3 reasons why LA Rams will go 4-4 or better after the BYE

What is, may not be what will be. While a simple statement, it's a phrase that many NFL fans either forget or ignore in the overly dramatic responses to a loss or a losing record. NFL players get injured and sometimes make mental errors on the football field. For the LA Rams, the 2023 season has certainly had its share of both.

It has all contributed to an expected but still disappointing 3-6 record at their Week 10 BYE. It's the second consecutive season for the LA Rams to fall to 3-6 after nine games. In 2022, the Rams plummeted all the way down to 3-9 before turning the corner to close out the season with a 2-3 record. Is that the fatre for this Rams team in 2023?

While there is always the desperation and dramatics present on social media that may say otherwise, I think that the LA Rams are poised to pivot to success. While I think that the team will fall short of post-season competition, I do believe that the LA Rams are due to win some games.

Success is more important than draft position

Even as the LA Rams opened the season with an impressive upset victory against their NFC West Division Rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, stringing together some wins after the BYE will help point this team in the right direction again. As we have seen with the LA Rams draft class of 2023, the Rams front office has not lost the ability to select game changing rookies even without a pick in Round 1.

I would and have argued that the Rams selected the best offensive guard, wide receiver, outside linebacker, and nose tackle from the 2023 NFL Draft, and did so on Day 2 and Day 3 of the draft. So it's less important for the Rams roster to select early in the draft, and far more vital to select wisely in the draft.

2023 was never going to be about getting to the NFL Playoffs, any more than it has been about tanking for the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This season has been about assembling a young and talented group of players, forging them into a team, and then helping them to develop individually and as groups, and finally as a cohesive and competitive team.

The best track for the LA Rams to follow was never to win early. It was to improve each week as a team. Unfortunately, injuries, tough opponents, and mental mistakes have masked how effective and improved this team has been in recent weeks. But after the Week 10 BYE, those speed bumps should vanish and the Rams should find themselves in smooth sailing. How can I be so confident? Here's why:

Why Rams will go .500 or better after the BYE

1. Reason III: Rams are getting healthy again
2. Reason II: Rams schedule softens considerably
3. Reason I: Rams have nothing to lose

Reason III: Rams are getting healthy again

While there has been a great deal of attention paid to the healthy or unhealthy status of LA Rams starting quarterback Matthew Stafford this season, he has been but one of multiple injuries that have forced starters to the bench and disrupted the Rams roster.

The Rams have been getting banged up at a pretty rapid pace of late. Of course, the team is awaiting the healthy return from the Injured Reserve list of RB Kyren Williams and DT Bobby Brown III. But the team had to play Week 9 without starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones, and starting offensive right tackle Rob Havenstein.

For that matter, the Rams offensive line, much like 2022, has been a kaleidoscope of new iterations, seldom seeing the same five players line up in two consecutive weeks. No matter how talented the individual players are. without a consistent same group of linemen, the entire offensive line suffers.

So far, that is exactly what is happening.

Rams starters are returning to health

Reports from the LA Rams suggest that the team is very optimistic over the likelihood of Matthew Stafford suiting up and competing in Week 11 as the Rams host the Seattle Seahawks. For that matter, I would expect that both ILB Ernest Jones and RT Rob Havenstein will return to play in that game as well. Even big ole defensive tackle Bobby Brown III and elusive running back Kyren Williams are due back soon after the BYE as well.

Their return could be a tremendous boost for this Rams team

Beyond that, if the Rams rethink their strategy, the team could also begin to feature young players in rotations as well. That could add fresh and rested players to the Rams' lineups and may become the difference in changing the Rams' current streak of bad luck.

The Rams were very competitive in their first seven games of the 2023 NFL season. With a return of some key players in the second half of the season, the Rams could pivot from a losing team to one of the hottest teams in the NFL rather quickly.

