McVay officially resting key Rams starters could impact playoff seeding

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay announced on Wednesday that Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Aaron Donald will all rest for the regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

Earlier on Wednesday, there was discussion about whether Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay would consider resting some of his starters for the team’s final game of the 2017 season against the San Francisco 49ers, which obviously drew some criticism. Last weekend, the Rams officially punched their ticket to the postseason by clinching the NFC West title following a key win over the Tennessee Titans, but whether they will end up being the No. 3 or No. 4 seed is a different story.

If the season were to end today, Los Angeles would be hosting the defending NFC champions in the Atlanta Falcons, who have been a difficult team to figure out this season, as the No. 3 seed. But also, if the Falcons end up falling short of reaching the postseason, the Rams could very well end up hosting a familiar face in the Seattle Seahawks if they end up defeating the Arizona Cardinals, and squeak into that final Wild Card spot, which could end up being a nightmare.

As for what would happen if Los Angeles were to lose to San Francisco, and end up slipping to the No. 4 seed, let’s just say that would most likely result in a meeting against either the Carolina Panthers or New Orleans Saints. And even though the Rams were able to defeat the Saints earlier in the season, the circumstances would be much different this time around since the loser would be sent home packing instead of continuing their pursuit of winning a Super Bowl. Not to mention, Carolina has picked the perfect time right before the playoffs to be playing some of their best football, so either opponent would be extremely difficult.

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When taking everything into consideration, it’s easy to understand why there are so many questions surrounding McVay’s decision to rest Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, and numerous other key players. With the Rams in a position to control their own destiny when it comes to playoff seeding, let’s just hope McVay does in fact know what he’s doing, because of this team ends up losing to the 49ers, and ends up playing an opponent on Wild Card Weekend they didn’t want to see, fans will look back at this questionable decision to rest the starters in Week 17.