ATLANTA — The Rams already knew they will be on the road for the playoffs, a difficult assignment for any team.
It’s trending toward becoming one especially tough for the Rams, who only a few weeks ago appeared to be the class of the NFC, if not the NFL.
Not anymore.
On Monday night, the Rams for much of their game against the Atlanta Falcons, looked like a team on the road to nowhere. Or one more interested in limping through the end of the regular season before turning it on for the playoffs.
They overcame a 21-point deficit to tie the score, but Zane Gonzalez’s 51-yard field goal with 21 seconds left sent the Rams to a 27-24 defeat at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.
It was the Rams’ second loss in a row, both coming on the road.
“Here we are again in a disappointing situation,” coach Sean McVay said.
The loss dropped the Rams to 11-5 going into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.
On Saturday, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers will play for the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Rams are seeded No. 6. If the Seahawks defeat the 49ers, and the Rams beat the Cardinals, the Rams could move up to No. 5.
McVay said starters would play against the Cardinals rather than rest for the playoffs.
“They were going to play anyways,” McVay said. “We need to play better football.”
Way better.
Defensive lineman Kobie Turner said McVay told the team that if they play in the wild-card round like they did on Monday night, they were going to be sitting on their couches watching the rest of the postseason.
“It’s the reality of the situation,” Turner said, adding, “I back him. … That’s not where we want to be.”
The Rams have no choice about where they will begin their postseason as they attempt to earn a Super Bowl berth for the third time in McVay’s nine seasons.
They will not be at SoFi Stadium, where they have lost only once this season. The Rams’ other losses — to Philadelphia, Carolina, Seattle and Atlanta — came on the road.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford tries to avoid diving Atlanta Falcons linebacker Khalid Kareem during the second half of the Rams’ 27-24 loss Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Monday’s defeat by the Falcons (7-9), coming on the heels of their 38-37 overtime loss in Seattle on Dec. 18, gave the Rams consecutive road games defeats for the first time since the start of the 2024 season, when they lost their opener in overtime at Detroit and then got routed at Arizona.
Players could not explain Monday night’s first-half malaise.
“It’s a little embarrassing because we preach about the things we want to get done, and we know how good we can be,” offensive lineman Steve Avila said. “And today was probably the worst we’ve ever shown.”
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford moved past Ben Roethlisberger into sixth place on the NFL’s all-time passing yards list, but there was not much to be happy about on a night that had set up as a possible MVP-clinching stage.
Stafford completed 22 of 38 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns but had three passes intercepted, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
“I obviously didn’t play well enough,” he said. “That’s what it is.”
Rams coach Sean McVay speaks with quarterback Matthew Stafford in the fourth quarter Monday against the Falcons.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
The first half was a nightmare for Stafford, who went into the game with a league-leading 40 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.
The Falcons built a 21-0 halftime lead on Bijan Robinson’s touchdown catch, Jessie Bates III’s interception return for a touchdown and Robinson’s 93-yard touchdown run, which came one play after Xavier Watts got the first of his two interceptions.
Robinson finished with 195 yards rushing and also caught a touchdown pass.
If there was a bright spot for the Rams, it was special teams. Just over a week after McVay elevated Ben Kotwica to replace fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, Jared Verse blocked a field-goal attempt and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown that cut the Falcons’ lead to 24-17 with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
The Rams’ chances for a comeback appeared to end when Watts intercepted another pass with just more than nine minutes left.
But Stafford’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Puka Nacua tied the score with 2:46 left.
Gonzalez’s field goal put the Falcons ahead by three.
Stafford got the ball one last time, but he missed a wide-open Xavier Smith on a route, and Tutu Atwell and Nacua could not come up with deep passes. With five seconds left, Stafford’s fourth-down pass to Nacua fell incomplete.
So instead of resting for the playoffs, starters will try to get the Rams back on track in the season finale.
“We don’t need rest right now,” Turner said. “We need momentum.”