Reason II: Rams schedule softens considerably

In the first nine games of the Rams schedule before the Week 10 BYE, the LA Rams opponents had a cumulative record of 41 wins and 34 losses (ignoring Week 10 results). In the remaining eight games, the Rams will face opponents with a cumulative record of 34 wins and 35 losses. That bodes very well for a Rams roster that is trying to get its feet under them once more

1. Week 11- Sun. Nov. 19 @ 1:25 pm - vs. Seattle Seahawks
2. Week 12 - Sun. Nov. 26 @ 1:25 pm - at Arizona Cardinals
3. Week 13 - Sun. Dec. 3 @ 1:25 pm - vs. Cleveland Browns
4. Week 14 - Sun. Dec. 10 @ 10:00 am - at Baltimore Ravens
5. Week 15 - Sun Dec 17 @ 1:05 pm - vs. Washington Commanders
6. THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
7. Week 16 - Thu. Dec. 21 @ 5:15 pm - vs. New Orleans Saints
8. Week 17 - Sun. Dec 31 @ 10:00 am - at New York Giants
9. Week 18 - TBD - at San Francisco 49ers

Looking at the above schedule, if the Rams can pull off a win against the Seattle Seahawks, this team could become quite competitive in the latter half of the season. Even knowing that the Rams are 3-6, if all of the dominoes fall the right way, the Rams could finish out the season with a record of 6-2.

It's how you finish the season

The two most difficult teams on the remaining Rams schedule are the Baltimore Ravens (7-2) and the San Francisco 49ers (5-3). Beyond those two teams, I believe that the LA Rams are capable of winning the remaining six games on the schedule.

Even the final game of the season against the San Francisco 49ers could prove to fall in the Rams favor if the 49ers, due to the imminent postseason competition, rests its starters and plays only backups against the Rams. The Rams would love to get a win against the 49ers to close out the 2023 NFL season.

But do NFL schedulers know something that Rams fans do not? With the LA Rams in reset mode this season, you may have expected the Rams to play the Arizona Cardinals to close out the season. Did the NFL schedulers anticipate a late season surge by the LA Rams, a surge that would make that final game have significance to both teams? If the Rams can claw their way back to 9-7 for that final game, that would absolutely be a compelling contest.

Reason I: Rams have nothing to lose

Now that the LA Rams have fallen to 3-6, does it really make any sense for the Rams to keep rookie RB Zach Evans in mothballs, while running veteran Darrell Henderson Jr.? Unless the Rams front office has plans to extend Henderson, or any veteran who is starting as a stopgap measure for the Rams right now until injured players return, I have to ask why.

There are plenty of talented rookies and second-year players who have not seen much action yet. Rookie RB Zach Evans, DB Tre Tomlinson, TE Davis Allen, DT Desjuan Johnson, OLB Nick Hampton and Ochaun Mathis, and even OT Warren McClendon Jr. It's time for the Rams coaching staff to give younger players an opportunity to benefit from live game experience. Of the group, OLB Ochaun Mathis leads everyone with 45 defensive snaps so far this season.

Chess, not checkers

The strategy for developing young players for larger roles in the future is much different from that of competing with veteran players. Young players need to see live NFL action in ever increasing frequency and duration. Even if they have lapses in mental judgement, or simply play poorly, that feedback helps coaches focus training for that player. The player himself can learn more quickly simply from examining what did and did not work in games.

Remember, this LA Rams roster is focusing on 2024, not 2023. So the more that coaches and players learn about themselves now, the better. Not only does the extra work today pay off handsomely with better prepared players next year, but the data allows the Rams Nerd Nest to generate valuable summaries of the Rams strengths and weaknesses, allowing the front office to be far more effective in the 2024 NFL Draft, as well as the 2024 NFL Free Agency market.

The LA Rams need to loosen up the rotations, give young players an ever increasing workload, and prioritize developing players. Win or lose, the LA Rams have got to take responsibility for the lack of work that WR Tutu Atwell and TE Brycen Hopkins have gotten with the Rams over the course of their careers.

But this season, I believe that the Rams youth will get involved. The Rams have to determine who can and will step up for the team in 2024. Stay tuned, because I expect the Rams to win some games to finish out the sea