Every win in the NFL is worth celebrating. It’s a fierce league that’s constantly changing. You can be the Rookie of the Year one year and playing in the XFL the next. Same for coaches…just look at Jeff Fisher.
The Rams have a unique history among NFL franchises. They started in Cleveland, moved to Los Angeles, then Anaheim, then St. Louis and now are reigning Super Bowl champions back in Los Angeles. They are a glamorous team in the NFL today.
We’ve already dissected some of the Rams worst losses since 2000; now let’s look at the happy times and their 10 best wins. Every win in the NFL is worth celebrating, but some are worth remembering even more.
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10. Rams 16, Cardinals 14 – 2006 Week 3
More NFL games are lost than won if you think about it. This was right around the time of the St. Louis Rams falloff into obscurity. The storyline was the Rams were playing the Cardinals who were starting former Ram icon Kurt Warner.
It was a bumblefest.
The Rams had things in hand until Marc Bulger fumbled with under two minutes left at his own 30. All the Cardinals needed to do was kick a field goal. But no, Warner capped his three-interception day by fumbling a snap with 1:46 left. It was recovered by Will Witherspoon.
Wait, it gets stranger.
The Rams punted on the last play. The Cardinals called a fair catch in order to set up an untimed free kick (it’s true, that’s the rule) from 77 yards out. Then the refs said Arizona was offsides on the punt. It was still Rams ball, and a weird Rams win.
9. Rams 33, Seahawks 27 OT – 2004 Week 5
The Seahawks were riding a 10-game home winning streak and led the Rams 24-7 at halftime. Marc Bulger led an inspired comeback as the St. Louis Rams scored 17 points in the final 5:34 of regulation.
Then in overtime, Bulger connected with Shaun McDonald on a 52-yard post to end it.
The Seahawks would win the division but get swept by the Rams in the regular season, and the Rams would beat Seattle again in the playoffs. It’s not every day a team goes 3-0 against another in one season in the NFL.
8. Rams 16, 49ers 13 OT – 2012 Week 13
These two NFC West rivals had tied two weeks earlier at 24, the first NFL tie in four years. The 49ers led 10-2 in the fourth quarter when the 49ers tried a wide pitchout from Colin Kaepernick to Ted Ginn Jr. inside their own 20.
It is – without a doubt – one of the dumbest plays you’ve ever seen. The pitch sails over Ginn Jr.’s head, and Janoris Jenkins takes the gift two yards into the end zone. The Rams go for two and make it. The teams trade field goals. With 26 seconds left in OT, rookie Greg Zuerlein makes a 54-yarder to win it for the Rams and save them from a ridiculous second tie with the same team in three weeks.
7. Rams 19, Bucs 17 – 2014 Week 2
Ahh yes, who can forget legendary Rams quarterback Austin Davis? He was the quarterback for the Rams in a game that ended on an injury timeout.
The Bucs were driving with no timeouts left, and Mike Evans took a big shot near the sidelines at the Rams’ 32-yard line with eight seconds left. Evans was wobbly and had to be helped off the field.
Since the Bucs had no timeouts, the refs ruled that they had to use an injury timeout which came with an automatic 10-second run-off. Rams win via one of the strangest situations ever.
6. Rams 52, Raiders 0 – 2014 Week 12
The Rams scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and led 38-0 at halftime. Tre Mason, there’s a guy, had 113 yards on six carries in the first half and after the game said he wanted to be the best who ever played.
Not so much. This was one of the first times there was real noise in St. Louis about the Rams coming back home to L.A. It’s also the Rams’ second-biggest margin of victory in franchise history.
5. Rams 29, Eagles 24 – 2001 NFC Championship Game
This was the last great playoff moment for the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ for the St. Louis Rams. Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and wide receiver Isaac Bruce were in their prime. The Eagles had quarterback Donovan McNabb and led 17-13 at halftime.
But the entire third quarter belonged to the Rams. Literally. 22 of the 28 plays that quarter were run by the Rams. Faulk scored two touchdowns and Aeneas Williams intercepted a bad McNabb pass with 1:47 left to seal it.
Unfortunately, two weeks later, the Rams lost in the Super Bowl to Tom Brady and the Patriots. The NFL would never be the same.
4. Rams 27, Titans 23 – 2017 Week 16
This was the moment that solidified that Sean McVay and the Rams were building something big.
Jared Goff threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp and the Rams clinched their first division title since 2003 and playoff spot since 2004.
This game had drama as Marcus Mariota had the Titans driving under two minutes left, but Connor Barwin forced an incomplete pass on fourth down and the playoffs had come back to L.A.
3. Rams 54, Chiefs 51 – 2018 Week 11
It’s been called the greatest regular season game of all time. And it might be.
It was Monday Night Football at the LA Coliseum; the Rams and the Chiefs combined for the third highest scoring regular season game, the first game where both teams went over 50 points. There were six lead changes, four in the fourth quarter alone.
It wasn’t over until Marcus Peters intercepted Patrick Mahomes with under two minutes to play. Mahomes threw six touchdown passes in the loss.
2. Rams 30, Bucs 27 – 2022 NFC Championship Game
It was 27-3 Rams in the second half, but a series of bad decisions and mistakes let the Bucs back into the game, and they tied it with under two minutes to play.
All of America was thinking, it’s Tom Brady again, but then Matt Stafford connected deep with Cooper Kupp – what was the Bucs secondary doing? – setting up Matt Gay for the game-winning field goal. You could say this win was even bigger than the Super Bowl because of the way the Rams won it, lost it, and then won it again.
And beat Brady.
1. Rams 23, Bengals 20 – Super Bowl LVI
The Rams reached the Promised Land playing in their home stadium against the upstart Bengals. It was a back and forth game until the very end when the Rams defense made a stand on Joe Burrow and the Bengals with under two minutes to play.
Cooper Kupp etched his name into NFL history and Aaron Donald ran off the field pointing to his ring finger, showing that the Rams were the best.
