LA Rams pull another hokey pokey, are out of the NFL Playoffs

The LA Rams cannot win their third consecutive game, finding themselves heading home instead of to the NFC Championship Game

It’s the LA Rams hokey pokey once more. After a year of bitter disappointments interwoven with pleasant surprises, the LA Rams have come to the end of the road. For the season, the Rams were 11-7. That includes a 10-6 regular season and a 1-1 playoff run. The Rams played about on par against the Arizona Cardinals to secure the sixth-seed. Then they played better than expected to win the Wild Card round against the Seattle Seahawks.

But today’s loss against the top-seeded Green Bay Packers left many disappointed. If anything, the game at Lambeau Field was expected to be a defensive struggle. While the Rams held the Green Bay Packers to just 32 points, the game ended with the Packers running out the clock with first down and goal to go from the Rams nine-yard line.

The Packers put up nearly 500 yards of offense on the Rams and controlled the game clock with a massive 13 minutes advantage in time of possession. This Packers’ offense is for real. They ran well. They passed well. They had the right plays called for the right situation. Their offensive line handled the Rams pass rush, which was not really that much.

For the first time this season, the Rams defense seemed to be unable to adjust the defense to stop the Packers’ offense. It was clear that the Packers intended to run the ball, so the Rams had the opportunity to counter by stacking the defense with a pair of big defensive linemen and simulating a 4-3 defense for a series.

It would have been intriguing indeed to see the Rams field A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines over the offensive guards. Instead, the Packers gashed the Rams defense for 60 yards up the middle to open the second half. That led to another Packers TD that put the game out of reach.

Surprise! Goff played well

Some fans were still convinced that Jared Goff was the culprit for the Rams loss, but he wasn’t. He played error-free football, throwing 21 out of 27 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown. Cam Akers rushed 18 times for 90 yards and a touchdown. The problem? The Rams offense only had 46 plays to the Packers 72 plays.

But let’s stop assigning blame. The Rams played a great season, lasting longer than any team from the NFC West, and must now regroup.

The Rams fell to the Packers by a final score of 32-18.  But the game was never truly that close.

There is much to respect and admire about this Rams team. There is much to critique and analyze. What will the team do about the offensive line that played better this year? What will the Rams do about the inside linebacker? Will the Rams make a blockbuster move in the offseason?

Time will tell. The Rams now join the 28 teams that are no long factoring postseason considerations into their daily workload. They have done well, but clearly not well enough. In some way, the Rams were too flawed. They relished the role of the underdog, but ultimately the house wins. The odds overwhelmed them. The Rams could not fight odds, injuries, and the Packers’ offense on the same afternoon.  So the Rams will sink back to the rest of the NFL pack. And the Packers will prepare to host the NFC Championship Game.