LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams are off to their first 0-2 start to a season since before Les Snead became their general manager 12 years ago. They're coming off their worst loss under coach Sean McVay, a 41-10 thrashing from an Arizona Cardinals team the Rams had thoroughly dominated in McVay's eight-year career. The Rams' extensive injury problems already encompass their top two receivers, their entire offensive line and two key members of their secondary.
And now they're about to play their biggest rivals and toughest opponents in McVay's career: The powerhouse San Francisco 49ers visit SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Outside of an injury to Matthew Stafford, who's fully healthy, it's tough to imagine a way in which the first two weeks could have gone a whole lot worse for McVay or the team he led to six winning records in his first seven seasons. “This league, nobody cares,” McVay said.
“I feel terrible for those (injured) guys, and we certainly care, but the outside world doesn’t, and the games are going to go on.” The Rams have fallen apart just two weeks into a season that began with hopes of playoff contention, even without retired star Aaron Donald. Instead, the Rams are struggling to field a competitive team after just two games.
The whole scenario has strong echoes of the 2022 season, when McVay's team went 5-12 amid major injury woes in the worst season by a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history. Several of the Rams' most important players will .