4 worst-case schedule scenarios for LA Rams in upcoming 2024 NFL season

I: Too many NFC West opponents to close out 2024

One nice aspect about the LA Rams 2023 NFL schedule is the fact that the team faced most of their NFL West Division rivals early in the season, while the roster was still healthy. By the end of Week 2, the Rams had already faced the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. By the end of Week 12, the Rams had faced the Seahawks twice, the Arizona Cardinals twice, and the 49ers once.

In 2019, the Rams ended the season with four of the final five games against NFC West Division opponents. Even though the Rams won three of those division games, that is simply too much pressure in too short of a time period for comfort. For the Rams, bunching divisional opponents can be devastating if one key player falls to injury in the first contest of that gauntlet.

The domino effect of that injury then kicks in, making the team far less competitive. One loss to an NFC opponent can quickly cascade to multiple losses. In terms of NFL Playoffs and tiebreakers, that is the worst possible scenario of the bunch.

Of course, the opposite can be true as well. If the Rams remain relatively healthy in that string of divisional opponents, and if they struggle with injuries, the Rams can run the table pretty quickly and turn even a season with little hope into a fantastic finish. But is the reward worth the risk?

To me, it's better to clear out several divisional games to set the stage for the remainder of the season. Of course, injuries can impact the Rams roster at any point in time. But if divisional games are spread out a bit, the cascade effect is mitigated.

Those are the worst scheduling scenarios that I can think of. Did I miss any?

As always, thanks for reading.