The Los Angeles Rams were reeling entering their Week 6 bye after starting 1-4, marking the team’s worst start under Sean McVay. LA is one of six one-win teams in the NFL and is mere percentage points behind the Carolina Panthers for the NFC’s worst record.
While yes, the Rams have stunk it up through the first few games, how do they compare to the NFL’s five other one-win squads?
Joining LA and Carolina with that dubious distinction are the Patriots, Titans, Jaguars and Browns. Truthfully, Los Angeles is in a fairly decent spot — as decent as one could possibly be with a negative point differential — when comparing points scored to points given up. The Rams and Titans have a smaller sample size to work with since they’ve played one fewer game, but this is the point differential for the one-win teams so far:
Panthers (-100)
Jaguars (-65)
Patriots (-60)
Browns (-46)
Rams (-45)
Titans (-14)
Sure, a -45 point differential isn’t great. Keep in mind that the Rams’ 31-point loss to the Cardinals hasn’t helped matters. LA’s other three losses to the Lions, Packers and Bears came by a combined 17 points. Hindsight understandably doesn’t make this better.
Also, when looking at points scored versus points allowed, the offense could be much better but has done what it could, as injuries have decimated it. Defensively, it’s a much different story.
Chris Shula’s unit is noticeably one of the worst in the league — even having played one fewer game than most of the one-win club — as they’ve struggled to stop opposing offenses when it matters.
Panthers: 103 points for (28th); 203 points against (32nd)
Jaguars: 113 points for (22nd); 178 points against (31st)
Patriots: 83 points for (31st); 143 points against (21st)
Browns: 95 points for (30th); 141 points against (19th)
Rams: 94 points for (23rd); 139 points against (29th)
Titans: 96 points for (21st); 110 points against (13th)
Despite the Rams’ situation appearing quite dire as of late, the silver lining, I guess, is that at least it could always be worse.
The Panthers have zero hope, the Jaguars are a mess, the Patriots are in over their heads with a rookie head coach, the Browns have Deshaun Watson and the Titans desperately need a QB to replace the human meme generator that is Will Levis.
Again, hindsight will not cure all that ails the Rams and fans are unlikely to find much optimism in a 1-4 start. Although, LA has a chance to reverse its fortunes with the deeply troubled Raiders coming to town.
