Are the 2026 Rams Favorites for Super Bowl LXI?
On June 1st, the Cleveland Browns traded two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett, to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Jared Verse and the Rams' 2027 first-round pick. During the 2025 NFL season, Los Angeles made it all the way to the NFC Championship before falling to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks 31-27. With a motivated Garrett, who’s looking to make a third playoff appearance, going into his 10th NFL season, are the Rams Super Bowl LXI favorites? Certainly, they have a chance to be with last year’s MVP, Matthew Stafford, leading the charge in 2025 to have the Rams as the top offense in terms of total yards and scoring. Los Angeles was placed 17th in defensive rating last season, and that’s all about to change with a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Defensively, the Rams have some really solid pieces in nose tackle Poona Ford, linebackers Byron Young and Nate Landman, in addition to safety Kam Curl and cornerback Trent McDuffie. Combined, these players recorded 338 tackles, 18.5 sacks, and 37.5 tackles for a loss of yardage. In 2025, Garrett put up 60 total tackles, 23 sacks, which became an NFL single-season record, 33 tackles for a loss of yardage, and three forced fumbles. Heading into 2026, Los Angeles can very well be the best team in football with how much damage they do on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Los Angeles has a difficult schedule for the 2026 season, yet they can capitalize on this by dominating these teams in the regular season to be the biggest threat within the NFC and NFL as a whole. They’ll be facing playoff teams like the Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. More than half of the Rams’ games will feature teams that made the playoffs in 2025. While the Rams can make that excuse to do a little above average within the regular season, the goal is an NFC West Division crown and another Super Bowl Championship. If Stafford could have another MVP-like season and Garrett has a record-breaking year as well, Los Angeles will be the scariest team within the NFL and the outright favorite to win Super Bowl LXI.
