If you ever wanted to look up the definition of unfulfilled promise, look up the 1970’s Los Angeles Rams. From 1973-1979 the Rams had won 6 Â straight NFC West titles but hadn’t made it to the Super Bowl. Of all the teams that dominated their respective divisions, the Rams couldn’t duplicate their regular season once the playof
fs began.
Los Angeles had ruled their division with a great suffocating defense and a solid running game. However they never had a top flight quarterback to push themselves over the top. From an aged John Hadl to James Harris to Ron Jaworski and finally settling on Pat Haden, the pedestrian quarterbacking failed them in the postseason repeatedly. They lost defensive battles with the Minnesota Vikings but it was against the Dallas Cowboys the worst losses were afflicted.
In ’75 the 12-2 Rams were gearing up for an NFC Championship against the Minnesota Vikings. No one expected the rebuilding (12 rookies) wild card 10-4 Dallas Cowboys to upset them with The Hail Mary. Los Angeles had finished on a 6 game winning streak, which included a 10-3 win over the defending and eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers.
Once Pittsburgh vanquished the Raiders over in the AFC Title Game, all they had to do was beat the “lucky to be there” Cowboys for the NFC and punch their ticket to Super Bowl X. Staubach sliced them up with a 37-7 defeat at home. They lost in an epic rout where their great defense let them down. It was a defense that had only given up 3 touchdowns in their last 30 quarters and held 5 of those 6 opponents to less than 10 points per game. They weren’t ready for Staubach and their new “Shotgun formation”.
After two more losses to the Vikings in the ’76 and ’77 playoffs, Head Coach Chuck Knox moved on to coach the Bills. Defensive Coordinator Ray Malavasi was promoted and the reigns of the offense were placed in Pat Haden’s hands as the full time starter. The consensus was he could gain experience in time to win it all within the next couple years with an aging but still formidable defense.
The 1978 season saw the Rams go 12-4 and become the first team to earn homefield throughout the playoffs. They had the #1 defense which registered wins in regular season games against the Steelers 13-10, and 27-14 over Dallas. Back in the NFC Championship, they hosted the defending champion Cowboys but were shut out 28-0. Dallas wrecked another trip to the big game and it seemed the window had closed for the Rams.
A tumultuous off-season ensued, concluding with the drowning death of Owner Carroll Rosenbloom. Then the controversial ownership transfer to his wife Georgia and not his son Steve.
The tumult in the front office mimicked what was happening on the field once the season began. The defense was a step slow as the team began 5-6 and the playoffs were in jeopardy. They had just lost 4 of those last 5 and had given up 29.25 points in those including a 30-6 loss to the hated Cowboys. Now they lost starting QB Pat Haden for the year. Where was this group headed??
They turned to 3rd year runner Wendell Tyler as they eased backup QB Vince Ferragamo into the lineup. Tyler got the hot hand rushing for 520 of his 1,109 yards on the season in the final 5 weeks. Ferragamo finished with less than 50% completion rate and threw 5TDs to 10 interceptions. So these unlikely players were going to lead the 9-7 Rams into the playoffs where every game would be on the road.
Most had buried the Rams as a team that didn’t have heart. The Dallas Cowboys had ripped it out in 2 championship games already. Dating back to the ’78 NFC Championship Game, they were 0-2 with a combined losing score of 58-6. Worse, 3 of their last 6 seasons ended with playoff defeats at the hands of the Cowboys including a combined score of 55-7 in those conference championship games. So now with Vince Ferragamo and Wendell Tyler (new ’79 midseason starters) they were supposed to go to Dallas and win in the divisional round??
