[sendtonews_embed video_id=”N1AeDTMyfM-2226800-7498″]
The defending Super Bowl champion has typically had success in season openers, at least dating back to 2000. In the last 22 years, the defending champs had gone 19-3 in openers.
The Rams made it 19-4 with their 21-point loss to the Bills on Thursday night, a humbling way to start their year, as Sean McVay put it. Though the game was close in the first half and tied 10-10 after 30 minutes, the Bills were the better team all night and that showed very clearly in the second half when they scored 21 straight points.
This was actually the second-worst loss ever by a defending Super Bowl champion, according to NFL Research. The only margin of defeat larger than the Rams’ 21-point loss was the Ravens’ 22-point defeat at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Broncos in 2013.
In that game, Manning tied the NFL record with seven touchdown passes, eventually winning NFL MVP and leading the Broncos to the Super Bowl where they’d lose to the Seahawks.
The Rams’ 21-point loss to the #Bills is the 2nd-largest season-opening loss by a defending Super Bowl champion.
The only margin larger?
Peyton Manning’s NFL-record tying 7 pass TD performance in the Broncos 22-point win over the Ravens in Week 1, 2013.
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) September 9, 2022
This drubbing at the hands of Buffalo isn’t a reason for Rams fans to panic, but no one will argue this was a good way to start the year for Los Angeles.