Los Angeles Rams Have the NFC TERRIFIED — Aaron Donald & Myles Garrett Spell NFL DOOM

Aaron Donald does not need to return to the NFL as the same unstoppable force he was before retirement. If he is merely good in 2025, the Los Angeles Rams may already have one of the most terrifying defensive fronts in league history—because standing beside him will be Miles Garrett, who just won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award unanimously. Donald has won the award three times. Garrett has won it twice.

Together, they hold five of the last nine Defensive Player of the Year honors. That combination has sparked immediate speculation that the Rams could become overwhelming Super Bowl favorites, but it has also raised a serious question for every opposing offense: who do you double-team? Garrett was double-teamed or chipped on 186 pass-rush opportunities last season, the most by any edge rusher since 2018. That kind of attention means that with Donald on the same line, one of them will almost certainly face one-on-one protection.

An offensive coordinator’s game plan, the argument goes, could shrink dramatically when every play begins with the same question: can we actually block them? If the answer is no, the play gets thrown out. . That reality, combined with a top-ranked scoring offense, makes the Rams a matchup that some analysts believe no NFL team can truly survive.

. Donald, who is 35 years old, has spent the last two years out of football. The last time he played, he was an eight-time First Team All-Pro selection. The Rams reportedly signed him to a deal that could be worth up to $30 million with incentives, though his base salary is around $20 million.

The expectation, according to analysts discussing the move, is not that Donald reclaims his old dominance, but rather that his “good” level is still better than most players at their best—and sufficient to change how offenses approach the Rams entirely. . But the Rams are not being treated as guaranteed champions, despite the excitement. They reportedly sit at around plus-500 odds to win the Super Bowl, and history offers a cautionary note: over the last 30 years, 20 teams have entered a season at similar betting odds, and none of them ultimately won the Super Bowl.

The team also remains in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions, the NFC West, where Seattle won 14 games last season and beatthe Rams twice in three meetings, while San Francisco and Los Angeles each won 12 games. . Last season, the Rams’ defense was a clear problem down the stretch. They scored 37 points at Seattle in Week 16 and still lost 38-37 after blowing a 16-point lead.

In the NFC Championship Game, they scored 27 points but still lost. Adding Donald to Garrett is widely seen as a direct attempt to fix those exact failures, giving the defense enough playmaking to complement an offense that returns 10 starters, including reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford, wide receivers Puka Nakua and Devante Adams, and running back Kyren Williams. Donald, who rested his body for two years, may not need to be great, analysts argue—he just needs to be good. If he is, the Rams could be the most difficult defensive matchup in football.

If he looks like his old self, opponents may face a problem with no solution at all. .