Could The Greatest Show on Turf be back?

Almost 20 years after the record-breaking Rams’ offence earned that nickname in St. Louis, the team has built an attack this season potentially worthy of the moniker, only now 3,000 kilometres away on the West Coast.

The St. Louis Rams of 1999-2001 were tabbed the Greatest Show on Turf for the eye-popping offensive numbers they put up while playing on the artificial surface at the then Trans World Dome. In those three years the team went to two Super Bowls, winning in 2001, became the first in NFL history to score 500 or more points in three consecutive seasons and swept the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards.

After an impressive 2017 season where the Rams won the NFC West with an 11-5 record and were the highest-scoring offence in the league, the team loaded up on even more talent this off-season, adding deep threat Brandin Cooks (and a number of defensive stars to presumably get the offence on the field more often.)

TSN.ca compares The Greatest Show on Turf offence of 1999-2001 to this season’s Rams offence:

Coach – Mike Martz vs. Sean McVay

Martz was the offensive coordinator in 1999 before taking over as head coach the next two seasons, but he was the architect of the offence all three years. He was one of the first playcallers to favour the pass over the run on early downs and his “Air Coryell” system often had four and five receivers running routes on any given play. The results were league-leading offences in both yards and scoring all three seasons and then-NFL records in total yards (7,335) and passing yards (5,492) in 2000.

McVay doesn’t have the records, but he’s already made a name for himself in one year as Rams head coach and the three previous seasons as offensive coordinator in Washington. McVay presided over the third-ranked scoring offence in Washington in 2016 before revitalizing the Rams attack last season (the team jumped from last in both total and scoring offence to 10th and first respectively.)

Quarterback – Kurt Warner vs. Jared Goff

The two quarterbacks couldn’t have taken more different paths to leading the Rams’ offence. Goff was a first-overall selection after a strong collegiate career at California. Warner was an undrafted, Indoor Football League and NFL Europe veteran, for a brief time a grocery bagger, and injury replacement for Trent Green.

But it will be hard for Goff to match what Warner turned into. The Pro Football Hall of Famer threw for 12,612 yards and 98 touchdowns during the three-year Greatest Show on Turf era despite missing five games in 2000. He was also named league MVP in 1999 and 2001.

Goff threw for 3,802 yards and 28 touchdowns in 15 games last season; both marks a little shy of one-third of Warner’s totals.

Running back – Marshall Faulk vs. Todd Gurley

Faulk was named Offensive Player of the Year three consecutive seasons from 1999-2001; Gurley is a third of the way there after winning the award last year.

Also a Pro Football Hall of Famer, Faulk was one of the best ever at running and receiving out of the backfield. Faulk surpassed 2,000 total offensive yards all three seasons of the Greatest Show on Turf era and accomplished the even more elusive 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving season in 1999.

But Gurley’s 2017 was on pace with Faulk’s best season. The 24-year-old also eclipsed 2,000 total offensive yards and his 19 combined touchdowns led the NFL by a wide margin (although were short of Faulk’s 26 scores in 2000.)

Wide receivers – Isaac Bruce/Torry Holt/Az-Zahir Hakim/Ricky Proehl vs. Brandin Cooks/Cooper Kupp/Robert Woods

There is no Hall of Famers in this position group but Bruce and Holt are finalists for the honour this year.

Bruce was a five-year veteran with a Pro Bowl already on his resume by the time The Greatest Show on Turf began. But the Rams’ offensive exploits turned him into a perennial Pro Bowler and allowed him to set career highs in receiving yards, with 1,471 in 2000. That total was third in the league and 164 behind teammate Holt’s league-leading 1,635.

Hakim and Proehl, the team’s third and fourth receivers, combined to average more than 1,000 yards receiving per season over the three-year stretch.

The Rams’ current receiving corps has a lot of work to do before they’ll be compared to the Greatest Show on Turf pass catchers.

Cooks, acquired from the New England Patriots for a first-round draft pick, is the unit’s only 1,000-yard receiver, having accomplished the feat the past three seasons. Woods has been a productive receiver during his five-year career so far but the 781 yards he gained last year, his first season in Los Angeles, were a career high. Kupp is entering just his sophomore season, although his rookie numbers last year were impressive – 869 yards and five touchdowns.

Offensive line

These guys won’t make the highlight reel but they provide the time so that the skill position players can. This year’s unit returns intact from a solid year last year. There is no Orlando Pace among the starting five of Andrew Whitworth, Rodger Saffold, John Sullivan, Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein, but they’re an above-average unit that helped Gurley and Goff have career seasons last year.

Warner was sacked an average of 2.64 times per game over three seasons from 1999-2001, but was taken down 38 times during his prolific 2001 MVP season. Goff was sacked 25 times last season, an average of 1.6 times per game.

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So, there’s still plenty of work to be done before the 2018 Rams become the Greatest Show on Turf 2.0 (plus they play on natural grass in Los Angeles now), but the offence enters the season with the potential to put up some special numbers. McVay has built an offence that can keep the Rams atop the NFC West for the foreseeable future.