Predicting final 4 games on Rams' schedule as they battle for the NFC West crown

The Los Angeles Rams started the season at 1-4 and appeared to be left for dead. Suddenly, the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks had a better chance of winning the NFC West than they did. While the division is still pretty tight, the Rams have the second-best record, having climbed their way out of the 1-4 ditch to sit at 7-6 on the year. They're one game back of the 8-5 Seattle Seahawks and own the tiebreaker over them.

NFL Next Gen Stats has given the Rams a 34% chance of making the playoffs and those odds jump to 50% if they win Thursday night's game against the 49ers. Ahead of them for the NFC West's spot in the playoffs is the Seahawks, who own 62% odds of making the postseason. The Seahawks' odds drop to 51% if they lose this weekend but jump to 79% with a win. If the Rams don't take care of business on Thursday, their odds will drop to 23%. Just win.

With only four games remaining on the Rams schedule, let's go through each game and predict how things might go down. With the Rams facing division rivals in three of their final four games, everything they want is right in front of them. Will LA be able to win enough games to win the division or sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team?

Week 15 @ San Francisco 49ers

Up first is a Thursday night game against the 49ers. There might not be a more disappointing team in the league this year than the 49ers, who went from representing the NFC in last season's Super Bowl to now camping out in the basement of the NFC West. Rams fans are enjoying the regression from their rival but the 49ers could still have a say on how the Rams' season ends.

The first time these two teams met up this year was in Week 3 when the Rams came from behind and knocked off the Niners, winning it 27 to 24. The 49ers have battled injuries all season long and the hope is that they'll still be without Nick Bosa and Trent Williams for this one. Any advantage the Rams can have over their foe on a short week would be greatly appreciated.

While this is a road game for the Rams on a short week, the team is hopefully still riding high from knocking off the Bills a few days ago and can notch another key victory. This would move them to 8-6 and continue to keep them in the playoff hunt.

Prediction: Rams 34, 49ers 28

Week 16 @ New York Jets

The only non-division rival the Rams will play in their final four games is against the Jets, who are a mess. I mentioned how the 49ers are one of the most disappointing teams in the league and the Jets fall into that category too. There were plenty of talking heads saying that this would finally be the year the Jets reached a Super Bowl but those people couldn't have been further from the truth, as the Jets have just three wins through their first 13 games.

It's hard to say where things went wrong for the Jets this year but Rams fans don't really care. They're happy to play a struggling team at this point in the season and they'll have a long week to prepare considering they'll be playing on Thursday Night Football the previous week.

Prediction: Rams 40, Jets 19

Week 17 vs. Arizona Cardinals

The Rams return home for their final two games of the 2024 regular season and up first is a rematch with the Cardinals, who blew out Los Angeles during the first meeting back in September. Both of these teams have changed a lot since then with the Rams surging and the Cardinals spiraling.

This is a huge game for the Rams to win because if they don't, the Cardinals would have swept the season series against LA and that's not good for playoff or division title implications. The Rams should hopefully be able to handle the Cardinals and hand them yet another disappointing season.

Prediction: Rams 28, Cardinals 21

Week 18 vs. Seattle Seahawks

The final game on the Rams' schedule for the 2024 regular-season could very well be for the NFC West crown, as the Seahawks will come to SoFi Stadium for the season finale. As of this writing, the Seahawks hold a one-game lead over LA but the Rams won the first meeting in overtime. A win here gives Los Angeles the season sweep over Seattle but the Rams still have to take care of business in their other games as well.

The good news is that the Rams took down the Seahawks before so they know they're capable of it. If the NFC West crown is on the line, or even just a playoff spot is on the line, the Rams could be in a win-and-in situation. No one wants to play this team in the playoffs and this is when the Rams typically hit their stride and are hard to beat. They run the table to close out the 2024 regular season.

Prediction: Rams 30, Seahawks 20

I have the Rams running the table in their final four games and if that does indeed play out, Los Angeles would be 11-6 and should be the NFC West champs. Even if Seattle won the rest of their games, the two meet in the final game of the season and if the Rams won that one to give both teams the same record, the advantage would go to LA for sweeping the season series.

An 11-5 record might be good enough to get the Rams the division crown and/or a playoff berth but it probably only gets them the three or the four seed at best. They likely won't be able to jump Detroit or Philadelphia in the playoff seedings but hopefully can beat out whoever wins the NFC South.

A three-seed would mean the Rams either host the Packers or Commanders, who are the final two wild card spots right now (Minnesota will more than likely earn the five-seed). The Rams still need to hope that the Commanders lose over the final month of the season because if they don't win the division, that wild card spot is the one they'll need if they want to get into the postseason.

Will the Rams end up running the table? After seeing them beat the Bills, one thing is clear and that's that this team is getting red hot at the perfect time.