The city of St. Louis had been without professional football since the Cardinals left for Arizona in 1988. In 1995, the Rams filled the void and began a 31-season journey as a Midwest franchise. The first edition of the St. Louis Rams started strong and gave the fan base hope. But a hard fall foreshadowed […]
The 1977 Los Angeles Rams came into the season looking to take that next step—after three straight losses in the NFC Championship Game, they were seeking the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance. Instead, the step they took was backward—an early playoff exit that spelled the end of head coach Chuck Knox’s otherwise successful tenure in […]
The 1976 Los Angeles Rams marked Chuck Knox’s fourth year coaching the team and they marked his fourth playoff trip. They also marked his third straight appearance in the NFC Championship Game. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the ’76 Rams also marked the third straight defeat in the NFC title game. […]
In the first year of Chuck Knox’s coaching tenure, the Rams jumped into contention behind a trade for veteran quarterback John Hadl. The 1974 Los Angeles Rams followed the opposite path—after a slow start, Knox traded Hadl in midseason, and the Rams still reached the NFC Championship Game. Regardless of who was playing quarterback, Hadl […]
In 1965, the NFL expanded to have four teams per conference make the playoffs. They retained that format after merging with the AFL in 1970. But in spite of the more generous playoff standards (albeit still stingy by the standards of our own day), the Rams only sniffed postseason play twice over the ensuing eight […]
It was a new era for the Los Angeles Rams with the combo of first-year head coach John Robinson and rookie running back Eric Dickerson. Read the season-long narrative.
The John Robinson era produced a steady string of playoff teams and also a team that could take fans on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The 1989 Los Angeles Rams fit that to a tee—but some of the best highs came at the end and made this a season to remember. GREAT […]
The 1986 Los Angeles Rams were coming off a breakthrough year, one in which they displaced the San Francisco 49ers atop the NFC West and reached the conference championship game. They spent much of ’86 looking to build on it before a late fade left them going into the offseason with a sour taste in […]
It was the second year for the tandem of head coach John Robinson and running back Eric Dickerson, as they brought power football to Hollywood. And the 1984 Los Angeles Rams continued the success, making the playoffs for a second straight year. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart reading today. Dickerson, a future Hall of Famer, won his […]
Running the ball and defense was ultimately what Los Angeles was all about though. Eric Dickerson was the key to the offense and he ran for over 1,200 yards in spite of a contract holdout that lasted two regular season games. Dickerson ran behind a truly great offensive line. Four lineman made the Pro Bowl, starting with Hall of Famer Jackie Slater and including Kent Hill, Doug Smith and Dennis Harrah.
For better and for worse, the 1980 Los Angeles Rams were a team that returned to form. The Rams spent most of the 1970s as a good team that kept coming up short in the playoffs. In 1979 they became a mediocre team, but one that scraped into the postseason out of a weak division…and they somehow made the Super Bowl. Los Angeles was improved in 1980, going 11-5, but that was small consolation when they again lost in the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Rams had been a playoff team in the NFC every year since 1973, including making the conference championship game in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1978. But none of those teams took the next step to the Super Bowl. Oddly enough, the 1979 Los Angeles Rams, a team much worse than their predecessors, were the ones who found a way to win in January.