The Los Angeles Rams’ recent woes continued with a 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football in Week 17.
The Rams came out flat and found themselves trailing by 21 points at halftime, only to nearly pull off an impressive comeback in the second half.
The Rams will now shift their focus to one final regular season game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18. L.A. doesn’t have much to play for, but can still potentially jump into the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Unlike the previous two seasons when they rested key starters in the regular-season finale, the Rams plan to have all of their healthy players suit up against the Cardinals.
“Oh, we’re playing. They’re playing,” head coach Sean McVay said after the team’s loss to the Falcons.
When asked if the Rams’ poor stretch had anything to do with his decision, McVay said he always envisioned the starters playing against the Cardinals.
“They were going to play anyways,” McVay said. “We need to play. We need to play better football. I don’t know what the consequences are as far as those different types of things, but we’ve got to play better.”
It’s hard to fault McVay for wanting to play the starters in the Rams’ final game of the regular season against the Cardinals as the team simply hasn’t played up to standards these past two weeks.
What isn’t clear yet is whether the Rams starters will be on a snap count or if they will play the full game. The former seems to be the more likely scenario, especially if L.A. jumps out to a big lead over the Cardinals or the San Francisco 49ers defeat the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday in a game that will decide the NFC West winner.
Rams playoff scenarios
The Rams will know before they take the field against the Cardinals if they still have a chance to secure the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs.
If the 49ers defeat the Seahawks on Saturday, L.A. will be locked in as the No. 6 seed and have to travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles or Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round.
If the Seahawks beat the 49ers, the Rams will have a chance to secure the No. 5 seed with a win over the Cardinals. In that scenario, they would get a much easier first-round matchup on paper against either the Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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