The 2022 season was the Los Angeles Rams' 85th in the National Football League (NFL), their 86th overall, their 56th in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the third playing their home games at SoFi Stadium, their sixth under head coach Sean McVay, and eleventh under general manager Les Snead.
The Rams came into the 2022 season as the defending Super Bowl champions for the first time since 2000, when the club was based in St. Louis. They attempted to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the 2004 New England Patriots and the first NFC team to repeat since Rival 1993 Dallas Cowboys. However, after a 2–1 start, the Rams struggled mightily as the team regressed rapidly.
The Rams failed to match their 12–5 record from the previous season after a Week 10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. After their Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams secured their first losing season since 2016 (and thus their first losing season in the Sean McVay era). Following their Week 15 loss to the Green Bay Packers, they were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2019. A Week 17 loss to the crosstown Los Angeles Chargers marked the Rams 11th loss, eclipsing the 1999 Denver Broncos for most losses by a defending Super Bowl champion. Following an overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks in their final game of the season, they failed to match the .333 winning percentage the 3–6 San Francisco 49ers recorded in the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Rams' .294 percentage is the worst-ever record by any defending NFL or AFL champion. They were the first defending Super Bowl champion to finish with a losing record since the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the first defending Super Bowl champion to miss the playoffs since the 2016 Denver Broncos. To add to all those struggles, the Rams went 1–7 on the road for the first time since 2011, when the team was still based in St. Louis. This was the Rams' only season from 2020 to 2024 not making the playoffs, as well as their only losing season from 2017 to 2025.
The Rams had dealt with notable key injuries to most of their starters including quarterback Matthew Stafford and All-Pros Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald, all of whom had played prominent roles in the team's Super Bowl run of the previous season. The Rams finished the season with the third most players on injured reserve behind the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos. Through each of their first eleven games of the season alone, the Rams have started 11 different offensive line combinations. No other team since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger has accomplished this feat.
Offseason Coaching changes The Minnesota Vikings hired Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell as their new head coach February 16, 2022. The following day, Chris O'Hara, an offensive assistant with the Rams in 2021, was hired to join O'Connell's staff as quarterbacks coach. On February 21, 2022, Wes Phillips was hired by the Vikings as offensive coordinator. Phillips had served as tight ends coach for McVay in two stints over five seasons with Washington (2014–2016) and Los Angeles (2019–2021), and in 2021 had added the title of pass game coordinator. The Denver Broncos named Rams secondary coach/passing game coordinator Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator for new head coach Nathaniel Hackett's staff. Also hired from the Rams were assistant special teams coach Dwayne Stukes as special teams coordinator and assistant defensive line coach Marcus Dixon as defensive line coach on February 17, 2022. Liam Coen was hired as offensive coordinator, succeeding Kevin O'Connell. Coen had served as an assistant wide receivers and quarterbacks coach with the Rams from 2018 to 2020 before leaving to serve as offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky. Thomas Brown, the Rams' running backs coach for the previous two seasons, was reassigned to take over for Phillips as tight ends coach, while retaining his position as assistant head coach. Fourth-year staffer Zac Robinson was given the dual titles of pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach after spending the previous season as assistant quarterbacks coach. Lance Schulters, a former safety who played 10 years in the NFL primarily with the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans, was promoted to defensive assistant after spending 2021 on the Rams staff as a coaching fellow. Having coached linebackers over the previous five seasons with the Rams, Chris Shula was named pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach. Other internal promotions included Thad Bogardus being elevated to outside linebackers coach after spending 2021 as assistant linebackers coach, while Jonathan Cooley became defensive backs coach after serving as assistant secondary coach the previous season. Ra'Shaad Samples was hired to succeed Thomas Brown as Rams running backs coach after having held the same position at SMU. Greg Olson, who had served as Rams quarterbacks coach during Sean McVay's first season in 2017, returned to the club as a senior offensive assistant after spending the four previous seasons as offensive coordinator with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. Olson had also been offensive coordinator for the then-St. Louis Rams in 2006 and 2007. During preseason, Sean McVay announced that Jay Gruden, who had been head coach of the Washington Redskins during McVay's tenure there, had been hired as an offensive consultant and would work remotely for the team.
