LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams were 14 points up on the Seattle Seahawks midway through the fourth quarter less than two weeks ago, cruising toward another NFC West title and likely their first No. 1 playoff seeding in coach Sean McVay's tenure.
The Rams' late collapse into an overtime loss in Seattle followed them across their extra-long Christmas break and into Atlanta, where their embarrassing 27-24 defeat Monday night made it highly likely
they'll spend their entire postseason on the road.
Intellectually, the Rams (11-5) still look like a strong Super Bowl contender with their balanced roster, an MVP-caliber quarterback and a coach who has taken them to the big game twice before.
But three losses in their past five games — right when the Rams seemed poised to cement themselves as the NFC favorite, no less — have introduced serious doubt about this team’s ability to win it all.
“Just because you play good one week doesn’t mean you’re going to play good the next, and vice versa," Matthew Stafford said after passing for 269 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. “So I’m just going to go out there and continue to trust what we’ve done all year, and then we've got to just show up and make the plays on game day.”
The Rams didn't make nearly enough of those plays while falling behind 21-0 at halftime to a Falcons team playing only for pride. The Rams got out of their malaise and even tied the game with less than three minutes left, but couldn't extricate themselves from early mistakes that will be even harder to overcome in the postseason.
It all means Los Angeles likely won’t get a home playoff game for the fourth consecutive season (the “home” win over Minnesota last January was played in Arizona because of wildfires). The Rams will be the fifth or sixth seed in the NFC, guaranteeing a long road trip to Chicago or the East Coast for the first week of the postseason.
In perhaps the most telling measure of McVay's concern about this team, he said Monday night that he doesn't intend to rest his starters for the regular-season finale against the Cardinals, even though the stakes are relatively minor. That's a departure from McVay's long-standing position of not allowing his key players to take any more hits than absolutely necessary, which has repeatedly led to resting players in season finales.
“We need to play better football,” McVay said. “So I don’t know what the consequences are and those different types of things, but we've got to play better.”
Los Angeles still has the NFL's most potent offense, ranking first with 30.4 points per game and second with 394.6 yards despite being without Davante Adams and three starting offensive linemen. Stafford and Puka Nacua weren't on their usual wavelength in Atlanta, but Kyren Williams rushed for 92 yards and Xavier Smith stepped up with 67 yards receiving.
The Rams' defense began the season impressively and still sits eighth in scoring defense, but coordinator Chris Shula's unit has been the biggest reason for the team's fade down the stretch. Over the past five weeks, Los Angeles ranks 28th in scoring defense, 29th in yards allowed per play and 26th in big plays allowed. The Rams gave up 345 yards and didn't have a sack in Atlanta.
The special teams units rebounded after the firing of coordinator Chase Blackburn, with Jared Verse blocking and returning a field-goal attempt 76 yards for a touchdown as the highlight.
Stafford's candidacy for his first career MVP award likely took a hit with his three-pick performance in Atlanta. He also barely missed on a handful of potentially huge throws, while two more big completions to Nacua were wiped out by penalties on backup left tackle D.J. Humphries. Stafford's body of MVP work is strong, but he's not running away from New England's Drake Maye.
“We wouldn’t be in a lot of the great situations we’re in without (Stafford), but tonight was a night that he’s capable of playing better,” McVay said.
Nearly every injured contributor has a chance to return this week or in the postseason, according to McVay. That includes Adams, do-it-all safety Quentin Lake, tight end Tyler Higbee and starting offensive linemen Alaric Jackson, Kevin Dotson and Rob Havenstein.
13 — The number of snaps played by $10 million receiver Tutu Atwell, whose meager playing time remains confusing. Atwell had just one pass thrown his way, but Falcons cornerback Dee Alford wasn't called for what appeared to be pass interference in the final seconds.
If the Rams' starters can get back into form Sunday against the freefalling Cardinals, a win could serve as a palate cleanser for the postseason. A mediocre performance would suggest a short January is upcoming.
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