Back in the day, winning back-to-back Super Bowls was almost seen as par for the course in the NFL. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 68, and the Dolphins repeated the feat in Super Bowls VII and VIII. The Steelers won back-to-back Super Bowls twice, in 1975 and 76, and again in 1979 and 80.   

Since then, however, back-to-back winners have been thin on the ground. Despite dominating the game in the 1980s, the 49ers only achieved it once, in 1989 and 1990, and the same applies to the Patriots in more recent years. In fact, their wins in 2004 and 2005 were the last back-to-back Super Bowl victories. 

Maintaining the momentum 

So what can we learn from those past back-to-back winners when assessing the Rams chances of adding their franchise to that exclusive list? The first is infrastructure. Multiple winners are power teams, and not just out in the middle. Boasting one of the 10 richest NFL owners, the Rams is a team that certainly has the resources to make the right investments for consistent success.  

Another factor is leadership. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, Joe Montana and Jim Seifert, Troy Aikman and Jerry Jones – it’s like a who’s who of NFL greats. Can we add Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay to that list? Right now, that would be pushing things, but if they can lead the Rams to a second consecutive Super Bowl, their place in the history books will be guaranteed.  

The talent to go all the way 

Of course, the most important factor in making it to the Super Bowl and emerging victorious is talent out on the field of play. Here, the Rams score high as a unit. Tom Brady might be rated higher than Matthew Stafford, but without him, the Bucs look decidedly ordinary. Just look what happened to the Patriots when he’d gone.  

With the Rams, however, there is depth in the talent on display with genuine superstars such as Cooper Kupp and Tyler Higbee on offense and Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsy, and Von Miller on defense to name just a few. Of course, the Rams prospects would be seriously dented if Stafford was absent, but it would not be a disaster on the same level as the Bucs losing Brady.  

The view from the bookies 

We can postulate all we like, but for an expert view on whether the Rams stand a realistic chance of back-to-back Super Bowls, we need to ask the real experts. Unsurprisingly, they all have Buffalo and Tampa Bay as favorites to contest Super Bowl LVII, with the Bills at slightly shorter odds than the Bucs to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy.  

 Kansas City and Green Bay are just behind them at +1000 each and the Rams are fifth favorites at +1100 or 11-1 odds. Put another way, the Rams are odds on winning the NFC West. And having seen how this unit handles playoff pressure, they have to be a solid bet to go all the way.