The 2016 season was the Los Angeles Rams' 79th in the National Football League (NFL), and their fifth and final under head coach Jeff Fisher. It was the franchise's 50th season in the Greater Los Angeles Area but their first since 1994, having returned to Los Angeles after 21 seasons in St. Louis. The Rams decided from 2016 to 2019 to return to wearing white uniforms at home in Los Angeles as a nod to the Fearsome Foursome era. In Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks, their NFC West divisional rival, the Rams wore white horns on their helmet just for the one game only, a move which would be repeated for the entire following season.

The 2016 season saw the Rams attempting to improve upon their 7–9 record from 2015. After a surprising 3–1 start, the Rams would massively struggle in the second half, going 1–11 in their final 12 games, en route to a 4–12 record. The Rams also went 1–7 at home in 2016, their worst home record since going 0–8 at home in their 1–15 2009 season. The Rams also missed the playoffs for the 12th straight season. The franchise also clinched its tenth straight losing season. The Rams were also the only team to lose to the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, as both wins for the 49ers were against the Rams.

On December 12, 2016, Fisher was fired after a 42–14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons that dropped the Rams to 4–9. Special teams coordinator John Fassel was named interim head coach and went winless over the final three games. This was the last season with the Rams having a losing record until their injury plagued 2022 campaign.

Because the Oakland Raiders went 12–4, their first winning season in 14 years, the Rams were the only team from 2004 to this year that did not have a single winning season.

Return to Los Angeles After receiving permission to void its lease on the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis during the 2015 season, the team officially filed an application to relocate back to Los Angeles on January 4, 2016, where it would play at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood when completed; construction began in December 2015, and the stadium opened in September 2020. In the interim, the Rams would play seven of their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the eighth game at Twickenham Stadium in London as part of the NFL International Series. The Rams also resumed holding training camp at UC Irvine, where they had previously held training camp during the 1990s prior to the move to St. Louis.

The Rams competed against the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, both of whom also filed relocation requests for a joint stadium in Carson for the rights to the Los Angeles market; the Chargers received a one-year option to decide if they wanted to share the Inglewood stadium with the Rams, which they did in the following season in 2017. Had the Chargers not accepted the option, a one-year option would have been granted to the Raiders after theirs expired. The Raiders would eventually move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2020 to play at Allegiant Stadium. The league made their decision in a special meeting on January 12; after two ballots, the Rams' proposal was accepted on a 30–2 vote.

The Rams' return to the Greater Los Angeles Area received extensive media coverage. The team made its first appearance on HBO's Hard Knocks, which covered training camp and preseason. Several players and their families were followed on the new E! reality series Hollywood & Football as they settled in Southern California, while the regular season was later chronicled in the Amazon Prime sports documentary series All Or Nothing.

The Coliseum was previously the Rams' home for 34 seasons (1946–1979); they moved to Anaheim Stadium in Orange County in 1980, and played there for fifteen seasons before the move to St. Louis in 1995.

Draft

Notes The Rams acquired the No. 1 overall pick from the Tennessee Titans along with a 4th and 6th round selections in exchange for the Rams No. 15 overall pick, two-second-round picks, and a third-round pick in the 2016 draft. The Titans also received the Rams first and third-round picks in 2017. The Rams acquired an additional second-round selection as part of a trade that sent quarterback Sam Bradford to the Philadelphia Eagles. This selection along with their original second-round pick were traded for the number one overall selection of the 2016 draft. The Rams forfeited their fifth-round selection after selecting offensive tackle Isaiah Battle in the 2015 Supplemental draft. The Rams traded their seventh-round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for quarterback Case Keenum. Jared Goff was the last player picked in the 1st round by the Rams until 2024.

Staff

Final roster

Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Dallas Cowboys W 28–24 1–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 2 Kansas City Chiefs W 21–20 2–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 3 at Denver Broncos L 9–17 2–1 Sports Authority Field at Mile High Recap 4 at Minnesota Vikings L 25–27 2–2 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap

