1982 Los Angeles Rams season

1982 Los Angeles Rams season
OwnerGeorgia Frontiere
Head coachRay Malavasi
Home fieldAnaheim Stadium
Results
Record2–7
Division place14th in the NFC (Would be 4th NFC West)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Uniform

The 1982 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 45th year with the National Football League and the 37th season in Los Angeles. The season saw the Rams attempting to improve on their 6–10 record from 1981, a result that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 1972. However, a players strike wiped out 7 of the team's 16 games, and shortened the season schedule to only 9 games. The team struggled early, starting 0–2 before the strike commenced. After the conclusion of the strike, the Rams finally got a win at home over the Kansas City Chiefs. However, during this game, quarterback Bert Jones was lost for the season after suffering a neck injury that ultimately led to his retirement. The Rams would lose their next four games before upsetting the 49ers in San Francisco in the season finale. The Rams would ultimately finish the season 2–7, last in their division and dead last in the NFC. It was the teamʼs worst season since 1962, when they won only one game. As a result, head coach Ray Malavasi was fired after the season and replaced by John Robinson for 1983.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1982 Los Angeles Rams draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 14 Barry Redden  Running back Richmond
3 67 Bill Bechtold  Center Oklahoma
4 88 Jeff Gaylord  Linebacker Missouri
5 117 Wally Kersten  Tackle Minnesota
5 118 Doug Barnett  Defensive end Azusa Pacific
6 145 Kerry Locklin  Tight end New Mexico State
7 181 Joe Shearin  Guard Texas Made roster in 1983
8 202 A. J. Jones  Running back Texas
8 207 Mike Reilly  Linebacker Oklahoma
9 229 Bob Speight  Tackle Boston University
10 256 Miles McPherson  Defensive back New Haven
11 285 Ricky Coffman  Wide receiver UCLA
12 312 Raymond Coley  Defensive tackle Alabama A&M
      Made roster  

[1]

The Rams signed free-agent and oft-injured QB Bert Jones from the Baltimore Colts. Vince Ferragamo returned from the CFL as well, and, with Pat Haden retired, the competition was between these two. Jones opened the season as the starter.

Personnel

Staff

1982 Los Angeles Rams staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Fred Whittingham

Strength and conditioning

  • Conditioning – Clyde Evans


Roster

1982 Los Angeles Rams roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 12 at Green Bay Packers L 23–35 0–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 53,693
2 September 19 Detroit Lions L 14–19 0–2 Anaheim Stadium 59,470
Players' strike
3 November 21 at Atlanta Falcons L 17–34 0–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 39,686
4 November 28 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–14 1–3 Anaheim Stadium 45,793
5 December 2 San Francisco 49ers L 24–30 1–4 Anaheim Stadium 58,574
6 December 12 Denver Broncos L 24–27 1–5 Anaheim Stadium 48,112
7 December 18 at Los Angeles Raiders L 31–37 1–6 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 56,646
8 December 26 Chicago Bears L 26–34 1–7 Anaheim Stadium 46,502
9 January 2 at San Francisco 49ers W 21–20 2–7 Candlestick Park 54,256
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 4

1 234Total
Chiefs 7 007 14
• Rams 0 1460 20

[2]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Atlanta Falcons(5) 5 4 0 .556 3–1 4–3 183 199 L2
New Orleans Saints 4 5 0 .444 2–1 3–5 129 160 W1
San Francisco 49ers 3 6 0 .333 1–3 2–3 209 206 L1
Los Angeles Rams 2 7 0 .222 1–2 1–5 200 250 W1
# Team W L T PCT PF PA STK
Seeded postseason qualifiers
1 Washington Redskins 8 1 0 .889 190 128 W4
2 Dallas Cowboys 6 3 0 .667 226 145 L2
3 Green Bay Packers 5 3 1 .611 226 169 L1
4[a] Minnesota Vikings 5 4 0 .556 187 198 W1
5[a] Atlanta Falcons 5 4 0 .556 183 199 L2
6[a] St. Louis Cardinals 5 4 0 .556 135 170 L1
7[a] Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 4 0 .556 158 178 W3
8[b] Detroit Lions 4 5 0 .444 181 176 W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
9[b] New Orleans Saints 4 5 0 .444 129 160 W1
10[b] New York Giants 4 5 0 .444 164 160 W1
11[c] San Francisco 49ers 3 6 0 .333 209 206 L1
12[c] Chicago Bears 3 6 0 .333 141 174 L1
13[c] Philadelphia Eagles 3 6 0 .333 191 195 L1
14 Los Angeles Rams 2 7 0 .222 200 250 W1
Tiebreakers
  1. ^ a b c d Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games.
  2. ^ a b c Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5).
  3. ^ a b c San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5).

See also

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1982

References

  1. ^ "1982 Los Angeles Rams draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com