Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams went 12 and 5, finished second in the NFC West, steamrolled the Panthers and Bears on the road in the playoffs, then ran into the buzzsaw in Seattle, losing the NFC Championship 31 to 27 to the eventual Super Bowl LX champion Seahawks. By almost every measure, this was the most complete Rams team of the Sean McVay era — a league-leading scoring offense, a young defense that grew up in real time, a Matthew Stafford MVP-caliber campaign, and a Puka Nacua All-Pro season. But the fingerprints of the season were left by one unit: special teams. A 38 to 37 overtime loss in Seattle in Week 16 — after leading by 16 in the fourth quarter — cost the Rams the division, the number one seed, and forced an all-road playoff path right back into Lumen Field. The offense smashed. The defense showed up. The kicking game got muffed at the worst possible time. A season trending toward a parade ended one win short of the Super Bowl.

Put some numbers on it. The Rams scored a league-leading 518 points at 30.5 per game, with a point differential of plus 172 — second only to Seattle. The passing attack generated plus 141.4 expected points added on the season — expected points added being how much each snap shifted the scoring-chances needle — at plus 0.23 per dropback, elite-tier quarterbacking. The defense chipped in minus 47.4 expected points added allowed through the air and minus 17.6 against the run, and remember, on defense a big negative number is the goal — it means they were dragging opponents backwards. Third down was a strength on both sides, Los Angeles converting 41 percent of their own and holding opponents to 37 percent. The consistency read was a steady floor, not a roller coaster — the Rams cracked 30 points ten different times, never scored under 14, and their five losses came by a combined 21 points. Elite floor, title-level ceiling, undone at the margins.

Now let's talk about the passing offense. This unit was the engine — 4,707 passing yards, 276.9 per game, 46 touchdowns against just 15 offensive turnovers, and only 23 sacks allowed behind a tidy protection group. The explosive play rate was real with 84 plays of 20 yards or more, and the air-raid math checked out at plus 141.4 total passing expected points added. Matthew Stafford was the headliner — 4,707 yards, 46 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, plus 150.5 passing expected points added, and a completion percentage over expected of plus 1.7, meaning he completed passes at a rate 1.7 points higher than a league-average quarterback in the same spots. The story was stability, and this became a passing game that dictated terms almost every Sunday. Think back to Week 4 against the Colts, 1 and 10 from the Rams' own 12, game tied at 20 in the fourth — Stafford hit Tutu Atwell in stride for an 88-yard touchdown that won the game, and that kind of haymaker was in the holster every single week.

Now let's dig into the rushing offense. The portrait here is more modest — 2,183 rushing yards, 128.4 a game, 17 touchdowns on 439 carries, solid volume but league-average efficiency at plus 11.5 rushing expected points added and plus 0.03 per carry, steady floor, low ceiling. Where the ground game earned its money was short yardage and the red zone, converting four straight fourth-and-1 touchdown plunges and helping the offense finish at a 24 percent red-zone touchdown rate. Kyren Williams was the bellcow — 1,252 rushing yards on 259 carries with 10 rushing scores, plus 36 catches for 281 yards and 3 more touchdowns through the air. The variance was low, and this was by design a steady, clock-bleeding complement to the pass game rather than a unit built to win a game by itself.

Next up, the pass defense. Chris Shula's group posted minus 47.4 expected points added allowed through the air — negative is the goal on defense — while giving up 3,988 passing yards, 234.6 per game, 26 touchdowns, and getting home for 47 sacks. The takeaway count was 26 on the season, and the front did the heavy lifting with Jared Verse generating pressure all year. The signature moment came in the Week 11 win over the Seahawks — third and 8, Sam Darnold throwing late over the middle, and Jaylen Wallace jumping the route for a 56-yard pick-six setup that flipped the game. The consistency read: dominant against backup and mid-tier quarterbacks, stressed by elite passers, with its worst afternoons in the three games against Seattle. Across 17 games this was a top-ten pass defense that smashed on third down, holding opponents to a 37 percent conversion rate and a red-zone touchdown rate of just 15 percent — genuinely elite.

And the run defense. The Rams allowed minus 17.6 rushing expected points added and minus 0.04 per carry — firmly on the good side of the ledger, steady floor week to week — giving up 1,892 rushing yards, 111.3 a game, on 432 carries, and surrendering just 8 rushing touchdowns all season. Opponents averaged 4.4 yards per carry, never busted a run game wide open, and eight rushing scores allowed was a bottom-of-the-league number in the best possible way. Nate Landman's fumble recovery on a Brock Young strip-sack against Tennessee in Week 2 captured the unit's identity — physical, opportunistic, and rarely the reason the Rams lost a football game. If you're hunting the weak link on this team, it absolutely was not the run defense.