Revenge is best served cold and on this day the Rams defense had totally confused Staubach & Tom Landry’s offense. They ushered in the 7 defensive backfield which would become a staple in the NFL moving forward. Staubach was out of rhythm all day completing 12 of 28 for 124 yards 1TD and an interception. Not bad when you consider he threw for 6TDs combined in the NFC Championship Games previously facing LA. They made him look inept in his last NFL game and the last pass he completed was the Illegal Touching throw to G Herb Scott #68. Yikes…
LA was in uncharted territory after dancing out of Texas Stadium with a huge upset: Another look
Inspired by Jack Youngblood who was playing with a lower leg fracture from the Cowboy game on, the Rams exhibited all the toughness, heart, and desire they hadn’t shown during past playoff performances. Not rising above the moment to make the game winning touchdown. They usually wore you down with physical domination not electrifying plays.
One of the reasons they believed they could stand toe to toe in Super Bowl XIV the Rams were a mirror image of the Steelers. In fact Defensive Coordinator Bud Carson and Dan Radakovich were Steelers coaches when they won IX & X in ’74 & ’75. Then in ’76 coached what many experts feel was the greatest defense in NFL history. In ’78 LA was the last to beat the Steelers in a Monday Night battle 13-10 between teams 9-1 v 8-2 and odds on favorites to meet in XIII. Only to have Dallas upset the apple cart 28-0 in the conference title game. That game in ’78 had been a defensive blood bath and Carson’s charges held Terry Bradshaw to 11 of 25 125 yards 1 TD and picked him off 3 times. They felt they were ready…
Falling to Pittsburgh 31-19 in Super Bowl XIV kept the Rams from final glory. However they set the precedent that a team can get hot right as the playoffs near and ride that momentum to the Super Bowl. Even in that game, the lead changed hands 6 times as they wouldn’t give in to the established champion Steelers. Only a late game interception by an inexperienced Ferragamo kept the game from a 7th.
Ironically Super Bowl XIV and the death of Carroll Rosenbloom before this season mirrored 1978’s classic movie Heaven Can Wait. Where Warren Beatty was a Ram QB that came back to play the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Life imitated art where it was Vince Ferragamo mixed with Rosenbloom…yet I digress
They couldn’t replicate this post season performance once they moved to Anaheim the following year. Many black fans felt the team abandoned LA for Orange County which the team is working to overcome with a new generation of fans. However, several players moved on to reach the Super Bowl with other teams.
- ILB Hacksaw Reynolds won rings as a starter in San Francisco in XVI & XIX.
- TE Charle Young was his teammate with the 1981 49res in XVI.
- Dwayne O’Steen won the following year with the Raiders in XV.
- RB Wendell Tyler won with the 49ers in XIX
- OLB Bub Brudzinski didn’t win it all but started for the Dolphins in XVII & across from old teammates in XIX
It was their great run in 1979, they had a truly Herculean effort that just came up short.
Dedicated to the memories of Ray Malavasi, Jack Faulkner, Carroll Rosenbloom, Charle Young & Bud Carson.
Prologue: Interestingly they concluded the 70s with a berth in the Super Bowl practically playing at home in Pasadena. What is it with the Rams having great runs in the last year of a decade? Here this team played for it all in 1979 (XIV), almost in 1989 (XXIV) when they made it to the NFC Championship with Fritz Shurmer’s 2-5 Eagle Defense, then won it all in 1999 (XXXIV) with The Greatest Show on Turf. Its a rich legacy where they were able to win LVI at home in Sofi Stadium, they’re Taylor Blitz’s favorite to win LXI here in 7 months.
Looking back this championship ring story needed to be freshened up. It was owed to Rams past & present.
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…and NBA fans are saying OKC can’t trade Chet Holmgren for not showing up in a championship series. Enter Jared Verse! Now this is a seismic trade sending shockwaves through the league: Myles Garrett for Jared Verse to bolster the pass rush! In my article before the draft I had outlined they bolstered their secondary with 2 new corners traded for with Kansas City in Trent McDuffie & Jaylen Watson. 
They’re giving up a young pass rusher in DE Jared Verse and what sucks is he was in the “Friday” remake promo right before the draft. Now he is being banished to the brown water of Lake Erie in Cleveland vs the blue ocean right outside Los Angeles. That is a painful pill to swallow. However the trajectory of the Rams putting the pieces together to win Super Bowl LXI can’t be underscored.
