The Rams can’t afford another September slump. With another tough first few games to begin the 2026 season, will the team’s slow starts finally catch up to them in a win-now season on deck?
Since winning the Super Bowl in the 2021 campaign, the Rams have slept through the first few weeks of the season, averaging 2 wins and 3 losses in the first five games:
2022 – 2-3
2023 – 2-3
2024 – 1-4
2025 – 3-2
The 2025 season was the exception, and it was no coincidence that the Rams enjoyed their deepest playoff run in years after finally avoiding another
sluggish start. In fact, they could have reasonably begun the season 5-0 if they hadn’t blown early-season games against the Eagles and 49ers. Overall, though, this has been a difficult habit for the team to break. This wasn’t a problem at all in the first half of Sean McVay’s tenure with the team:
2017 – 3-2
2018 – 5-0
2019 – 3-2
2020 – 4-1
2021 – 4-1
Even when the Rams had a down season in 2019 after enduring a Super Bowl hangover, they still started the year on a reasonably high note. The inconsistencies out of the gate are maddening, but at least there is an explanation for why fans are experiencing “Groundhog Day” nearly every season with this team.
Part of the reason can be attributed to the influx of young players who were added to the roster beginning in the 2023 offseason. Then in ‘24, injuries contributed to the bad start, which Los Angeles miraculously overcame en route to an NFC West title and a trip to the NFC Championship Game.
It could also be related to McVay’s insistence, as smart as his intentions may be, to sit starters and key reserves during the preseason. Are the starters physically prepared for the speed of the game again and getting their neurons fired after taking nine months off?
The 2026 schedule will test them on another level.
This year’s early-season slate is reminiscent of what the Rams went through in the first five weeks of the 2023 season. That team needed a solid start to have any hope of making a surprise playoff run. Despite playing tough opponents in the Seahawks, a 49ers squad that advanced to the Super Bowl, the Bengals and Eagles, L.A. won two of their first five, which was actually the best-case scenario for them at that time.
A slow start could finally cost the Rams in 2026, especially for a heavy title favorite. The Rams open the season overseas against the 49ers before facing John Harbaugh’s improved Giants, road trips to Denver and Philadelphia, and a showdown with Josh Allen and the Bills. That’s the type of September schedule that could really hurt McVay again in a tightly-contested NFC West division.
Slow starts have defined this team since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, but that is a habit they must break and quickly ahead of this season. If the Rams stumble out of the gate again, questions about whether they’re truly built to win another Super Bowl will only grow louder.
For the Rams to start with a lead in the division next season, they’re going to need to beat some of the teams expected to be in Super Bowl contention right out of the gate. Those “shots fired!” you hear is a starting gun.
