Brian Baldinger praises LA Rams roster: "As good as anybody . . ."

Wild Card Round III: Rams are better than their record

The LA Rams ended the season with a record of 10-7. While that was good enough to enter the 2024 NFL Playoffs as the sixth seed, if you look back over the Rams season, this team had several games that could have gone either way. The Rams lost games to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals that they could have won. The Rams took the Baltimore Ravens to overtime in a deluge at Baltimore. And worst of all, the Rams lost a game to the Green Bay Packers on the road because QB Matthew Stafford was injured and could not play.

If you follow the NFL regularly, you understand that the LA Rams strategy of loading up their roster with rookie starters was a bold and risky gamble. Unlike many tactics that offer instant gratification, investing in young players forces the team to accept a long-term outlook on success. Rookie football players, even the best in the game, take unpredictable amounts of time to fully develop into a dependable performer. The Rams were blessed with nearly a half dozen rookies who developed rapidly into NFL starts this year.

Wild Card Round II: Rams rested key starters, and still won in Week 18

NFL Players love to play football and hate to sit on the sidelines and watch teammates compete in NFL games. The LA Rams sat a host of key starters for Week 18, essentially creating a mini-BYE week for starters like QB Matthew Stafford, DT Aaron Donald, WR Cooper Kupp, LB Ernest Jones, RB Kyren Williams, and more. We know that Stafford, Kupp, and perhaps Jones could all benefit from a week of rest before resuming football. The LA Rams have, optimistically, four more football games on the road.

There is no comparison between the LA Rams who started the 2023 NFL season and the LA Rams who finished the 2023 NFL season. The Rams who began were not only unfamiliar with the game, but were still making introductions to one another as they began to play together as a group. Even the Rams coaching staff were handicapped by not yet having a full assessment of their players. As familiarity improved, so did the Rams.

The LA Rams have not lost a playoff game with Matthew Stafford in the pocket. The LA Rams are back in the dance, folks. Anything can happen.