The Rams aren’t dead — yet. But if you’re still calling this a slow start, you’re being awfully generous.

Los Angeles is 2–4, sitting in last place in the NFC West and already 0–2 in the division. Sunday’s 18–16 home loss to Arizona made that record feel even worse. The Cardinals didn’t score a touchdown. They went 0-for-5 in the red zone and settled for six field goals. The Rams had Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, and Kyren Williams on the field and still managed just 16 points and 286 yards.

That’s not the kind of game you can shrug off as bad luck.

Sean McVay didn’t try to dress it up afterward:

It’s just not good enough.

He was talking about the performance in that game. He could’ve been talking about the season.

Arizona Didn’t Need a Touchdown

For a moment, it looked like the Rams had pulled it off. Stafford drove them 86 yards late in the fourth quarter and found Colby Parkinson for a touchdown. With punter Ethan Evans handling the extra point, Los Angeles took a 16–15 lead with 47 seconds left.

Arizona needed one quick completion, a Rams unnecessary-roughness penalty, and a short run to get Chad Ryland into range. He drilled the 43-yarder as time expired. The Rams had spent almost the entire afternoon trying to find some offense, finally found it, and then handed the lead right back. That pretty much sums up the game.

It’d be easy to pin everything on the kicking situation. Blake Grupe made a 44-yard field goal in the first quarter and then hurt his knee making a tackle on the ensuing kickoff. Without a healthy kicker, the Rams went for two after their first touchdown and didn’t get it. Later, the Rams had to make fourth-down decisions without a normal field-goal option.

But they also scored on just three of 10 drives. Tyler Higbee lost a fumble in Arizona territory. Two other possessions ended on downs. Stafford missed a wide-open Nacua down the sideline. Nacua finished with 80 receiving yards, but 59 of them came on that last touchdown drive.

Arizona deserves credit, too. Their defense pressured Stafford 18 times and took advantage of David Quessenberry starting at left tackle. Josh Sweat and the rest of the Cardinals’ front made McVay’s offense uncomfortable all afternoon.

Still, this was a Cardinals defense that came in allowing the most points in the league. The Rams couldn’t spend three quarters looking for answers against that group and expect the ending to go their way.

The Yardage Makes This More Frustrating

Here’s why I’m not ready to call the offense broken: through six games, the Rams have gained 2,408 yards, or just over 401 per game. Stafford's thrown for 1,794 yards and 11 touchdowns. Williams is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, Blake Corum's at 4.7. The Rams can move the ball.

The problem is what happens after they move it. They’ve scored 135 points, or 22.5 per game. A long drive that ends with a missed kick or a fourth-down stop looks good in the yardage column. It doesn’t help much when you’re trying to climb out of last place.

Sunday was a pretty good example of both sides. Williams ran for 50 yards on 10 carries, and Corum added 42 on nine. Stafford completed 25 of 33 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions. If you only looked at those numbers, you'd wonder how the Rams lost. Then you watch the drives stall, and you watch Arizona hold the ball for 8:35 on their opening possession of the second half. Suddenly, the scoreboard makes a lot more sense. Los Angeles had the ball for barely 25 minutes.

The Rams have also lost Davante Adams, their leading receiver through six games with 480 yards and four touchdowns. He'll be out six to eight weeks after surgically repairing his hamstring. That takes away a player defenses had to account for, especially near the goal line. Nacua can still wreck a game, but he can’t catch passes that never get to him, especially when Stafford’s dealing with pressure.

Jackson being back should help at left tackle. McVay also needs better answers when teams bring the heat. The run game got yards against Arizona. The offense needed them to string those runs together a little more.

With Adams out, Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Tutu Atwell, and Konata Mumpfield all have a chance to give Stafford somewhere else to go. Nobody has to become Adams overnight. But somebody has to make defenses pay for loading up on Nacua.

Please, Just Make the Kick

The special-teams story is already getting exhausting, and we’re only six games in.

A week before Arizona, the Rams lost 37–34 to Buffalo in overtime after Harrison Mevis had a potential winning 48-yard field goal blocked. He’d also missed from 50 earlier that night. Mevis was just five of nine on field goals this season, so the Rams moved on. Grupe took over, made his first attempt, then tore his ACL on the kickoff.

Now Brandon McManus has the job. He made 44 of 51 field goals over the past two seasons in Green Bay, so there’s at least some reason to think he can settle things down. But this isn’t just about finding another name for the roster. The protection and coverage have to hold up too. A team that keeps playing close games can’t keep turning a routine three points into an adventure.

To be fair, Arizona didn’t beat the Rams solely because Grupe got hurt. Los Angeles had chances to score touchdowns and didn’t take advantage of them. Fixing special teams takes away one way to lose. It doesn’t fix all those stalled drives.

Is There A Realistic Path to the Playoff?

There are 11 games left. To finish 10–7, the Rams need to go 8–3 from here. That still won't guarantee a playoff spot, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibilities. Seven NFC teams make the playoffs, including three wild cards.

The division title is already out the window, though. San Francisco's 6–0, four games ahead of Los Angeles, and already beat the Rams 27–7 in the opener. The 49ers are 3–0 in the division, while the Rams are 0–2. Winning the rematch in December would help, but Los Angeles would still need San Francisco to slip up somewhere else.

The wild card feels like the more realistic path. Seattle's 3–3, and the Rams still play the Seahawks twice. They’ll also get another shot at Arizona and San Francisco. Those four remaining division games give the Rams a chance to gain ground themselves instead of sitting around scoreboard-watching and hoping somebody else loses.

First, though, they have to make it to those games with a pulse. The next stretch is at Las Vegas, home against the Chargers, at Washington, and at Arizona before the bye. A 3–1 run would get the Rams to 5–5 and make this conversation feel a lot different. A 2–2 split would leave them at 4–6, with Green Bay, Kansas City, and a December trip to San Francisco still ahead.

That’s not where you want to be in a crowded NFC field.

The late schedule gives them some control, too. They visit Seattle on Christmas and host the Seahawks in Week 18. If the wild-card race stays tight, those games could be massive. They’ll matter a lot less if Los Angeles spends November giving away games like they did on Sunday.

What Would Make Me Believe?

I don’t need an 11-game winning streak or some promise that McVay's cooked up a secret new offense. I just need to see the Rams turn the talent they already have into points.

Keep Stafford from having pressure dictate every play call. Give Nacua some help while Adams is out. Keep Williams and Corum involved long enough for those efficient runs to actually matter. Finish drives. And let McManus kick a field goal without the entire stadium holding their breath.

The defense gave Los Angeles plenty of chances against Arizona by keeping the Cardinals out of the end zone. Now Poona Ford's out for the season, Kobie Turner's expected to miss a few weeks, and they're still waiting for Myles Garrett to come off injured reserve. Asking that group to bail out a sputtering offense every Sunday isn’t much of a plan.

I understand why Rams fans aren’t ready to bury this team in October. McVay’s 2024 Rams started 1–4 and won nine of their next 11 on the way to an NFC West title. There’s still plenty of season left for that to happen.

But a past comeback doesn’t prove this one has started.

So are they dead? No. They can still make the playoffs. But if the Rams want anyone to believe in them, they need to start playing like a team that understands there’s no time left for another almost.

All stats courtesy of Fantasy Points Data.

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