2021 LA Rams playoff picture forming via the ESPN Playoff machine

The LA Rams have emerged from their Week 11 BYE with a newfound sense of urgency, hopefully. That’s due to the fact that some are still holding out hope for the LA Rams to win the NFC West. But realistically, the team would need to run the table and the Arizona Cardinals would need to lose a few games for the Rams to win the NFC West and have a shot at a BYE week in the NFL Playoffs.

The Rams have had a favorable schedule in 2021 in two ways. First of all, despite playing nine road games, the team was never on the road for more than two consecutive weeks. Secondly, the Rams were blessed with a Week 11 BYE, which allowed them to get 10 games behind them before getting a rest week. Now, the LA Rams have just seven games remaining to go.

So who do the Rams face in their remaining games? Well, it’s one of the toughest schedules for any NFL team through the end of the season.  That is not to say that the road to the top is impossible, just unlikely at this point.  Of course, the key is the Week 12 contest at the Green Bay Packers and the Week 14 contest at the Arizona Cardinals.  Let’s examine the LA Rams remaining games:

Week 12: @ Green Bay (8-3)
Week 13: Jacksonville (2-8)
Week 14: @ Arizona (9-2)
Week 15: Seattle (3-7)
Week 16: @ Minnesota (5-5)
Week 17: @ Baltimore (7-3)
Week 18: San Francisco (5-5)

Thankfully, the ESPN NFL Playoff machine is up and running. It currently only allows teams to project the 2021 NFL season through Week 17. Once the Monday Night Football game has been completed, I expect that Week 11 will drop off and Week 18 will take its place at the end.