It's been a brutal season for the Los Angeles Rams and certainly one to forget. What started as a Super Bowl hangover is going to end as a Super Bowl bender. The 5-11 Rams are entering the final week of the season with the aspiration of playing spoiler to the Seahawks, a far cry from where they started the year.
The team has, of course, been riddled with injuries. Matthew Stafford has been out since late November with a spinal injury, Cooper Kupp has missed the same amount of time with an ankle sprain, Aaron Donald has missed time, too. And despite a strong final few weeks, Cam Akers has been largely estranged from the Rams offense this year. Akers was away from the team, unhappy with his role in the offense for a good portion of the season.
During media availability Wednesday, McVay reflected on the year, along with what injuries have done to the team.
"However you wanna look at it, you realize how fortunate and blessed I've been to be in a situation where you're surrounded by so many good people and we've been able to stay relatively healthy and that's led to us having consistent results," he said. "And this year has been you know, in my opinion, from just what I can control a professional failure. And that's been humbling, it's been challenging."
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McVay has used the word "humbling" a few other times in his career, after the blowout loss to the Bills to open this year and a surprising loss to the 49ers last season (before the Niners caught fire).
There are some bright spots for McVay and the Rams. Baker Mayfield has come in and gone 2-2 for the Rams' shell of a roster, including a come-from-behind victory against the Raiders after being in Los Angeles for mere days.
While that isn't enough to salvage what's been a difficult season, to say the least, it could at least give the Rams a baseline heading into 2023.
The Rams are placing a lot on a healthy team. Without a first-round pick this year and not a lot of maneuverability in the cap (although, the Rams have absolutely made that work before), they may be relying on Stafford and Kupp coming back at 100 percent. With that being said, the Rams have made "how did they do that" signings before, so perhaps another surprise is in store this offseason as they lick their wounds and regroup.