When the clock struck :00 to conclude last year’s NFC Championship Game, the Rams were the 2nd best team. Once the confetti fell on their division rivals in Levi Stadium it was time to dissect what was needed to beat the champion Seahawks. With the ink drying on Seahawk receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba’s 4 year $156 million contract the Rams needed to upgrade at corner and didn’t wait for the draft.
In 3 games Smith-Njigba scorched Ram corners for 27 rec. 349 yards and 2 TDs. He led the NFL with 119 rec. and an NFL leading 1,793 yards with 10 scores and will be a problem for years to come. Yet the Rams pulled off the move of the offseason (up until Garrett) trading for 2 time All Pro Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie. Then brought in his teammate Jaylen Watson to man the corner on the other side.
As we assess what we expect to see in the upcoming NFL season, everyone is ranking players on where they stand. Here this is a moving target as several players are coming down from career years while others have begun to make names for themselves. At least in NFL circles. This is not an all time standing for these men, its time to offer Taylor Blitz Times Top Ten for the upcoming season:
The truth of the matter is that gaudy 8.48 yards per attempt is 2nd in the league to Drake Maye. If you’re new here I wrote out on Dec 9th 
#9 Caleb Williams: No one grew more during the ’25 season than the former Heisman Trophy winner from Southern Cal. Williams with 5 – 4th quarter comebacks came of age similar to John Elway back in 1986. In his 1st playoff he had to make it happen on 4th and 8 and made a legendary throw for the 1st down. Make that 6-4th quarter come from behind wins as they vanquished the Packers 31-27 in the Wild Card to cement a changing of the guard in the NFC North between the 2 teams.
#8. Joe Burrow: Its been 4 years since Burrow led the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI and he has missed a total of 17 games in the last 3 years and coincidentally they haven’t made the playoffs all 3 years. This includes his spectacular ’24 when he was 460 of 652 for 4,918 yards and 43TDs. So which guy will we see? The MVP level ’24 Burrow or the Joe that missed at least 7 games in both ’23 & ’25?? The injuries are mounting up and if we have a 3rd season in 4 years where he’s missed significant time, we may have already seen the best of Burrow and he won’t be in the Top Ten. This doesn’t include the calf strain where he sat out the entire ’23 preseason.
#7. Dak Prescott: Sigh… now listen, I’ve been 
Hurts was brilliant both running and passing leading the Eagles to the championship in ’04 with the NFL’s 2nd ranked rushing attack. They plummeted to 18th illustrated by Saquon Barkley falling from 2,005 yards to 1,140 yards. Once in obvious passing situations their opponents could clog the intermediate routes and Jalen was too cautious not to take shots. Now that he is the $252 million dollar man he has to get over that and changing OCs for the 5th straight season. Another season of turmoil in ’26 could result in barely making the playoffs and slipping in the quarterback hierarchy possibly out of the Top Ten.
One aspect is how fast will he be able to learn to play from center. Turning his back to the defense to fake the handoff to Ashton Jeanty then turn and fire on time. This was one of Orlovsky’s points and there have been several QBs who have struggled with this nuance in the NFL vs their college days. Its taken Justin Herbert & Trevor Lawrence time to really get the timing down on this and are still works in progress. Hell Shedeur is having to deal with it in Cleveland after an up & down year. Trust me a rookie with 5 pass plays under center.
His physical play belied his diminutive size as he played as a pint sized intimidator. Lionel “Train” James loves to say “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Never was this more true than of Pat Fisher. Even in the Super Bowl VII highlight, NFL Films had John Facenda narrate how much a nemesis he was against the run and the pass. Let’s face it, a cornerback his size now is primarily a special team guy who is platooned only against multiple receiver sets. They rarely tackle players other than small slot receivers. Take a look at how Fisher played…
