Jeff Fisher just guaranteed his 5th straight losing season with the Rams

Jeff Fisher may or may not be back as the Los Angeles Rams head coach in 2017, but he’s secured his place in history, not to mention a place in the hearts of beaten down Rams fans from St. Louis to Los Angeles, with his most recent loss.

The Rams’ 42-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday officially makes it five straight losing seasons in a row for the Fisher-led Rams. It’s also career loss 165 for Fisher, tying him with Dan Reeves for the most losses by a head coach in NFL history. One more loss, which is bound to happen before the season ends, and Fisher will have the record all to himself.

This loss drops the Rams to 4-9 for the season. With three games left to play, Fisher needs a sweep to reach his usual “7-9 bullshit,” a mark he vowed to avoid this year ... then later offered up an excuse for why we shouldn’t read anything into his infamous Hard Knocks speech to the team.

Fisher signed a two-year contract extension earlier this season, it was mysteriously reported on Dec. 4. But that hardly guarantees that he’ll be back on the sidelines for the team he’s left mired in his signature mediocrity since taking the job in 2012. Increasingly embattled, Fisher’s getting desperate, dropping excuses and throwing people under the bus like a man who knows he’s in trouble (it’s something he’s always excelled at).

Fisher’s 165 wins ties Reeves for the most of all time. It took Reeves 23 years to make it. Fisher only needed 22. Reeves also won four conference championships and went to four Super Bowls (with the Broncos in 1986, 1987 and 1989, and the Falcons in 1998).

If Fisher does somehow manage to convince the Rams that five losing seasons somehow aren’t his fault, he’ll be only the second coach in the history of the NFL who comes back for a sixth season after five losing seasons.

Tom Landry came back to coach the Cowboys in 1965 after five straight losing seasons (his first five seasons as a head coach in the NFL) then went on to coach the team for 29 years and win two Super Bowls.

Unlike Landry or even Reeves, it’s probably safe to assume that Fisher, after more than two decades of mediocrity, probably isn’t close to his first Super Bowl win. But at least he’s now secured a spot in the history books.