Repeating as champions is a tall order for any team, and the challenge is no different for the Los Angeles Rams.
Although most of the core of their title-winning roster remains intact, the Rams face an uphill climb when it comes to defending their title. Los Angeles received their Super Bowl LVI rings and celebrated their massive accomplishment, but the players now must shift their focus to the 2022 campaign.
Head coach Sean McVay is confident in his team’s talent and ability, but even he admitted that going back-to-back is going to require a tremendous amount of luck, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press:
“So many things have to go right,” McVay said. “We could be a better team this year, and I think we’ve got a chance to do that, and it might not mean we win a Super Bowl, because there are a lot of things that take place throughout the course of a game — the bounce of a ball here — certain things that are out of your control.”
The downfall of defending title teams can be a championship hangover, but McVay believes his players will be able to avoid this because of how they’re wired internally:
“A hangover, to me, what that entails is guys think they’re better than they are,” McVay said. “They stop working the right way, complacency sets in and the previous success you think is going to have anything to do with your future success. We’ve got the right kind of guys in our locker room, the right kind of coaches that are intrinsically motivated.”
With the stars and coaching staff that Los Angeles has, they should be able to avoid getting too ahead of themselves. While the odds of repeating are slim, the Rams have as good a shot as anyone to do it.
