Things are looking up for LA Rams in NFL Playoffs, so we should too

The LA Rams stand at 9-4 and would be the third-seed in the NFL Playoffs today. But what about the Saints and Packers?

Thanks to a late-scheduled Thursday Night Football contest against the New England Patriots, the LA Rams have a bit of a mine-bye-week before the team heads into the final three games of the season.  The LA Rams will host the New York Jets, travel to face the Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West division title, and then return home to close out the season against the Arizona Cardinals. Conceivably, the Rams could finish this year 12-4, but we’ll talk about that later.

For now, let’s focus on the NFC Playoff picture.  The NFC East will claim the fourth seed in the playoff matchups, and the loser of the Rams-Seahawks game will lay claim to the fifth-seed. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to be the sixth seed. That leaves six NFC teams vying for the seventh and final NFC playoff berth.  Thankfully, the Rams appear to have elevated above that chaos.

Top two playoff berths

There is little chance that the LA Rams can improve their playoff positioning if they lost any additional games. So the presumption for this discussion is the Rams ending the season at a 12-4 mark.  With that benchmark established, we can now explore the likelihood of the Rams besting either of the other NFC leading teams.

At 10-2, the Saints are the more difficult team to surpass. They not only hold a two-game lead over the Rams but would likely win any tiebreaker. The Saints face the Philadelphia Eagles, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Carolina Panthers. Will they lose three of their last four games? That’s unlikely. A best-case scenario generates two losses, and that won’t cut it.  Unless some truly bizarre games happen (like the Philadelphia Eagles defeating the New Orleans Saints), the Rams are vying for no better than a second-seed in the NFC.

Lions and Panthers and Bears, oh my!

The Green Bay Packers must lose two of their remaining four games for the Rams to each the second-seed in the NFC Playoffs. They face the Detroit Lions, the Carolina Panthers, the Tenessee Titans, and the Chicago Bears. Of that group, the two teams with the best chance of success against Green Bay are the Titans and the Bears.

Without help, the Rams are playing for the NFC West division crown and likely the third seed in the NFC Playoffs. That would put the Rams against the NFC’s sixth-seed team. The likely opponent would be either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Seattle Seahawks in Los Angeles, both teams would be eager to settle the score with the Rams.

Right now, the Rams need both the Saints and the Packers to lose games to improve their playoff seeding. Will it happen? Stranger things have in the past. For now, all the Rams can do is keep winning, and keep looking up.