The Los Angeles Rams took down the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, the first step toward clinching the NFC West – which they did on Sunday with the help of three teams. They’ve climbed all the way out of a 1-4 hole to start the year and currently sit at 10-6 with a home playoff game coming up in less than two weeks.
They’ve now won five in a row and although the offense hasn’t been carrying its weight, the Rams are still one of the hottest teams in the NFL and someone no opponent wants to face in the postseason.
Experts have released their power rankings heading into the final week of the season and despite notching another win, the Rams didn’t move up much in the latest polls. Although a few outlets bumped them up a spot or two, they actually dropped in a couple of rankings.
USA Today: 8th (last week: 9th)
ESPN: 11th (last week: 12th)
NFL.com: 12th (last week: 12th)
CBS Sports: 9th (last week: 10th)
Bleacher Report: 11th (last week: 12th)
ProFootballTalk: 10th (last week: 11th)
Yahoo Sports: 12th (last week: 10th)
The Athletic: 9th (last week: 11th)
FOX Sports: 8th (last week: 9th)
The Ringer: 12th (last week: 9th)
High: 8th – Low: 12th – Average: 10.2
There’s obviously some pause among analysts when it comes to anointing the Rams a legitimate contender, in large part because the offense is playing so poorly. Los Angeles has scored fewer than 20 points in each of its last three games, totaling just 44 points – the same number of points they scored in Week 14 against the Bills.
The Rams are likely to rest their starters in the finale against Seattle but even if they lose, they’ll still be a top-four seed in the NFC.