The Los Angeles Rams are heading into 2026 with a target on their backs, and that might be the real test.
A lot of the conversation around this team has centered on the shiny part: the roster, the star power, the moves that make the Rams look like a club built for February. But the bigger issue is how they handle the weight that comes with it.
This is no longer a group sneaking up on anybody. They’re being talked about like a Super Bowl team before training camp even gets rolling.
Sean McVay isn’t interested in feeding that buzz.
“The last time I checked, none of that stuff means anything,” said McVay. “We've got to come together as a team.
We've got to stay humble…We're not going to allow the outside expectations to change the way that we approach every day with the way that we work, the way that we enjoy it, and have the appropriate mindset and energy. And that's something that I think is really important for us to represent and I think that's more felt than anything else.”
That message fits the moment. The Rams are listed at +550 to win the Super Bowl, with the Buffalo Bills next at +1000.
On paper, they look like a team built to chase the Lombardi Trophy. Les Snead made the kind of aggressive moves that have become his calling card, trading for a top cornerback in Trent McDuffie and signing Jaylen Watson.
Those additions are aimed right at a defense that needed help last season. The Rams also traded for Myles Garrett and might get Aaron Donald if he comes out of retirement.
It’s the kind of roster that invites all the “super team” talk. And that label comes with baggage.
The source material points to plenty of examples of loaded teams that never quite lived up to the billing: the 2007 Patriots losing the Super Bowl, the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles missing the playoffs after Vince Young called them a “Dream Team,” and the 2010-11 Miami Heat falling short in the NBA Finals. Even the best paper roster doesn’t guarantee anything.
Davante Adams knows that better than most.
“At the end of the day, the way people feel about us as a team has no bearing on what we do and how it turns out for us,” said Adams. “We have a lot of veteran guys who’ve been in these positions where they’ve been on teams where you start the year and they go, ‘Hey, this looks like the best team we’ve ever seen.’
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. You can be the best, but you gotta play like it.
That’s really what matters.”
That’s the part the Rams have to prove. They’ve been through big expectations before, even if the spotlight hasn’t always been this intense.
When they traded for Matthew Stafford in 2021, the idea was that he was the missing piece, and they ended up winning the Super Bowl. The same kind of belief has followed the trade for Myles Garrett.
But the last three seasons have brought a different kind of pressure. In 2023, the Rams weren’t expected to be good and played loose on the way to a playoff appearance.
In 2024, they started 1-4 before finishing strong and winning a playoff game. Even with more hype last year, they still weren’t the favorites they are now.
That’s why the current version of the Rams feels different. Watson and McDuffie come from the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that has lived with those expectations almost every year.
Adams and Stafford have been in those spots too. Adams has lost in the NFC Championship Game five times in his career, including with last year’s Rams team and the 2020 Green Bay Packers, two of his best chances.
The challenge isn’t just talent. It’s surviving the kind of season where one bad day can wipe out everything.
There’s no seven-game series to recover in. There’s no room for a slow burn once January arrives.
A bad bounce, a missed chance, one play - that can be the whole season.
The Rams won the Super Bowl in 2021, and even that run had some breaks go their way. They still had to handle adversity and make the plays that mattered. The source material also notes that had Zach Charbonnet not scored on a two-point conversion, it may have been the Rams winning the Super Bowl last season.
Now they enter 2026 with what might be the best roster in the NFL, but also the fifth-hardest schedule. Four of their first five games come against a playoff team from last season, and they’ll be battling through the toughest division in the league with the defending Super Bowl champions and a San Francisco 49ers team looking to make noise.
Jaylen Watson put the focus where the Rams want it.
“We know the potential the team has, but we have to maximize it and that starts today, taking it one day at a time,” said Watson.
That’s the balancing act. The Rams have addressed their biggest weaknesses, improved at a position of strength, and built a team that looks ready for a title push.
But the Super Bowl isn’t handed out in July. For all the talent on the roster, the real question is whether they can handle the pressure that comes with being the team everybody is already measuring against.
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Rams Defense Sent A Chilling First Message At Camp
The Rams opened training camp with the kind of defensive reset that can change the feel of a practice field fast, as new arrivals Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson all took part in the first session. Garrett made his presence felt in 11-on-11 work, while the Rams also used the day to sort through a few other important camp competitions, including opportunities for Stetson Bennett and rookie Ty Simpson as the offense worked through its early reps.
McDuffies view of Garrett only added to the buzz around the front seven, and the rest of the secondary had its own moments as Watson helped break up a deep ball intended for Davante Adams before the play ended with Kam Kinchens finishing it off. Matthew Stafford was held out on a scheduled rest day, which opened the door for Bennett to work with the first unit and for the team to keep evaluating the skill positions, where Jordan Whittington and Konata Mumpfield are among the names fighting for the WR3 job behind Davante Adams and Puka Nacua. [Read more 🡒]