Troy Aikman: All-star teams like the Rams don't work in the NFL
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Skyler Carlin
The Los Angeles Rams have definitely taken a different approach than plenty of teams in the NFL. Instead of building through the draft, they’ve elected to acquire star talent and build around those players on both sides of the ball.
The decision to trade for players like Jalen Ramsey, Matthew Stafford, and Von Miller has heightened the expectations from outside sources and the players and coaches within the locker room. While Los Angeles is experiencing a dreadful three-game losing streak, Troy Aikman said on 1310 “The Ticket” Tuesday that he doesn’t believe the all-star team mentality works in the NFL.
“We’ve talked about it — the all-star team just — I’ve never seen it work in the NFL. I know Washington tried it back in, I think, ‘99. I’ve just never seen a team that goes out and tries to put together this all-star team that can win a Super Bowl, much less success,” Aikman said. “It usually unravels, and right now, that’s kind of what’s happening to the Rams. They’ve just not been very consistent.”
When the Rams landed Stafford via trade in the offseason, they were immediately pinned as Super Bowl favorites. Everything seemed to be going along smoothly in the first eight weeks with Los Angeles boasting a 7-1 record.
In the past three weeks, though, the Rams have looked out of sorts in all three phases of the game, losing in ugly fashion to the Tennessee Titans, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Green Bay Packers. The latest loss to the Packers ties the longest losing streak that Los Angeles has had since Sean McVay became the head coach in 2017.
It has Aikman worried about whether the Rams will be able to pull it all together for the stretch run and actually contend in the playoffs.
“It was not a good performance at all the other night when we had them, but I don’t know if they’re going to be able to pull it together or not,” he said. “That was a huge game for both of those teams, not only for the Rams to keep pace with Arizona in the division, but also they were still in the hunt potentially for a first-round bye. But it just does not have a good feel. I feel it throughout the entire organization. I just don’t know that they’re going — I don’t think they’re done. I think they’re going to have some moments where they climb back into it, but I don’t know if they’re going to have enough to get over the hump.”
With a 7-4 record, the Rams are now just one game ahead of their NFC West rivals in the 49ers for the No. 5 seed in the NFC. And with Los Angeles entering a crucial point of its schedule, there isn’t much time for this team to get back on track in time for a playoff push.
We have seen previous star-studded teams fall to the wayside due to underwhelming play or other reasons in the history of the NFL. Even though Aikman doesn’t have confidence in how the Rams have built their team, these final six weeks could either prove or disprove his point.
