Rising from a 1-4 start, the Rams have another division title under Sean McVay
The Los Angeles Rams have won the NFC West championship and clinched a playoff berth after seizing the strength of victory tiebreaker over the Seattle Seahawks Sunday night. The team achieved this with their victory Saturday over the Arizona Cardinals, along with wins by the Bengals, Bills, Vikings and Commanders. It is Sean McVay’s fourth divisional title in his eight years as the head coach of the Rams.
Even with a 1-4 start plagued by a plethora of early injuries, LA was able to turn their misfortunes around to go on a three-game win streak out of their Week 6 bye. After slowly gaining players like wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp back off of IR, along with some continuity and health along the offensive line, Los Angeles was able to put together some more late season magic while going on another five-game win streak.
From high-scoring shoot outs like the Bills game or physical defensive battles like the San Francisco game, the Rams have won in many different ways this season. Running back Kyren Williams continued his 2023 breakout, putting together 1,299 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns thus far, while showing why he belongs in the talks of upper echelon NFL running backs. Nacua also continued his high-level of play in his sophomore season with 990 yard receiving and 79 receptions, despite playing in only ten games this year.
Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images
LA’s pure dominance of the NFC West proves that they have earned the right to the title of division champion. This season, Los Angeles has gone 6-1 vs the West and 9-2 since 2023. It’s tied for the best divisional record in the NFL the last two seasons.
Defensively, the Rams have improved greatly since the beginning of the year. Rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske look like cornerstone talents to build a franchise around, and that’s in addition to the already great second-year pass rushers Kobie Turner and Byron Young that were already on the roster.
Together the young reformed defensive of Los Angeles has put together 36 sacks this season, including eight from Turner and seven from Young. Rookie Fiske also has eight sacks of his own and Verse rounds out the group with 4.5 as well.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
It’s been a rollercoaster season for Los Angeles to say the least. From some major lows like when many questioned if veterans like QB Matthew Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp would be traded at the deadline, to some highest of highs like when LA took down the AFC powerhouse Buffalo Bills and swept the hated rival San Francisco 49ers, it’s been an exciting and fun season that is NOT over for the Rams quite yet. McVay will most-likely rest his starters vs. Seattle next week now that the division has been locked up, so the next meaningful football game Los Angeles will play will be in the NFC Wild Card round.