As the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks played in Super Bowl 60, I found myself watching my TV with a very similar thought that I had last year. When the Philadelphia Eagles were beating the Kansas City Chiefs last year, I thought about how it could have been the Los Angeles Rams. As the Seahawks proved that they were a class above the Patriots, I thought about how it should have been the Rams.
There’s little doubt that had the Rams been playing on Super Bowl Sunday that they may have won that game. That’s not a knock on the Seahawks by any means. However, it became clear with every passing minute that the real Super Bowl was played two weeks ago in the NFC Championship game. Seattle was the better team on that day, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the Rams may have done to the Patriots what the Seahawks were able to do.
To put how good the Rams were in perspective, from Week 13 until the Super Bowl, all teams minus the Rams scored 57 points against the Seahawks defense. If you’re doing the math, that’s an average of 8.14 points per game. The Rams scored 68 points against the Seahawks defense, averaging 34 per game. They were the only team after Week 12 to score more than 17 points against the Seahawks defense and they did it twice.
Late in the season, I wrote about how 2025 was on a path of ‘one that got away.’ As I wrote then,
“Instead of playing at SoFi Stadium where the Rams are 6-1 this season, they very likely will have to win three consecutive road games to make the Super Bowl. This is the bed that the Rams have made and now they have to lay in it…While the Rams may not win the division or get the NFC’s No. 1 seed, they aren’t going to simply wave the white flag. At the same time, it’s hard not to have the feeling that this season is going down that same road.”
It’s very clear that the Rams had an opportunity to win a championship this season and fell short. This was the best Rams team in the Sean McVay era via point differential. Their 172 point differential was the best by 23 points. The Rams had a 30.2 percent DVOA this season. That would put them behind just the 1999 and 2001 Rams teams. McVay’s best Rams had a DVOA of 26.3 percent in 2017.
This isn’t meant to be doom and gloom about the success the Rams had this season. It was a special year. If the Rams couldn’t win the Super Bowl, Matthew Stafford winning the MVP was a nice consolation prize. At the end of the day, only one team can win and sometimes luck just isn’t on your side. However, it’s also the reality of the situation. There’s a really good chance that we’re sitting here in five or ten years and thinking, “What if the Rams beat the Seahawks?”
The trajectory of the Rams’ season shifted in the fourth quarter of Week 16 against the Seahawks. They had Seattle beat and were in control of the No. 1 seed. After going up 30-14 against the Seahawks, the Rams were outscored 45-7 going into halftime the following week. The Rams were able to win their next three games, but after that fourth quarter in Seattle, this was a different team.
This is the type of season that’s hard to move on from and the players recognize what they had. There’s a reason McVay was numb and Davante Adams had to hold back tears following the loss in the NFC Championship game. They were four yards and a muffed punt away from the Super Bowl. Everybody in the building likely knows the type of group the Rams had and how this was a missed opportunity.
Nothing is a given in the NFL. The Rams have done well to have sustained success under Sean McVay. In nine years, they’ve only ever had one losing season. With that said, there’s no guarantee that it comes together again like it did this season for this team. Windows in the NFL are small and they’re even smaller with a 38-year-old quarterback.
There’s something to be said about losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion in back-to-back years. It’s also what makes the Seahawks dismantling the Patriots hurt that much worse than the initial loss did two weeks ago. All season, the Rams were the only other team to compete on the same level as the Seahawks. They were the only team after Week 6 to beat Seattle. The Seahawks had eight double-digit wins after Week 6, winning by an average of 16.8 points. In the three games against the Rams, they had a point differential of plus three.
The Rams head into 2026 with one more real shot to run it back with Matthew Stafford. Everything has been set up for one final push. However, the sting of 2025 will still live with them as seasons like the one they just had are rare. Unless next season ends with Stafford and McVay hoisting the Lombardi, 2025 will remain a season that feels like it should have ended differently.
