TNF may have set the table for the LA Rams to shock the NFL with late rally

After the LA Rams fell to a 1-4 record, the rest of the 2024 NFL season was never going to be easy. Well, perhaps that is an understatement. This team has to right a capsized ship in multiple critical areas, and in a setting with no realistic margin of error. It's a matter of getting good while fast tracking fixes across the roster, and the team.

And the schedule is not showing any signs of letting up for the next three months. So this all has to happen on the fly.

Still, we cannot ignore what just happened in the NFC West Division. The San Francisco 49ers disassembled the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 36-24. And as much as it pains me to say so, the outcome of that Thursday Night Football game was a positive for the Rams in terms of retaining the team's dim but still burning NFL Playoff hopes.

In terms of a wild card berth, the team has a vast number of competitors who are playing better football right now. The Rams are 0-3 against every NFC North Division team that they have faced, with the Minnesota VIkings (5-0) as the only team from that division remaining on the schedule. So in terms of any tie-breaker, this team has dug a deep hole already in just five games.

But in terms of the NFC West Division, the current crown is shared by the San Francisco 49ers (3-3) and the Seattle Seahawks (3-3). While mediocrity is not typically the trademark of the NFC West Division, the fact that the Rams are no worse off than two games back during their BYE week is about as favorable of an outcome as the team could possibly hope for. And if the Arizona Cardinals fall to the Green Bay Packers, the Rams will emerge from Week 6 in an even more fortuitous scenario.

And this Rams roster will continue to improve with each game going forward.

There is a humorous saying in Alaska. The riddle is: How fast do you have to run to survive a Polar Bear attack? The answer is: Faster than the other guys in your group. For the Los Angeles Rams, they no longer need to set their sights on some incredibly successful record in 2024. Perhaps, to earn a shot at the postseason, they simply need to be better than the other teams in the NFC West. Right now, that bar is much lower.

As always, thanks for reading.

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