6. Seattle 7-5
7. Washington 6-6
8. Dallas 6-6
9. Tampa Bay 6-6
10. Minnesota 6-6
11. St. Louis 5-6-1

The Rams have 5 teams ahead of then in the playoff race, which makes them a long shot to be sure. However, believe it or not, if a certain scenario plays out today the Rams could actually control their own destiny by the end of the day.

That scenario is the following: Seattle, Dallas and Washington lose, and the Rams win.

What helps the Rams is that they will face the Vikings and Buccaneers the next 2 weeks so they would leapfrog those teams with wins in those games. In Week 17 the Rams will travel to Seattle. Seattle is currently at 7-5, so if they lose at least one more game between now and then, and the Rams win out, the blue and gold would go to Seattle with a chance to overtake the Seahawks in the standings.

The only other teams currently ahead of them are the Redskins and Cowboys, each by only 1/2 game.

This brings us back to our original scenario, which is that with a Rams win combined with losses by Seattle, Washington and Dallas, the Rams would still trail in the standings but actually control their own destiny. The only teams ahead of them would be at most 1/2 game ahead but would be on the schedule, leaving the 6 seed for the Rams of they can win out.

Today Washington hosts Baltimore, Dallas is at Cincinnati and Seattle is at Arizona.

Dec. 2, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Trainers attend to Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood (70) on the field during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Buffalo beats Jacksonville 34 to 18. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Long and Robert Quinn, with 7 and 8.5 sacks on the season, respectively may well be licking their chops right now in preparation for this Sunday’s contest against Buffalo. The Bills just placed starting Offensive Tackle Chris Hairston on season ending injured reserve with an ankle inury, in addition to losing right tackle Erik Pears to IR just a month ago. This leaves the team with 3rd year player Scott Young to make his first career start on the right side against seasoned vet Chris Long. On the other side, Robert Quinn will face off against 2012 2nd round pick Cordy Glenn.

With the weather report calling for rain the next several days, Sunday’s matchup could turn out to be a sloggy mess, making the in-the-trenches matchups that much more important.

Another key to watch Sunday is how the rest of the front seven including Michael Brockers handle the Bills 4th ranked rushing combo of CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson. Spiller has 907 yards with a whopping 6.6 yards per carry, and Jackson has 423 yards at 4.0 yards/carry. These two carried the offense last week against Jacksonville, with 186 yards on the ground. Spiller is enjoying a breakout year in Buffalo after two mediocre seasons.

Fortunately for the Rams, James Laurinitis is 3rd in the league in tackles, with a combined 116, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar is near the top of the league with 13 tackles for loss, according to profootballweekly.com.

Second, on the positive side, Janoris Jenkins and Chris Givens will be back in the lineup after having been suspended for the first contest.  Both are coming off of big games against Arizona and will be riding a wave of confidence into this game.

Third, and this will be the biggest difference, is that Colin Kaepernick will be under center for the 49ers instead of Alex Smith.  The first time the teams met Kaepernick came into the game in the 2nd quarter and went 11-17 for 117 yards and 0 TDs or INTs for a passer rating of 84.7.  Fairly average numbers through the air, but he burned the Rams with 8 rushes for 66 yards and a TD on the ground.  To make matters worse for the Rams this time around, his confidence through the air is only gaining, with passer ratings of 133.1 and 90.6 in his next 2 outings.

The good news for the Rams is that they will be prepared this time around and won’t be caught off guard by his rushing ability and will also have a couple of games worth of film with which to scout him.