Soccer fans witnessed Argentina’s epic 2-1 comeback win over rival England on Wednesday to advance to the World Cup final. Argentina scored its two goals late to secure the victory. In the spirit of collapses, it’s time to look at what might be the Los Angeles Rams’ biggest choke job in franchise history.
Earlier this offseason, I revisited the Rams’ greatest comeback ever, and now it’s time to do the opposite. Just last season, the team blew a 19-point lead to the Eagles in Week 3 and a 16-point
lead to the Seahawks a week before Christmas. While those losses sting, they happened too recently, so that’s why we’re taking a trip in the wayback machine to the 1982 season opener.
Read more: Knicks’ epic rally brings back memories of Rams’greatest comeback
In what might be deemed the worst Throwback Thursday ever, here’s a look back at L.A.’s worst collapse. Old-school Rams fans, I’m so sorry to force you to revisit this traumatic day.
Week 1: Rams at Packers (Sept. 12, 1982)
For a half, the Rams were dominant.
Los Angeles went up 23-0, capitalizing on Green Bay’s five turnovers, including four by quarterback Lynn Dickey. Rams signal caller Bert Jones had an okay stat line overall, going 17-of-31 for 202 yards and a touchdown pass to tight end Mike Barber.
Unfortunately, Jones had two costly interceptions, which helped contribute to the Packers’ 35 unanswered points in the second half. Dickey threw another interception after halftime, yet it didn’t matter as the Rams had no answers. Bart Starr’s Green Bay team came away with a stunning 35-23 season-opening win.
The Packers rode the momentum from that win to end the season 5-3-1, losing to the hated Cowboys in the Divisional Round.
Things didn’t get any better for the Rams after this game. They finished the strike-shortened season 2-7, the worst in the NFC and their worst season since finishing 1-12-1 in 1962. Jones was eventually lost for the year to a neck injury that would force his retirement, and head coach Ray Malavasi was fired after the season. Good news for the Rams as L.A. hired John Robinson ahead of the 1983 campaign.
Despite a true season from hell, at least they managed to finish on a high note with a 21-20 upset win over the 49ers in the regular season finale. San Francisco was also going through a terrible season, as they entered 1982 as the defending Super Bowl champions, yet ended the year 3-6. Fun fact: the Whiners’ .333 win percentage was the worst by a defending champ until the 2022 Rams. Nice to know that misery enjoys company.
While the choke jobs Los Angeles suffered through last season were bad, remember that things can always be much, much worse.
