The NFC West title, and a home game for a wild-card round, are within the Rams’ reach.
They could clinch as soon as Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals. Or it might come down to the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks.
Regardless, the Rams can control their postseason destiny: If they win out, they win the division.
“Fortunately,” coach Sean McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters, “we’re in a position where you don’t necessarily have to rely on other things to happen if you just handle your business.”
The Rams, however, will be watching closely Thursday night when the Seahawks play the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
After defeating the New York Jets on Sunday, the Rams are 9-6, in sole possession of first place in the division ahead of the Seahawks (8-7) , and they are holding the No. 3 seed in the
NFC. The Cardinals (7-8) and San Francisco 49ers (6-9) are out of the playoff picture.
If the Seahawks lose to the Bears, the Rams could clinch the division with a victory over the Cardinals.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that’s not something that we’re not in tune with,” McVay said. “But the truth is, how disciplined can we be on really focusing on the things that we can control?”
Since starting the season 1-4, which featured a Week 2 rout by the Cardinals, the Rams have won eight of 10 games, including their last four.
They have done it in a variety of ways.
They won a shootout against the high-powered Buffalo Bills. They defeated the 49ers without scoring a touchdown. And they beat the Jets with a dramatic touchdown scored by tight end Tyler Higbee, who played for the first time since suffering a knee injury in an NFC wild-card loss at Detroit last January.
Rams coach Sean McVay says the growth of his team this season has been fun to be around.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“This has been a really fun team,” McVay said. “A team that I think has gotten more and more connected as this season has gone on. … It’s always about coming together, especially at the right time and I think that’s been illustrated. And we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Rams were coming off a tough opening loss in overtime at Detroit when they traveled to Arizona with a team that was without injured receiver Puka Nacua and offensive linemen Steve Avila and Joe Noteboom.
The Rams fell behind the Cardinals, 21-0, and scored only one touchdown and a field goal in a 41-10 demolition.
“It seems like that was an eternity ago,” McVay said of what he described as “a humbling day.”
It also was costly. Receiver Cooper Kupp, offensive lineman Jonah Jackson and safety John Johnson III suffered injuries.
Fifteen weeks later, the Cardinals will visit SoFi Stadium and play a Rams team that is perhaps the NFL’s healthiest.
The Rams went into the game against the Jets with no players designated as questionable because of injuries. McVay said Monday that other than “typical bumps and bruises” the Rams suffered no injuries against the Jets.
Higbee’s return to the lineup — and his touchdown — showed the Rams are back to nearly full strength.
The young defensive line and the offensive line have played well the last few games.
“The continuity on both fronts has been a big difference,” McVay said.