How does a 17th game complicate the LA Rams 2021 season?

Since the LA Rams have benefitted from head coach Sean McVay, the LA Rams have (excluding preseason games) played 70 football games. 64 of those have been regular-season contests, and six have been post-season competitions. Now, mind you, that has been spaced out over four NFL seasons.

That same period of time, with the same post-season success, would be 74 games over four years. So what? What’s one more game? Well, quite a bit actually. On the bright side, it adds another regular season contest, which gives players a much stronger chance of breaking single-season records. NFL passing records, receiving records, and rushing records will be more vulnerable.  Tackles, interceptions, and quarterback sacks may break historic boundaries set by NFL greats as well.

These are all positives for NFL fantasy football owners, and the players who remain healthy enough to enjoy an added game to the season.

But there is the other side of the see-saw here, the fact that 32 teams all play one more game. And for the players who are vying to compete at full strength through the duration of the NFL Playoffs, this turn of events has made that goal a bit more complicated.

Winning is more than just putting the best 11 players onto the field and letting them slug it out for 60 minutes. The LA Rams, like all NFL teams, have discovered that rotating players during the game keeps the starters fresh and healthy. Ever wonder Aaron Donald is on the bench? That’s why. The Rams are rotating Donald out so that they can count on him being at full strength later in the season.