Regular season

Schedule On November 25, 2015, the NFL announced that the Rams would play host to a then-undetermined NFC East opponent in the International Series, in the first-ever game at Twickenham Stadium in London, United Kingdom. On January 3, 2016, the New York Giants were confirmed as the Rams' opponent for this game, both teams having finished in third place in their respective divisions in the season. The game was played in Week 7 on Sunday, October 23. The kickoff time was announced on April 14, and both teams had their bye the following week. As a condition of the Rams' use of the Coliseum, the University of Southern California requested that the NFL not schedule any Monday night home games at the stadium, nor any home games on days after USC football games. While the team's final schedule did not contain any home Monday night games, two games were played on days following an USC home game. The Rams wore their white uniforms for all of their home games for the first time since 1971 as a nod to the Fearsome Foursome era, with the exception of wearing their throwback uniforms twice a year for home games and wearing their all-navy uniforms for the game in London.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 at San Francisco 49ers L 0–28 0–1 Levi's Stadium 70,178 Recap 2 September 18 Seattle Seahawks W 9–3 1–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 91,046 Recap 3 September 25 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 37–32 2–1 Raymond James Stadium 55,009 Recap 4 October 2 at Arizona Cardinals W 17–13 3–1 University of Phoenix Stadium 64,622 Recap 5 October 9 Buffalo Bills L 19–30 3–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 83,679 Recap 6 October 16 at Detroit Lions L 28–31 3–3 Ford Field 56,018 Recap 7 October 23 New York Giants L 10–17 3–4 Twickenham Stadium 74,121 Recap 8Bye 9 November 6 Carolina Panthers L 10–13 3–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 86,109 Recap 10 November 13 at New York Jets W 9–6 4–5 MetLife Stadium 78,160 Recap 11 November 20 Miami Dolphins L 10–14 4–6 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 83,483 Recap 12 November 27 at New Orleans Saints L 21–49 4–7 Mercedes-Benz Superdome 73,067 Recap 13 December 4 at New England Patriots L 10–26 4–8 Gillette Stadium 66,829 Recap 14 December 11 Atlanta Falcons L 14–42 4–9 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 82,495 Recap 15 at Seattle Seahawks L 3–24 4–10 CenturyLink Field 69,067 Recap 16 San Francisco 49ers L 21–22 4–11 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 83,656 Recap 17 January 1 Arizona Cardinals L 6–44 4–12 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 80,729 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at San Francisco 49ers

The now-Los Angeles Rams stumbled badly in their season opener, getting shut out by the host 49ers on Monday Night Football. Quarterback Case Keenum was ineffective, completing less than 50 percent of his passes (17-for-35) for 130 yards and two interceptions, while also being sacked twice. Running back Todd Gurley was also lackluster, with only 47 yards on 17 carries. Defensively, linebacker Alec Ogletree led the team with 12 tackles (11 solo) and defensive end Dominique Easley forced a fumble that was recovered by cornerback Trumaine Johnson. But the Rams came up with no sacks, and defensive tackle Aaron Donald was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter for unsportsmanlike conduct and making contact with a game official, an incident for which he later apologized.

Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Playing at home in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 1979, the Rams got the victory in a defensive battle over their NFC West rivals. Three field goals from kicker Greg Zuerlein were enough for the Rams, who played in front of a homecoming crowd of 91,046. With the win, the Rams won a regular season game in Los Angeles for the first time since 1994. Case Keenum completed 18 of 30 passes for 239 yards, and wide receiver Kenny Britt caught six passes for 94 yards. Robert Quinn and William Hayes both had sacks of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, while Alec Ogletree had nine tackles and a fumble recovery on Seattle's final drive to preserve the victory. The Rams paid tribute to their first regular season game back in Los Angeles by wearing their blue and yellow throwback uniforms, which were their primary uniforms during their last season in 1994. It would also turn out to be the only game that the Rams won at home all season.

Week 3: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Held out of the end zone in the season's first two weeks, the Rams scored five touchdowns in what would be their highest single-game point total of the season. Case Keenum's 44-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Brian Quick ended L.A.'s TD drought, and Greg Zuerlein kicked a 53-yard field goal to give the Rams a 10–6 lead at the end of the first quarter. After the host Buccaneers scored twice to take a 20–10 lead, Todd Gurley scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs in both the second and third quarters to put the Rams back in the lead. Defensive end Ethan Westbrooks picked up a fumble forced by Robert Quinn and ran it back 77 yards for a touchdown, and Keenum connected with Tavon Austin for a 43-yard touchdown pass play and a 37–26 lead. But Tampa Bay rallied behind quarterback Jameis Winston (405 yards, 3 TD passes) to pull within five points. Driving in the final minute, the Bucs reached the Rams 5-yard line, but Quinn brought down Winston from behind as time expired. With two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, game play was suspended for 69 minutes due to lightning strikes in the area. With the win, the Rams record improved to 2–1 for the first time since 2006, placing the team in first place in the NFC West. It was also the first time the Rams scored a regular season touchdown as the Los Angeles Rams since 1994. This was the only game all season that the Rams scored at least 30 points.

Week 4: at Arizona Cardinals

Case Keenum connected twice for touchdown passes to Brian Quick as Los Angeles held on for the victory, which gave the Rams a 3–1 start for the first time since 2006. Linebacker Mark Barron had a team-high eight tackles and an interception as the Rams defense forced five turnovers. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after recording five tackles with 1.5 sacks on the day as the Rams found themselves in first place in the NFC West.

Week 5: vs. Buffalo Bills