Rams’ wretched season ends the same way it began, with an embarrassing blowout loss

If nothing else, the Rams’ lost season featured symmetry.

It started with an embarrassing blowout loss against an NFC West opponent. It ended the same way.

Sunday’s 44-6 beat down by the Arizona Cardinals went beyond humiliating. That was a milepost the Rams experienced in the opener against the San Francisco 49ers and passed again numerous times en route to a 4-12 finish.

“Our goal was to start out 2017 with a win and a little better vibe,” interim Coach John Fassel said. “Clearly, that didn’t happen.”

This was not what the Rams — or most fans — were expecting when the franchise returned from St. Louis after a more than two-decade absence.

The Rams lost 11 of their final 12 games and won only one game at home as their playoff drought grew to 12 years.

For the second year in a row, they finished with the NFL’s worst-ranked offense, a designation that was on full display Sunday when they managed only two field goals.

Rookie quarterback Jared Goff, the No. 1 pick in the draft, was sacked seven times and absorbed numerous hits. He finished 0-7 as a starter.

“I’ve got to be better,” he said, “and everybody’s got to be better.”

Todd Gurley, the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year in 2015, once again failed to rush for 100 yards. In fact, he didn’t even reach 50.

On a positive note, a defense that was the backbone of the team early in the season did not experience another late-game collapse because of fatigue. Instead, it began to get picked apart by Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer early in the second half as a 10-point halftime deficit turned into a rout.

“Definitely not how you want to go out,” linebacker Mark Barron said of the finale.

The Rams are slated to play two more seasons at the Coliseum before their new Inglewood stadium opens in 2019.

At this point it is no home-field advantage.

The Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks, 9-3, in Week 2 but lost to Buffalo and Carolina, imploded in the final minutes against Miami, got routed by Atlanta, fell apart in the final minutes against San Francisco and got blown out by the Cardinals.

It was the same Arizona team the Rams defeated, 17-13, in Week 4, a victory that gave them a three-game winning streak and put them atop the NFC West.

“When we started off 3-1, I thought that was going to be the thing to help us transcend and be a playoff team,” defensive lineman William Hayes said. “It just didn’t work out that way.”

The Rams won once after that victory in Glendale, Ariz.

“We just kind of lost, I guess you could say, our mojo,” Ogletree said.

Multiple players said the 2016 season already was in the past.

And what of the future?

The search for a new coach to replace the fired Jeff Fisher will ramp up this week. The Rams can interview candidates who are not on the staffs of playoff-bound teams, and they can attempt to schedule weekend interviews with candidates coaching for teams with first-round byes.

That means the Rams will try to spend Saturday or Sunday with offensive coordinators such as New England’s Josh McDaniels and Atlanta’s Kyle Shanahan.

Asked how excited he was to play in a new offensive system next season, Goff started with a one-word answer: “Very.”

He also was among multiple players who spoke of the need for a coach who can instill a cultural change.

“This isn’t the culture that you want to live in,” veteran offensive lineman Rodger Saffold said. “I’ve been here seven years and still haven’t had a winning season.”

Said Ogletree: “We definitely need a guy that’s going to demand consistency and bring a winning culture.”

Fisher could not do it in four-plus seasons and Fassel was unable to do it in his three-game stint.

On Monday, the Rams will clean out their lockers and meet for the final time as a team at their Thousand Oaks training facility.

With a new coach and possibly a new general manager in place in a few weeks, it will mark the last time many players will be together.

While many players are looking forward to 2017, Sunday’s game might have been the last as Rams for several, including receivers Kenny Britt and Brian Quick, safety T.J. McDonald and cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who played with a franchise tag this season.

“I don’t know what the future holds,” Johnson said. “We’ll see, man. We’ll see.”