Top 4 games that defined the Rams 2017 season

If the Los Angeles Rams were going to level off or come back to earth, it was going to happen in Week 12 when NFC South leader and future Hall of Famer Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints came to the Coliseum.

LA, who has just lost the previous week to former Rams quarterback Case Keenum and the Minnestoa Vikings, would get another division leader in consecutive weeks. If there was one game you could have expected or seen a logical scenario for consecutive losses, it was in Week 12.

Honestly, I picked against the Rams.

Being a self admitted cynic and glass half empty guy, I too waited for the inevitability of Los Angeles being more of the team most expected when the 2017 season began.

Problem was, LA didn’t cooperate with that point of view.

The Rams controlled a good Saints running game and Brees’ passing attack, beating New Orleans 26-20.

For Los Angeles, it was the first genuine and tangible sign that the Rams WEREN’T just a contender for a division title, but also a potential playoff run.

It also showed the emergence of Jared Goff as an, albeit briefly, an MVP candidate, but also that LA was for real beyond just a nice story.

It was the Rams beating a bonafide playoff and Super Bowl contender in New Orleans, and the Rams answered the bell.

It wasn’t the biggest win of 2017, but one that showed Los Angeles was a player in the NFC.