The Los Angeles Rams were supposed to be a superteam. But after an 18-16 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals, L.A. sits at the bottom of the NFC West at just 2-4.

There is no simple answer for what's wrong with the team at the moment. The highest-scoring offense from 2025 now ranks 21st heading into Week 7, headlined by a bad running game and a less-effective passing offense; the defense ranks 17th in points allowed with an invisible pass rush and, even worse, the special teams continue to give the team headaches.

Everyone is trying to dissect what's wrong with the Rams this year. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell identified six clear problems with the team at this point in the season.

1. Matthew Stafford has slipped

Matthew Stafford, the 38-year-old reigning MVP, is not having a good year. Per Barnwell, he ranks 14th in Total QBR after finishing fourth last year. His deep yards per attempt fell from 15.5 to 9.7, and he has four deep interceptions after throwing one in 2025. He has six picks overall (2.4%, versus a league average of 2.1%) and has been sacked 10 times. While he still leads the NFL in passing yards at 1,794, Stafford just isn't as effective as he was in recent years.

2. Drives keep stalling

The Rams score on 35% of possessions, eighth-worst in the NFL, according to Barnwell. They rank second in yards per drive (37.9) but 14th in points per drive (2.14). They also start drives at their own 27.2 on average, 29th in the league, and are 5-for-10 on fourth down. Unsustained drives are what tanked this team against the Cardinals, and it'll continue to be a problem if Sean McVay and fix how he's calling the offense moving forward.

3. The 13 personnel edge is gone

The Rams generated 0.22 EPA per play from three-tight-end sets last year, Barnwell notes. This season it’s 0.03, and Terrance Ferguson is on injured reserve. Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen have held down the fort, but they haven't displayed the same type of effectiveness this personnel grouping did when it broke out onto the NFL scene a year ago. Perhaps teams have figured out how to stop it, or the players themselves just aren't living up to expectations. Either way, the lack of production from the tight end room is concerning for a team that relies on it to open up the rest of the offense, particularly the run game.

4. The big runs are missing

The ground game is efficient, averaging 4.6 yards per carry against a league average of 4.2 with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. But the longest run is 30 yards, and Barnwell counts just one carry over 20 yards after 11 last year. This is not going to cut it when it comes to keeping drives alive and defenses honest. It's also a byproduct of the 13 personnel failures and blocking up front in general.

5. The pass rush isn’t finishing

This was supposed to be the Rams' calling card of the 2026 season. While Jared Verse is gone, the Rams seemingly upgraded with the additions of Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald. Neither has helped much, as both have barely been on the field. The Rams’ eight sacks are tied for the second-fewest in the NFL so far, their 4.2% sack rate trails the 6.4% league average, and their 26 quarterback hits are well short of the 35.3 average. Barnwell says they pressure quarterbacks at the sixth-highest rate but turn fewer than 10% of those pressures into sacks.

6. Special teams are a mess again

Everyone knew special teams was the Rams' biggest weakness, but no one expected this poor of a performance. The Rams’ 60.0% field goal rate (6-for-10) is the lowest in the league, and even though they cut Harrison Mevis after he went 5-for-9, Blake Grupe, Mevis' replacement, left Sunday’s game with a knee injury. Oh yeah, and their 38.1-yard net punting average is second-lowest.

Is there any optimism?

The Rams are 1-3 in one-score games, so there are scenarios in which the ball bounces a different way and the Rams are actually sitting here with a much better record. They also have an easier schedule in the coming weeks against the Raiders, Chargers, Commanders and Cardinals again before the Week 11 bye.