 observations/theories:
-Fiske regressed
-BYoung was likely injured towards the end of season/playoffs
-Secondary was manhandled allowing QBs to hit open receivers rather routinely or throw the ball up for grabs favoring receivers
I was referring to what happened with the Rams last year being “That was Then…” and what will happen for with Rams this year being “…This Is Now”.
Seattle's defense was very good. Best in the NFL. But its not easy to maintain a top 5 defense every year. Its easier to maintain a top 5 offense year after year if you have a good quarterback and coach.
Teams that asked their quarterback to be a game manager and let the defense win it don't get back to the Superbowl. The 85 Bears never returned to the Superbowl. It took the 2000 Ravens team over a decade with a whole new team. The Bucs with Brad Johnson over a decade with Hall of Fame quarterback. The Seahawks with Darnold have their work cut out if they wanna get back there. They also lost 4 defensive starters and their best running back.
There's no telling how it will go from here for them. But I am pissed they got their title right away in their head coach's tenure. He may end up like Tomlin, who benefitted from a strong staff at the outset. I am of the mind, however, that in the biggest game the best thing you can do is have a strong defense that gets the ball back to your offense and also gives them some short fields as well as buys your QB room for error.
Also I think the Rams jumped Seattle this offseason. However like I said last year MacDonald is gonna be a problem. He's in that top group as a head coach in his ability to teach, certainly. So I expect in let's say the next handful of years that Seattle is going to have a couple extremely fine defenses. Which means they're going to get more shots at it.
Best case scenario is McVay gets us another ring this year, and Shanny ends up souring in SF and gets axed, to be replaced by someone not as good. Then it'll be McVay vs MacDonald and I like our chances to come out on top for the most part.
Let's see how good, or not so good, MacDonald is with replacing OC's, DC's and other coaching staff members every year like McVay has done .
Hope he
's the bed on that issue.I was in Vegas for that SB and had bet OBJ as MVP. After the game McVay said they had a series of plays specifically for OBJ. The pass when he got hurt was a tad off and I've always wondered if that contributed to the injury.