There were a lot of reasons the Rams failed in 2022, but perhaps the biggest was the offensive line. And sadly, it wasn’t completely the team’s fault that the O-line crumbled in the first half of the season.
Injuries took a toll on the unit, to the point that no team in the NFL could’ve overcome the losses the Rams suffered. Four of their five starters missed at least four games and three of them were out for more than half the season.
As a result, the Rams started a different offensive line combination in each of their first 12 games of the season, something no team has ever done before. The Rams set another record for the O-line injuries they suffered, too.
According to Football Outsiders, the Rams had 71.0 adjusted games lost (AGL) on the offensive line alone, blowing past the previous record set by the Eagles in 2020 (57.1 AGL). Adjusted games lost dates back to 2001, so no team in the last 23 seasons has suffered the number of injuries on the offensive line that the Rams did in 2022.
The players who cost the Rams the most in terms of adjusted games lost were Logan Bruss (12.0), Joe Noteboom (11.3), Brian Allen (11.1), Tremayne Anchrum Jr. (11.0), David Edwards (10.0) and Alaric Jackson (9.0). The Rams cycled through linemen endlessly and never really managed to get things sorted out up front.
In addition to the offensive line, the Rams also lost 10.9 games at quarterback due to Matthew Stafford’s injury, 23.9 games at wide receiver, and 16.6 AGL on the interior of the defensive line. As a team, the Rams’ 146.6 adjusted games lost were the second-most in the NFL last season, behind only the Broncos (148.6).
So it was really just a mess across the roster.
Given the Rams’ awful injury luck in 2022, the hope is that they’ll be much more durable and better off in 2023, which should translate to a much better performance on offense.
