Week 17 will prove to be the make or break game for the Rams young pass rush

The Rams cam clinch in Week 17

However, the Rams could lock up the NFC West Division in Week 17 if they defeat the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks tie or lose to the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football. A third scenario is that the Rams tie with the Cardinals and the Bears defeat the Seahawks. So, to sum up, the Rams can clinch the division in Week 17 via these multiple scenarios:

Of course, those various scenarios are complex and warrant further discussion via their own article. But for now, let's pivot an focus on the Rams role in clinching the NFC West Division. That task begins with taking care of business, and that means defeating the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.

In recent years, the Rams have had significant success against the Arizona Cardinals. But tis season, it was a game in Week 2 in the desert of Arizona that changed the narrative for these two teams. A very healthy Arizona Cardinals team hosted and pummeled an injury riddled Los Angeles Rams team by the score of 41-10. It was the sort of victory that the Cardinals seemed to relish, a chance to reverse years of frustrating losses at the hands of the Rams.

Even as the Rams stumbled out of the gates in 2024 to fall to a record of 1-4 before their Week 6 BYE, the Cardinals fared no better. The Cardinals opened the season with a record of 2-4 before getting hot, climbing to 6-4 before a Week 11 BYE. Unlike the Rams, the Cardinals emerged from their BYE ice cold, losing four of five games and being eliminated from postseason competition by losing in Week 16 to the Carolina Panthers (4-11) in overtime by a score of 36-30 while the Rams defeated the New York Jets (4-11) by a score of 19-9.

You could make the argument that the Cardinals fell to the Carolina Panthers because they looked past the Panthers at their Week 17 opponents, the Rams.