Where do the Greatest Show on Turf Rams rank among NFL dynasties?
One of the better teams of the 21st century and in NFL history were the Greatest Show on Turf Rams. When the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, things didn’t start well as the team didn’t have a single winning season in their first four years. That looked to be the case going into 1999 when quarterback Trent Green went down in the preseason with a torn ACL. At that time, Kurt Warner came in and the rest is history.
While the Greatest Show on Turf Rams team only won a lone Super Bowl in the 1999 season, they paved the way for modern offenses. A win against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 36 may have cemented them among the greatest teams in NFL history, but instead a potential dynasty was stopped in its tracks.
This summer, Bryan Knowles of FTN Fantasy is going through and ranking the top-60 dynasties in NFL history.
“Welcome to our rankings of every dynasty, near-dynasty, and coulda-been and shoulda-been dynasty in the history of the NFL. Over this series of articles, we’re going to run down every team to ever have a sustained run of success, compare them with their peers, and find out who comes out on top.”
Coming in at number 45 with 11 “peak dynasty” points was the 1999 to 2003 Rams. The Rams were ranked in the tier of teams that, “avoided the fate of the flash-in-the-pan champion. As Knowles wrote, “they surrounded their title run with a short bout of sustained success – a half-decade where they were among the title contenders, year in and year out, even if they only finished the job once.”
In this same tier were teams like the 2009-13 New Orleans Saints and 2001-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers who ranked below the Rams. Just ahead of the Rams were the 2008-12 Baltimore Ravens and 1980-85 Oakland Raiders.
The 1999-03 Rams had an average DVOA of 17.2 percent. Said Knowles on the Rams,
“The Greatest Show on Turf came out of nowhere…They ranked 19th or worse in DVOA from 1995 to 1998, never topping a -9.2% mark, and their offense topped out at 24th in the league…The 1999 Rams did not lead the league in offensive DVOA due to a soft schedule — they played the third-easiest schedule of opposing defenses we’ve ever recorded — and adjustments for playing indoors. Still, they scored over 500 points and led the league in basically every counting stat you can think of. And it wasn’t a fluke, either — they became the first team to ever score 500-plus points in three consecutive seasons…They led the league in overall DVOA in 1999 at 36.1% (46.7% before opponent adjustments — again, a super-soft schedule)…Those three seasons match up with any other three seasons in the history of the league; the two Super Bowl years are both over 30% DVOA and 2000 isn’t that far behind. Warner’s 1999 and 2001 campaigns have the first- and second-most DYAR in Rams history…The Rams flopped in 2002, with Warner getting hurt and struggling even when healthy…The Rams did have one more double-digit-win season and an NFC West title behind Marc Bulger, but the writing was on the wall by that point. Even that successful 2002 team still had a negative offensive DVOA, and Martz’s mad-scientist ways never produced a positive offensive DVOA ever again. As for the Rams, they would have just one positive offensive DVOA season between 2002 and McVay’s arrival in 2017.”
The Greatest Show on Turf Rams are a prime example of how winning and success in the NFL isn’t guaranteed. They are a major ‘what if’ story following the 1999 season. Less than 48 hours after winning the Super Bowl, Dick Vermeil retired only to return two years later to coach the Kansas City Chiefs. His first season back was the year the Rams made their second Super Bowl, but their first with Mike Martz. It’s worth wondering if the Rams could have beaten the Patriots and won their second Super Bowl with Vermeil in charge.
It’s hard to fault the Rams for moving on from Warner when they did. At the same time, they will always be known for kicking a two-time MVP and future Hall of Fame quarterback to the curb. Warner would go on to lead the Arizona Cardinals to back-to-back winning seasons and a Super Bowl appearance in 2008. Warner went 7-2 against the Rams with the Cardinals and went 4-0 in St. Louis.
The Rams had two good years with Marc Bulger in 2003 and 2004 with two postseason appearances. However, the 2004 season began the streak of 13 consecutive seasons without a winning record.
Had the Rams been able to win in 2001 or even 2003 that ended in a double-overtime Divisional Round loss to the Carolina Panthers, they likely rank higher among the best teams in NFL history. Still, they certainly hold a place and remain a testament to nothing being guaranteed.