The Rams haven’t been 0-3 since 2011
The last time the Rams started a season 0-3, they were hosting Joe Flacco’s Baltimore Ravens and gave up three first quarter touchdowns to Torrey Smith. It literally took two plays for the Ravens to score on a 74-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Smith and by the early third quarter, Baltimore led 30-0.
Now 0-2 going into a home game against the defending NFC champions, Sean McVay hopes to never go where Steve Spagnuolo went 13 years ago.
The last time the Rams started 0-3 was in 2011, the third year under Spagnuolo, and the second season for quarterback Sam Bradford. Coming off of a 7-9 season as Bradford won Offensive Rookie of the Year, expectations were up for St. Louis and the idea that with a new quarterback and new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, the Rams could get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2004. However, the wait to get to the postseason would take another six years.
The Rams lost to Michael Vick’s Eagles, 31-13, in Week 1, then to Eli Manning and the Giants by a score of 28-16. After the Ravens were done with them 37-7, the Rams would lose three more games before finally beating the Saints in Week 8. St. Louis would lose to the Cardinals in overtime in Week 9, beat the Browns 13-12 in Week 10, then close out the season with seven straight losses.
The Rams fired Spagnuolo after a 2-14 season, his second time in three years losing at least 14 games, and turned to Jeff Fisher in 2012.
How can the L.A. Rams make sure history does not repeat itself?
The @Giants have been a disaster since 2017. When they let McAdoo go they should have hired Steve Spagnuolo as HC. Since then the giants have gone through 2 and working on a 3rd HC, while Spags has won 3 Super Bowls with KC. Bring Spags back for a 3rd run. pic.twitter.com/KqICHrhTxM
— Brendan Walsh (@PBRendan) September 19, 2024
The interesting thing about that 0-6 start is that the schedule was difficult, especially for a team that would finish dead last in scoring and touchdown passes: The Giants won the Super Bowl that year, the Ravens went 12-4, the Packers went 15-1, and the Eagles and Cowboys would both finish 8-8. The only losing team in the first six weeks turned out to be Washington and the Rams at least had chances to win that game: Two chances, but both drives stalled in the final five minutes as St. Louis went on to lose 17-10.
That 2011 defense also featured a lot of names that were probably lost in history to most.
Guys like Justin King, James Hall, Brady Poppinga, Quintin Mikell, Darian Stewart, Christ Chamberlain, Josh Gordy, Fred Robbins, and Craig Dahl. Experienced vets like Mikell and Dahl were at the end of their careers.
Offensively, the Rams were led in receiving by 30-year-old Brandon Lloyd at 683 yards (on 117 targets, so a paltry 5.8 YPT), followed by Brandon Gibson and Danario Alexander. If Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp miss extended time, L.A,’s current receivers would match up with the receivers that the Rams had in 2011.
Rams are 0-2. They have not been 0-3 since 2011, when St. Louis Rams started 0-6 and finished 2-14.
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) September 19, 2024
Starting 0-3 ended up being only the beginning of Spagnuolo’s problems that year. The 2-14 season led to firing him and a lot of other people, and it would take over a decade basically for him to rebuild his reputation as the three-time champion DC of the Kansas City Chiefs. To the point where Spagnuolo might even be hired by a team again in 2025 with another good year in Kansas City. But that would mean it only took 13 years for him to recover.
Now here the Rams sit at 0-2 and probably feeling like 0-17 after losing by 31 points to the Arizona Cardinals. But the schedule hasn’t been easy, going to Detroit to play the Lions in Week 1, then a road NFC West game, then a game against the 49ers, followed by another road game in Chicago next week.
Sean McVay knows the score: The Rams need a win and they need it this weekend at SoFi Stadium. Otherwise, we’ll be back here in four days talking about 2011 again and the last time the Rams started 0-4.
