It was another postseason nail-biter, but the Los Angeles Rams came through in the closing moments and won Super Bowl LVI.
The Rams’ road to the Super Bowl was filled with plenty of high-pressure moments, but the team rallied as a group to overcome all their obstacles to win it all. Los Angeles validated its aggressive team-building strategy and gave the city of Los Angeles yet another championship team to celebrate.
Even though the Rams did what they set out to do, the next challenge they face is defending their newly-earned title. A team has not repeated as Super Bowl champions since the New England Patriots did so in 2004, but Cooper Kupp believes the Rams can join them via Gary Klein of L.A. Times:
“Certainly,” wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the Super Bowl most valuable player, said Monday during a news conference. “If you’re going into a season and didn’t think that you can win it all, that would be a pretty depressing place to play from. … You go into every year believing that, understanding, though, that there’s much work that needs to be done.”
Roster turnover and injury luck are two primary reasons why a team might not repeat, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a good example. The Buccaneers saw numerous players miss games due to injury during the 2021 season, and their lack of depth at certain positions was noticeable in their NFC Divisional game defeat to Los Angeles.
Complicating matters specifically for the Rams are the early reports about Aaron Donald and Sean McVay being non-committal about coming back for next season. It is hard to believe that either Donald or McVay would walk away after winning a championship, but should someone leave it would leave the Rams without one of their foundational pieces.
Assuming all the key figures stay, the Rams do have favorable odds to win Super Bowl LVII, but for now, it would be best just to enjoy the moment.
