Between their time in Los Angeles and St. Louis, the Rams have reached the Super Bowl four times. Of course, their most recent appearance came just last year in Super Bowl LIII, a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
Two of their other Super Bowl appearances were during the Greatest Show on Turf era with Kurt Warner at quarterback and Marshall Faulk leading the way in the backfield. But the Rams reached their first Super Bowl 40 years ago today, where they would face the Steelers.
It was Super Bowl XIV on January 20, 1980, a game which they lost 31-19 at the Rose Bowl. Vince Ferragamo was the quarterback in the Super Bowl after taking over for Pat Haden late in the year, with Wendell Tyler as the top running back and Preston Dennard leading the receiving corps that season. The Rams’ defense, led by Jim Youngblood, Jack Reynolds and Nolan Cromwell, finishing the year seventh in yards allowed and 11th in points.
The defense forced three turnovers against the Steelers that day in the Super Bowl, but Terry Bradshaw’s 309 yards on only 21 attempts and Franco Harris’ two scores were too much for the Rams to overcome.
You could argue the Rams overachieved that year, going just 9-7 in the regular season but still winning the NFC West. They’d come back and go 11-5 in 1980, but finished second in the division and were bounced in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
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