LA Rams schedule: 4 games we can’t afford to lose

Week 18

The final gotta-win-this-game falls on the last week of the NFL season, and the Rams may or may not need to win this one for a playoff berth or to improve their playoff seeding.  If the Rams are in a no-impact situation in this one, there is every reason to believe that the team will sit starters. But that does not mean that the Rams will lose this one.

Five weeks after terrorizing Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock, the Rams get to do it again. Whether the team sends out starters or backups, this is still the Seattle Seahawks, this is still an NFC West Division rivalry game, and ILB Bobby Wagner will still want to play in this one.

This one is in Seattle.

Even as the Rams are hopefully vying for position in the NFL Playoffs, the Seahawks may be jockeying for position to improve their NFL Draft status. The difference in winning or losing that last game could be truly significant in terms of the order the team picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

And the Seahawks clearly cleared their roster of veterans, intending to make the 2022 NFL season all about playing younger players, and determining who will be part of their rebuild for the 2023 season.

That all factors into plenty of reason to believe that the Seahawks will be just as happy to draft earlier on Day 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft as to win a meaningless last game of the 2022 NFL Season. The Rams have everything to play for. More importantly, the Rams have every reason to win this one.