The Rams organization proved before the 1999 season that it was not afraid to take bold action to improve its team. It displayed this skill once again in wake of the defensive disaster of 2000.
In the offseason, the Rams cut an incredible nine of eleven defensive starters. The Rams also picked up a new defensive coordinator, Lovie Smith, and signed nine new defensive players for the 2001 season, including All-Pro veteran cornerback.
Perhaps no team in NFL history had seen such a dramatic change in its defense from one year to the next. Their much-improved defense allowed just 273 points, a 198 point increase over the previous season.
The Greatest Show on Turf offense, meanwhile, continued to hum along: Warner earned his second Most Valuable Player award. His 4,830 passing yards were the second highest total in NFL history and his 36 touchdown passes ranked sixth. Faulk earned his record third consecutive Offensive Player of the Year award, rushing 260 times for 1382 yards and 12 touchdowns. Faulk also caught 83 balls for 765 yards and nine scores.
The Rams steamrolled through the regular season: they became the first team in NFL history to score more than 500 points in three consecutive seasons (most teams have never done it once); they won 14 games and earned-field advantage throughout the postseason for the second time in three years.
The Rams forced eight turnovers and scored three defensive touchdowns against BrettFavre and the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs, winning 45-17. It was arguably the best game in Rams' postseason history. St. Louis then outlasted the Eagles to advance to Super Bowl XXXVI, where they were favored to defeat the surprising New England Patriots by two touchdowns.
You know how it ended: Super Bowl XXXVI might be the signature game of the Greatest Show On Turf. And that's not a good thing for a dynasty that almost was.
The Rams outgained the Patriots in total yards, 427 to 267, but lost 20-17, thanks to three turnovers and a walk-off 48 yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.
There have been few more crushing defeats or greater watershed games in NFL history.
The post Super Bowl implosion
Everything fell apart for the Rams after their embarrassing loss to the Patriots. But nobody saw it coming.
In fact, expectations were still extremely high going into the 2002 season and why not? One fluke loss in the Super Bowl shouldn't signify the end of an era. The offense was still ridiculously scary and the defense had rebounded from a porous 2000 season to qualify as one of the best in the NFL in 2001.
The team had won 37 regular season games and five postseason games over the past three seasons. Warner was the best quarterback in the NFL and Faulk had turned in arguably the greatest three-year stretch by any running back ever.
Simply put, the Rams seemed to be built for success and it seemed as if they could continue their winning ways for many more seasons.
But it went horribly and unexpectedly wrong.
The Rams suffered through a forgettable 2002 season, which began with five straight losses.
Kurt Warner, the man responsible for three of the most prolific offensive seasons in NFL history, was now responsible for the sputtering offense. He struggled with injuries and played in just six games, losing all six, and posting a poor 67.4 passer rating.
Unheralded third-string quarterback Marc Bulger performed well in seven starts, but the rest of the offense struggled, and the defense was NFL's bottom 10.
Warner lost his starting job to Bulger, after fumbling six times in the 2003 season opener. But the Rams won 12 games behind Bulger, earned a postseason bye and appeared to recapture the offensive mojo of 1999-2001: they 2003 Rams ranked second in the NFL in scoring offense, with 447 points. But they were upset in overtime by the Super Bowl-bound Panthers in the divisional round.
But it was now an organization that again had to make bold decisions. Faulk had reached the 30-year-old wall and was ineffective in 2003 (1,108 yards of total offense).
So the Rams drafted Steven Jackson in the first round of the 2004 draft and then cut Warner. The two-time MVP signed with the New York Giants.
Although the Rams earned the top wild-card berth and won a playoff game in 2004, they were just a glimpse of the once-scary offensive powerhouse.
Since the end of the 2004 season, the Rams have failed to qualify for the postseason or post a winning record, winning just games in the last three seasons.
The chinks in the dynastic armor
So why didn't the Rams ever turn into a dynasty??
There are three problems that kept the Rams just a step below the legendary teams of history.
ONE – The Greatest Show On Turf was an absolute turnover machine. The high-powered Rams turned the football over 109 times in three seasons, for an average of 2.27 times per game. By comparison, the average NFL team turned the ball over just 91 times in those three seasons. Just seven times, all victories, did the Rams play a full game without turning over the football. By comparison, they turned the ball over four or more times in eight different games.
Interceptions thrown or fumbles lost, you name it, the Rams specialized in 'em. They combined for a -15 in turnover differential during the Greatest Show On Turf years. Even two-time MVP Warner, in the course of the three Greatest Show on Turf seasons, threw 53 interceptions in 43 games. It was a colossal turnover – a pick-six by Ty Law – that proved the biggest single play in the signature loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI.
TWO – The Rams also suffered major inconsistency on defense: 4th in scoring defense in 1999; 31st in 2000; 7th in 2001, 23rd in 2002. The Rams were contenders in the years that the defense played well. But, naturally, they struggled like most teams do when their defense played poorly. The great dynasties, meanwhile, typically matched great offenses and great quarterbacks with consistently strong defenses.
THREE – Finally, there was the questionable coaching from Mike Martz, who replaced Dick Vermeil after the victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. Martz was considered a genius in terms of scheme. But his game-day coaching skills were a frequent source of debate – never more so than in the watershed Super Bowl loss to the Patriots. The Rams essentially gave up on Marshall Faulk that day, leaving the game in the hands of Warner, who had injured his wrist and who faced a swarming New England pass defense that day. Faulk, in the midst of one of the most prolific offensive stretches by any player in history, enjoyed just 21 touches that day (17 carries, four receptions)
So when you hear dynasties in pro football, you hear the Packers, Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, and Patriots. You won't hear the Rams. And you shouldn't. It's difficult to criticize a team that won a Super Bowl title, but when I hear of the Greatest Show On Turf, we don't think of what was.
We think of what could have been.
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