The 5 worst NFL teams to ever play in a Super Bowl
By John Buhler
Pick Analysis. Super Bowl XIV. 51. Scouting Report. (9-7). 1979 Los Angeles Rams. 2. player
The Los Angeles Rams have reached four Super Bowls, but their first trip back in 1979 is the least memorable. While they won the NFC West, they were only 9-7 in a bad division. The San Francisco 49ers didn’t find their stride until a few years later under Bill Walsh and Joe Montana. The Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints made the playoffs a combined one time heading into 1979.
Los Angeles was the first team to reach a Super Bowl with less than a +50 point differential. There were worse regular-season teams to play in a Super Bowl to follow, but the 1979 Rams were nothing special. While they had two future Pro Football Hall of Famers on their roster in offensive tackle Jackie Slater and defensive end Jack Youngblood, this wasn’t a Rams team of the 1980s.
Led by quarterback Vince Ferragamo, the Rams upset the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round, setting up an NFC Championship date with the expansion era Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Lee Roy Selmon was the star of the Buccaneers’ defense, but that team in its fourth year of existence could score a point in the conference title bout. The Rams shut them out, 9-0.
Meeting the Rams in nearby Pasadena for Super Bowl XIV was the reigning dynasty in the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the Rams had two future hall of famers, the Steelers had 10 on the playing field. Though Youngblood started the club of playing in a Super Bowl on a broken foot and losing, his team was no match for Terry Bradshaw and John Stallworth that January night in 1980.