Rams control their own destiny again for top seed in NFC thanks to Saints loss

NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 04: Brandin Cooks #12 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates his touchdown with head coach Sean McVay during the second quarter of the game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 4, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 04: Brandin Cooks #12 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates his touchdown with head coach Sean McVay during the second quarter of the game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 4, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Thanks to some help from the Dallas Cowboys defeating the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, the Los Angeles Rams control their own destiny for the No. 1 seed once again in the NFC.

As the Los Angeles Rams continue to prepare for Sunday’s meeting with the Detroit Lions, the main focus on Thursday night was on the New Orleans Saints to see how they would do against the Dallas Cowboys.

Thanks to their win over Sean McVay and company a few weeks back, the Saints entered Week 13 sitting with the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture since they owned the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rams.

In other words, if Los Angeles was going to have any shot at moving back into the top seed, they would not only need to win as many games as possible, but also receive some help from New Orleans.

Even if the Rams were to win all five of their remaining games, none of that would matter for the No. 1 seed if the Saints didn’t suffer another loss since both teams entered Week 13 with the same 10-1 record.

So how did things play out on Thursday? Well, as most Rams fans that decided to watch the game know, the Cowboys were able to pull off the shocking 13-10 win over the Saints, meaning Los Angeles is currently back in the top spot for now.

Of course, none of this will matter if the Rams fail to show up on Sunday, and lose to the Lions, but when looking at how the two teams compare at the moment, hopefully that won’t be the case at all.

Continuing to win after recording 10 victories in a row is never an easy task to deal with since it brings a whole new level of pressure, and while this is certainly frustrating for the Saints, at least this helps the Rams in a big way.

All of a sudden, Los Angeles is back in the driver’s seat when it comes to earning home-field advantage in the playoffs come January, although they still have a long way to go since the main focus is making sure the team wraps up the division title first.

Still, when seeing how hot of a team New Orleans was prior to Week 13, it’s amazing to know that Los Angeles will enter Sunday’s meeting in Detroit with a whole new mindset, and motivation since the team is back where it belongs in the top seed for the NFC.

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