Can The St. Louis Rams Still Make The Playoffs?

By Blaine Grisak | Sep 27, 2014

Coming into 2014 their were high hopes for the St. Louis Rams to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. After Sam Bradford went down those hopes went right down the drain, however, although the Rams are 1-2, coming off a bye might be exactly what this team needs to get right back of track.

Over the past two weeks the Rams are 1-1, and had the defense shown up, they very well could be 2-0 with Austin Davis at quarterback. Davis who started the season as the team’s third quarterback has looked impressive to say the least.

More from Rams News

The Rams may be 1-2, but this is no time to panic. A quarter of last season’s playoff teams started 1-2.

Although the Rams are 1-2 in the “easiest” part of the their difficult schedule, there should still be some hope that this team can make a playoff run. The offense has looked as good as it has in quite some time, and if they can clean some things up on defense and clean up the penalties, the Rams do have a real shot.

This team supposedly would have made it with Bradford in at quarterback, but honestly there has been no drop off at the quarterback position with Davis. If the Rams could have made it with Bradford, they can make it with Davis.

Just look at the rest of the NFC. Going into week four, the Packers, Saints, and 49ers are all 1-2, and could all very well go 1-3 as they each play difficult opponents in the Bears, Cowboys, and Eagles. According to ESPN Stats and Info. teams that start 1-3 have a 15% chance of making the playoffs.

Those are normally consistent teams in the NFC that would be in a very difficult spot and it would obviously not be easy for any of them to climb out of that kind of hole.

For the Rams, it all starts with a win against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road to avoid that same 1-3 start. Next week the Eagles will be coming off of a physical game against the 49ers which will set things up perfectly for the Rams.

Kirk Cousins threw for over 400 yards against the Eagles, Shaun Hill or Austin Davis could do the same. The Eagles are also not the strongest team up front on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball as they have had their fair share of injuries.

Jeff Fisher is 5-1-1 after his last seven bye weeks and is 4-4-1 overall on the road after a bye week. With the Rams Fisher is 1-0-1 after a bye beating the Bears last season and tying the 49ers in 2012. The Eagles will be difficult, but the Rams should have an advantage as they will have had two weeks to prepare for the most dynamic offense in football.

From there the Rams enter a brutal stretch of games vs. San Francisco, vs. Seattle, at Kansas City, at San Francisco, at Arizona, vs. Denver, then at San Diego. The Rams then finish the season vs. Oakland, @Washington, vs. Arizona, vs New York Giants, @Seattle.

The good thing for the Rams is that they have yet to play a division game and are only two games back. That means the Rams will have their chances to catch up in the division. They will also play teams ahead of them in the NFC like the Eagles and Giants.

The Rams are now in a 13 game season and it starts with a big one against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams have certainly dug themselves a hole coming out of the gate at 1-2, but they have had a week to fix the ongoing problems.

The 2014 season is far from over, and although the Rams will have a difficult schedule, anything can happen on Sunday. Any given Sunday anything can and will happen.

Making the playoffs this season is going to be an uphill battle, but this team has shown that it will fight until the end and they won’t let a slow start put them down. What looked as a lost season after Sam Bradford went down, now looks like a season in which the Rams will have chance to make some noise.