Other than the missing 23 carats of diamonds, the replica Super Bowl LVI rings fans received on Sunday at SoFi Stadium looked like the real thing.

That’s more than the Rams can claim.

The team that opened the season as the overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI continued to look like a cheap imitation.

They did not flash. They did not sparkle.

They looked dull. Lifeless.

Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in an 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

And when Chad Ryland of the Arizona Cardinals kicked his sixth field goal as time expired, the Rams lost 18-16 in front of 72,573.

“There’s nothing positive that I can say,” Rams coach Sean McVay lamented.

First-year Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur, the Rams’ former offensive coordinator, outcoached and outmaneuvered McVay, his friend and mentor.

With just more than a third of the season complete, the Rams are 2-4.

“We are what our record is,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

This isn’t a Super Bowl hangover. Sunday’s effort felt like another harbinger.

“Even if we had come away with the result there,” McVay said, “it’s just not good enough.”

And it’s not only one issue.

“There’s just so many things,” McVay said, “that aren’t in alignment with what we need to be able to do.”

The Rams failed to bounce back from their overtime defeat by the powerful Buffalo Bills and lost to a Cardinals team that entered the game having given up at least 31 points in each of its last four.

This from a Rams team that was built to win another Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium.

Only six players from the team that won Super Bowl LVI are still on the roster: Stafford, defensive lineman Aaron Donald, tight end Tyler Higbee, center Coleman Shelton, left tackle Alaric Jackson and receiver Tutu Atwell.

During the offseason they added two players with two Super Bowl rings each: cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

But the Rams have not looked anything like a Super Bowl contender.

“I don’t think it’s like anybody’s shying away from the moment,” defensive lineman Kobie Turner said. “It’s just executing in those moments.”

An offense that went into the game as the league’s most productive from a yardage standpoint managed only a field goal and two touchdowns. Stafford completed 25 of 33 passes for 222 yards.

With Jackson suspended for the game for punching Bill linebacker Bradley Chubb on the field after the Rams’ loss, veteran David Quessenberry started for the first time since 2023. The Cardinals predictably brought pressure and blitzed, sacking Stafford three times and hitting him seven times.

Safety Quentin Lake intercepted a pass for a defense that was without McDuffie because of a groin injury. Although the defense gave up only field goals, it also missed tackles and allowed the Cardinals to control the ball for nearly 35 minutes.

And special teams continued to be a disaster.

New kicker Blake Grupe, signed this week after the Rams released struggling Harrison Mevis, kicked a 44-yard field goal in the first quarter. But on the ensuing kickoff, Devin Duvernay returned Grupe’s kick 40 yards before the 5-foot-7, 156-pound Grupe hurled his body to stop him. Grupe suffered a knee injury and did not return.

“We’ve had some really critical errors at really unfortunate times,” McVay said, “but that’s what our narrative has been for this year.”

Grupe’s field goal and a 15-yard touchdown reception by Blake Corum helped make it 9-9 at halftime.

The Cardinals led 12-9 in the third quarter when the loss of Grupe came into play. On a fourth-and-one at the Cardinals’ 27-yard line, McVay opted to go for it. Davis Allen lined up in the backfield and took a handoff from Stafford, but the Cardinals stopped him for no gain.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

With the Rams trailing 15-9 in the fourth quarter, Higbee lost a fumble.

The Rams got the ball back with just less than seven minutes remaining, but a false-start penalty stymied the drive and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

But the Rams got the ball again with 2:48 left, and Stafford threw a short touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson to tie the score. Punter Ethan Evans kicked the extra point to give the Rams the lead with 47 seconds left.

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals, however, came back with the help of a personal-foul penalty after a completed pass. And Ryland’s sixth field goal finished the Rams.

Next up: The Raiders in Las Vegas, a game against the winless Chargers at SoFi Stadium and trips to play the Washington Commanders and the Cardinals.

If the Rams are to win another Super Bowl ring, they will have to change their current identity — that of a team with a penchant for self-inflicted mistakes.

“I’ve continued to talk about it,” McVay said. “We try to be able to harp on it, and we’ve got to be able to figure it out.

“And I don’t have those answers right now.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)