Maybe, when you look back at it now. The Rams were soft. They won only 1 playoff game over the next several seasons and from 2002 to 2016 they only had 1 winning season. Their defense had an average ranking of 27th for 8 seasons following SB 36. Warner's career was also in shambles for several years, he had a moderate resurgence at the end, but nothing like his MVP seasons. After a one season letdown the Patriots won 16 division titles in a row with Brady. And the 2001 defense had many solid foundational pieces that were significant to the dynasty 1.0.
So who was the more talented team? The Rams had talent, could have been Olympic gold medalists in a 5x5 relay, but they were soft, lacked toughness, unlike the Patriots who were physically and mentally tough. We knocked the snot out of them for most of that game, the Rams offense got it going in the end, but their defense couldn't stop Brady when it counted, as would very typically be the case throughout Brady's illustrious career. All things considered, perhaps the Rams had more talent, but the Patriots had the better team.
And my main argument still stands... going from 5-13 to 14-3 with a Super Bowl title was entirely dependent on the change at quarterback.