The Rams are 2-4 and far from the contender everyone expected. ESPN's Bill Barnwell examined what went wrong after Los Angeles spent aggressively in the offseason to build a superteam around Matthew Stafford.
The defense has underperformed. Injuries have hit the secondary hard, and the pass rush has not generated consistent pressure. Several high-priced free agent signings have not delivered the impact LA counted on. The offensive line has also been shaky, leaving Stafford vulnerable.
Stafford himself has struggled with consistency. He's thrown too many interceptions in critical moments and the Rams offense has stalled in stretches. Coordinator Liam Coen's scheme, which looked sharp last season, has not translated as smoothly this year with the current personnel.
The real issue: depth. Once injuries mounted, the Rams lacked the bench pieces to weather the absences. They bet heavily on their starters staying healthy. That bet lost.
Can they recover? The schedule softens after this stretch, but Barnwell notes the roster construction limits their ceiling. They can still make a playoff run if the injury luck reverses and Stafford finds his form. Right now, though, this superteam looks like a middling team trying to figure out what went wrong.