St. Louis Rams and the Most Snakebitten Teams in the NFL

The Rams, Seahawks, Browns, Jaguars and Chiefs are snakebitten.

In the wild of the NFL, it can happen to any franchise. The poison may remain in a system for years and even prove fatal.

There are several ways to get bit. Bad luck, injuries, poor decisions, coach/owner/front office issues and ineptitude can leave teams scrambling for the antidote.

Over the past few years, these teams and their fans have suffered most.

5. Kansas City Chiefs

After last year, Kansas City thought it had turned the corner with Jamaal Charles and was ready to cut upfield and outpace the NFL.

But the Chiefs were hampered by injuries, poor performance and limited depth.

The loss of Charles to a season-ending knee injury looms large.

Historically, the Chiefs have been a running back factory, but this year they just make parts and can’t put together a complete back. They’re trying desperately to combine Dexter McCluster’s speed, Le'Ron McClain’s blocking and Thomas Jones’ hands in the body of Jackie Battle.

Even if the Frankenstein approach works, is it enough to be a contender?

For the first three weeks of the season, aka "training camp," Matt Cassel’s inability to locate a receiver who didn't drop the ball or hand it to a defender kept the offense off the field.

That consistently put the defense in tough situations (which probably didn't matter but certainly didn't help).

The offense has shown improvement, but only against the Vikings, Colts and a Raiders team with no QB. Not quality opponents.

So, a franchise that hasn’t won a Super Bowl since the AFL/NFL merger (1970) looks poised to struggle again this season.

That leaves fans wondering—was last year a fluke?

4. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jags are averaging 12 points per game this season with no hope in sight.

(Motto on offense: At least we’re not the Rams!)

Yes, Jacksonville did re-sign Mike Sims-Walker.

But that’s not hope. That’s lunacy.

These same Jaguars (correctly) let Sims-Walker become a free agent after last season. He was signed by the Rams, the only offense statistically worse than Jacksonville this year.

And the Rams, who are desperate for a receiver, loved him so much he was cut after six games.

So Mike is “coming home” at the minimum salary because the worst two offenses in football both showed him the door once already.

Again, that’s not hope.

Hope is what rookie QB Blaine Gabbert feels when he releases the football, just before it hits the ground.

And Gabbert hopes to complete half his passes this season but currently sports a 48 percent completion rate.

Defensively, the Jags turned in their finest effort in five years against the Ravens, winning 12-7 behind four field goals from the team MVP, kicker Josh Scobee. See the problem?

Four field goals. Now you know how they average 12 points.

(Motto on defense: Our kicker is better than your kicker!)

The sad truth is this offense can’t kill the clock or score consistently, so their defense will wear out before most games end.

Last year’s 8-8 team bears little resemblance to this season’s version of the Jaguars, and Jacksonville is headed for its third losing campaign in four years.

3. Cleveland Browns

The Good News: Cleveland has three wins already.

The Browns had just five wins each of the past two seasons and only four the year before that. You have to admit they’re off to one of the best starts in recent history.

The Bad News: Two of those were over the winless Colts and Dolphins. The third came against the Seahawks last week, 6-3. (Yup, it counts; it went at least five innings, so it’s an official game.)

Honestly, even with Arizona, St. Louis and Jacksonville remaining on the schedule, it will be hard to match last year’s five wins.

Anyone seen Peyton Hillis? Anyone?

The stud running back has lingered through contract disputes, strep throat and hamstring problems this season.

Hillis must be legitimately hurt because Montario Hardesty got 33 carries last week despite an abysmal 2.9 yard-per-carry average. No way should that happen on purpose.

The Browns have shown an ability to keep games close, so it’s hard to say why they're perennial contenders for top draft picks. This franchise has also seen Bill Belichick and Mike Holmgren contribute their time and talents to no avail.

What will it take to pull Cleveland from this list?

2. Seattle Seahawks

Good ol’ trusty Seahawks: the standard of mediocrity.

Yes, this is a different kind of snakebite. Because Seattle isn't always bad; it's just never good. The Seahawks underachieve when talented (2005) and overachieve the rest of the time.

Need proof?

Despite the bye week to prepare, they managed to score just three points against the Browns last week.

They won a division title in 2010 because out of four teams in the NFC West, they were the least bad.

Their 12th man salute was ripped off from a college team (Texas A&M: also mediocre).

Their one Super Bowl appearance is memorable not because of the exhilarating punts, penalties, dropped passes and field position battles, but because the Rolling Stones were tame compared to Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction the year before.

Their 35th Anniversary All-Time Seahawks team lists Bobby Engram at wide receiver.

The Seahawks almost deserve credit for maintaining mediocrity every year despite division rivals that have posed little threat for the past decade.

Seattle fans, you have introduced the NFL to a new kind of suffering.

1. St. Louis Rams

St. Louis is far removed from the Greatest Show on Turf. It was so long ago most fans who remember that team also rooted for the St. Louis Browns. 

This year the Rams have suffered injuries at starting QB, both RBs, RT (LT is currently sick), LB, two DEs and nearly all the WRs and CBs. It may be easier to list healthy players.

The injuries have led to some desperate decisions.

For example, the Rams actually traded for Brandon Lloyd. It’s Lloyd’s fifth team in seven years, and he’s had one good season in eight attempts.

True, a lot of teams have players like that. They're called the "practice squad."

You know it’s bad when fans are talking about drafting a franchise QB (Andrew Luck) to replace the franchise QB they drafted two years ago (Sam Bradford).

Bradford may not play for the second straight week; he’s still in a walking boot to rehab a high ankle sprain.

Even though the Rams have no one worth throwing to, they also don’t have enough running backs to work exclusively from the Wildcat formation.

That means A.J. Feeley, who isn’t technically retired, could don a real NFL jersey and play QB again, getting hammered into the turf in place of Bradford.

It's so bad that recently promoted practice quarterback Tom Brandstater could make his first NFL appearance. He’s got a heartbeat and a Rams uniform, so he can take the field (and the pounding) when the New Orleans Saints try to beat last week’s team-record 62 points in a game.

The Saints are a tough matchup for the reeling Rams. Drew Brees had more passing touchdowns against the Colts last week, with five, than the Rams have scored in six games. Ouch.

The misery in St. Louis won’t end soon; it's potentially fatal.

They might have to escape to Los Angeles.

Honorable Mentions

The Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins can all make convincing arguments for inclusion on this list.

Some teams have bad luck, some make poor decisions, some suffer from bad owners, coaches and front-office executives and some teams are just dysfunctional.

The truth is in any given season, a team suffers setbacks.

But good teams bounce back.

It's a combination of problems that keep franchises losing consistently, year after year, and leaves them snakebit.

Think another team is worse off?