Draft
2022 Los Angeles Rams draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 32 Traded to Detroit 2 64 Traded to Denver 3 96 Traded to Denver 104 Logan Bruss OG Wisconsin 2020 Resolution JC-2A selection 4 137 Traded to Houston 142 Cobie Durant CB South Carolina State Compensatory pick 5 164 Kyren Williams RB Notre Dame from New England via Las Vegas 175 Traded to Las Vegas 6 210 Traded to New England 211 Quentin Lake S UCLA 212 Derion Kendrick CB Georgia 218 Traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7 235 Daniel Hardy LB Montana State from Baltimore via Jacksonville and Tampa Bay 238 Traded to Las Vegas from Miami 253 Russ Yeast S Kansas State 261 A. J. Arcuri OT Michigan State from Tampa Bay Draft trades
+ 2022 Los Angeles Rams undrafted free agents Name Position College Ref. Roger Carter TE Georgia State T. J. Carter CB TCU Cameron Dicker K, P Texas Elijah García DT Rice Jake Hummel LB Iowa State Dan Isom S Washington State Duron Lowe CB Liberty Lance McCutcheon WR Montana State Jairon McVea S Baylor Dion Novil DT North Texas Jamal Pettigrew TE McNeese State Jack Snyder G San Jose State Brayden Thomas LB North Dakota State Keir Thomas Florida State Benton Whitley Holy Cross Caesar Williams CB Wisconsin
Staff
Final roster
Preseason The Rams' preseason opponents were announced May 12, 2022 along with the release of the NFL's regular season schedule, with exact dates and times announced eleven days later.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Los Angeles Chargers W 29–22 1–0 SoFi Stadium Recap 2 Houston Texans L 20–24 1–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 3 at Cincinnati Bengals L 7–16 1–2 Paycor Stadium Recap
Regular season
Schedule As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Rams earned the right to host the NFL Kickoff Game against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. This was also the first season in which the NFC teams played nine regular season home games as per the new seventeen game schedule. By also playing an away game against the Chargers, in addition to not being the designated home team for any neutral site games, the 2022 Rams became the first team in modern NFL history to play ten regular season games in their home stadium. (There are some teams who did this early in NFL history; for example, the 1921 Chicago Staleys (now Bears) played ten consecutive games in Cubs Park (now Wrigley Field) from October 16 to December 18.
On May 10, the NFL announced that the Rams would host the Denver Broncos as part of a Christmas Day triple-header on December 25. The game kicked off at 1:30 p.m. PST, and was televised by CBS and Nickelodeon.
The remainder of the Rams' 2022 schedule was announced on May 12.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 8 Buffalo Bills L 10–31 0–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 2 September 18 Atlanta Falcons W 31–27 1–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 3 September 25 at Arizona Cardinals W 20–12 2–1 State Farm Stadium Recap 4 at San Francisco 49ers L 9–24 2–2 Levi's Stadium Recap 5 October 9 Dallas Cowboys L 10–22 2–3 SoFi Stadium Recap 6 October 16 Carolina Panthers W 24–10 3–3 SoFi Stadium Recap 7 Bye 8 October 30 San Francisco 49ers L 14–31 3–4 SoFi Stadium Recap 9 November 6 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–16 3–5 Raymond James Stadium Recap 10 November 13 Arizona Cardinals L 17–27 3–6 SoFi Stadium Recap 11 November 20 at New Orleans Saints L 20–27 3–7 Caesars Superdome Recap 12 November 27 at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–26 3–8 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 13 December 4 Seattle Seahawks L 23–27 3–9 SoFi Stadium Recap 14 Las Vegas Raiders W 17–16 4–9 SoFi Stadium Recap 15 at Green Bay Packers L 12–24 4–10 Lambeau Field Recap 16 December 25 Denver Broncos W 51–14 5–10 SoFi Stadium Recap 17 January 1 at Los Angeles Chargers L 10–31 5–11 SoFi Stadium Recap 18 January 8 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–19 5–12 Lumen Field Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Buffalo Bills NFL Kickoff Game
Starting the 2022 campaign at home on Thursday Night Football, the Rams were shut out in the second half as Sean McVay lost a season opener for the first time as head coach. After falling behind by 10 points in the second quarter, Los Angeles rallied back on a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford to wide receiver Cooper Kupp, while kicker Matt Gay converted a 57-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter to tie the game at 10-10. Stafford, who surpassed 50,000 career passing yards during the game, completed 29 of 41 passes for 240 yards but threw three interceptions and was sacked seven times. Kupp, the NFL's leading receiver in 2021, caught 13 passes for 128 yards and a score to lead the Rams offense. Defensively, cornerback Jalen Ramsey led Los Angeles with six tackles but was victimized on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Bills quarterback Josh Allen to wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the fourth quarter, while linebacker Bobby Wagner had five tackles with two assists and a sack in his debut with the Rams.
Week 2: vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Rams built a commanding 28–3 lead in the third quarter, then had to withstand a fourth quarter rally by Atlanta to gain their first victory of the season. Quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with wide receiver Allen Robinson for a 1-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, then threw two more TD passes to wide receiver Cooper Kupp in the second (3 yards) and third quarters (10 yards). Running back Darrell Henderson led the team with 47 rushing yards on 10 attempts and scored on an 8-yard run in the second period. Rookie cornerback Cobie Durant returned an interception 51 yards late in the second quarter to set up a Rams touchdown and added two tackles including a sack of Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota. However, Mariota bounced back to throw two touchdown passes while Atlanta also scored after blocking Rams punter Riley Dixon to close to within 31–25. But Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey came up with a critical interception at the goal line with just over a minute remaining and L.A. was able to escape. Kupp had 11 receptions for 108 yards and two scores while Stafford passed for 272 yards and three TDs along with two interceptions. On defense, linebacker Ernest Jones had a team-high 12 tackles while fellow linebacker Bobby Wagner added seven tackles and a sack in the win for Los Angeles.
Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals