LA Rams remaining schedule is no picnic, but not impossible, to win with

December games

The LA Rams are entering the darkest period of their schedule. Not just because the team is hovering just above the bottom of the NFL barrel, but rather because the month of December in any calendar year has the shortest days for any location in the Northern Hemisphere. Why is that important? Well, the Rams are slated to visit the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, that’s why:

At Green Bay Packers (5-8)

The LA Rams face playing at Green Bay, Wisconsin, for their third consecutive season, and have emerged with a disappointing loss in their last two attempts. It seems as though the NFL has been hell-bent on forcing the Rams to play in unbearably cold conditions. The Rams have played at Lambeau Field twice, once in mid-January 2020, and once in late November 2021. On both occasions, the game was played at moderately cold temperatures.

Well, the third time is the charm, they say.

The cold. That is relative to what you are used to. For the Green Bay Packers? It’s a familiar part of their season. For the LA Rams? Yikes!

The temperature with Wind Chill is forecasted to be -1 degrees Fahrenheit for the Monday Night Football game. That means that the moderate winters that the LA Rams players enjoy will be quite a disadvantage for this one. Cold temperatures equate to numbness in the body’s extremities. It rips the focus from the unindoctrinated away from competing and directly on the uncomfort felt as the body feels its warmth being siphoned away by the cold all around it.

The Rams must know that they will need to adapt whatever they plan to do in order to compete in the cold. That means striving for a ball control offense and relying upon a seldom-used running attack. Can the Rams win in Lambeau at sub-freezing temperatures? They can. But will they be able to do so is quite another story.

I think they do win this one, in a close call, but a late-game-winning drive makes the difference.

Who’s next?

Breaking the Broncos

Another team that has struggled mightily this season is the Denver Broncos, a team that went all in and traded for veteran QB Russell Wilson, only to regret the decision in the first year of his arrival. The hope in trading for him was that the team finally acquired the right quarterback to lead the team to the promised land of NFL postseason competition.

The Denver Broncos (3-10) are only one of two teams that are already eliminated from NFL Playoff contention this season, and they could be eager to get passed the remainder of the season to restock and prepare for the 2023 NFL season.

The Rams will face one of the toughest defenses they have met all season with the Broncos. They will also compete against one of the less formidable offenses faced all year. Can the Rams win this one? It will be a good test for this team on both sides of the football.  I think the young Rams pass the test: