Thursday night’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks was a dramatic blow to the Los Angeles Rams. LA is now unlikely to win the NFC West and may need to play three road games in order to reach the Super Bowl. The path just grew much more difficult.
There remains a sliver of hope that the Rams could find themselves on top of their division and in first place of the conference. Whoever takes the NFC West is also likely to take the first-round bye into the playoffs. Los Angeles should find comfort in this.
While the Rams no longer control their destiny, there is still a reasonable—albeit narrow—road for them to finish as division and regular season conference winners. Rams fans, this is your rooting guide for the final two weeks of the season:
Remaining schedules:
- Rams: Falcons, Cardinals
- Seahawks: Panthers, 49ers
- 49ers: Colts, Bears, Seahawks
- Bears: 49ers, Lions
All of the aforementioned teams are in the NFC playoff hunt aside from the Cardinals. The Rams have the easiest path of all teams to finish the year 2-0. The Lions may finish on the outside looking in; however, they could still be fighting for their life in Week 18 and are unlikely to lay down for a division foe even if they are out of contention.
This is how the chips have to fall in order for the Rams to finish in first place:
1 – 49ers lose to either the Colts or Bears
2 – Bears lose to either the 49ers or Lions*
3 – Seahawks lose to either the Panthers or 49ers
*If the 49ers beat the Colts on Monday night, SF winning against Chicago effectively sets up a “winner take all” Week 18 game between Seahawks-49ers assuming Seattle wins in Week 17.
Week 16 odds:
49ers are 5.5-point road favorites over the Colts.
Week 17 odds:
Seattle is a 7.5-point road favorite over the Panthers.
San Francisco is favored at home to top Chicago by 2.5 points.
Rams are 8.5-point road favorites over Atlanta.
Final thoughts:
The most probable path for the Rams in is to hope for a Week 17 Bears road win over the 49ers.
This outcome would effectively eliminate the 49ers’ chances to win the NFC West, assuming Seattle doesn’t surprisingly fall to Carolina. In other words, we cannot rule out the 49ers resting their starters in Week 18 and handing Seattle a victory and the division.
If the 49ers do decide to go toe-to-toe with the Seahawks, the Rams will root for a San Francisco victory.
It’s a narrow path for the Rams, but it is within the realm of possibility.
