So what if the Los Angeles Rams are on the verge of the franchise’s 12th consecutive season without a spot in the playoffs? In this week’s episode of the L.A. Rams 2.0 Weekly Show, co-hosts Os Davis and former Notre Dame/L.A. Rams/Buffalo Bills great Tony Hunter take you back to a time with the Rams were perpetual Super Bowl contenders – namely, the 1980s.

This week, L.A. Rams 2.0 welcomes Tony’s former teammate, wide receiver Henry Ellard, a 30-year veteran of the NFL playing and coaching ranks who spent the years of 1983-93 with the Rams. In his playing career, Henry ran up seven seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards, was three times named to the Pro Bowl and twice a first-team All Pro.

Henry and Tony discuss those days of Rams management penny-pinching players – particularly their teammate Eric Dickerson, a Hall of Famer paid second-string money in the 80s. The guys also discuss Dickerson’s recent flap with Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, and Henry gamely attempts to deduce the coach’s motives in banning the legend from the Rams sideline…

We also discuss the great wide receivers of Henry and Tony’s times and of today; Henry is also kind enough to dredge up memories of that 1986 NFC Championship game, which resulted in a merciless throttling at the hands of those legendary Chicago Bears.

In terms of today’s Los Angeles Rams, Henry leverages his receivers coaching experience to explain the main problems with the L.A. passing game, and he remains bullish on both Jared Goff and Fisher & Co.’s decision to sit the no. 1 overall draft pick for the first half of the regular season. And Tony’s famed optimism is put to the test in assessing our Rams’ chances against the New England Patriots this week.

Now this is the kind of 80s flashback even Os can get behind!

Check out episode 11 of the L.A. Rams 2.0 Show with hosts Tony Hunter and Os Davis and special guest Henry Ellard right here, download with Spreaker or Stitcher, and/or subscribe via iTunes.

(Theme music: “Rare Bird” by Tab & Anitek, remixed with sample from HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Used with Attribution Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.)