Week 16 Update: Who the LA Rams need wins/losses from each week

The LA Rams are still not eliminated from the NFL Playoffs just yet, and as long as the team wins on Monday Night Football, the dream will live on for another week. Of course, the LA Rams are a team that is painted into a corner, and for the team to even have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting to the NFL Playoffs, the Rams must win (not lose, not tie) all of their remaining games.  That unto itself should tell you just how unlikely the Rams’ fragile playoff hopes are, as the team has only won four games to this point in the season.

Even with winning out, the Rams can only end the season with a maximum total of eight wins. And if they end up in any tiebreaker scenarios, there are far too few NFC teams with which the Rams will win the tie. So to earn a playoff berth, all NFC teams (or as many as are mathematically possible) must lose to ensure that they do not end the season with eight wins.

7 NFC Playoff spots, 5 already claimed

After Week 15 results, that has gotten a bit more . . . challenging. At least five of seven NFC Playoff berths have been claimed, as the New York Giants’ controversial victory locked a playoff berth up for the Dallas Cowboys.  And the loss by the Arizona Cardinals has eliminated them from postseason contention. But the NFC continues to have nine teams remaining as potential NFL Playoffs participants. And the field will narrow quickly each week going forward.

That is where the choreography of wins and losses comes into play. To check it out for yourself, you can spin up various scenarios on the ESPN 2022 NFL Playoff Machine and see how wins and losses impact the LA Rams’ chances.

What a strange and whacky NFL season this has been for the Rams already. The Rams should have been eliminated by now, but on a whim, the Rams claimed QB Baker Mayfield off NFL Waivers from the Carolina Panthers, and he was so happy to arrive in Los Angeles, California that he promptly needed less than 48 hours to learn the Rams playbook and connect on two TD drives to win a shocker on Thursday Night Football.

Now, either he has truly learned much more of the Rams’ offense or the euphoria of playing for a new team has worn off.  But in the meantime, here are the many many things that must happen in order for the LA Rams to sneak into the NFL playoffs once more: