Rams get first taste of survive and advance

As good as the Los Angeles Rams have been in 2017, it all gets ratcheted up tonight, as they host the Atlanta Falcons in a prime-time playoff game at the LA Coliseum.

The Los Angeles Rams have been getting much love this week as they ramp up towards their first playoff appearance in the Sean McVay era. LA hosts the 10-6 Atlanta Falcons at the Coliseum, in a long overdue prime-time matchup on NBC.

The Rams come into tonight’s game having gone from worst to first offensively, and will want a fast start to settle into what should be a good game AND good test for a young team and young head coach.

In a segment on Good Morning Football this morning, McVay and his second year quarterback Jared Goff were featured talking about their relationship and how Goff has often been a calming influence on McVay’s emotions.

https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/949692783756849152

Conversely, a segment on NFL GameDay Morning talked about the ideal situation of the Rams offense finding success early against Atlanta.

https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/949702880138731520

Both pieces illustrate the significant and palpableble confidence that McVay has in his Rams’ team.

But unlike the other 16 games, this is the first time Los Angeles is facing the “one and done” scenario not seen in the previous 17 weeks. The feel good moments of an 11-5 breakout season can end with the sudden thud of a loss many ARE NOT predicting.

Listening to a significant sample this week from NFL veterans, it’s just a different feel from a regular season game, and the magnitude of “win or go home” can be overwhelming especially if the Rams find themselves trailing on Saturday night.

It will be interesting to see how Goff responds if the Rams are struggling with tempo or rhythm, especially after having a week off against the 49ers in last weeks regular season finale. While sitting starters has been a hit and miss proposition with veteran teams, how it plays on a team like LA will be interesting to see, especially early on.

Related Story: 3 playoff predictions for Rams and Falcons

This week is just different, it’s win or go home, survive and advance.

Any way you look at it, the suddenness can be a startling reality.

Especially when they haven’t faced that pressure before, against a Falcons team who has.