The bye week seemed to come at just the right time for the Los Angeles Rams. Puka Nacua missed one game with an ankle injury and it’s within the realm of possibility that he returns in Week 9. There are also several lineup changes the Rams could consider implementing with an extra week to prepare.
Here are four thoughts I have on the rest of the season and how the Rams can build their resume as contenders in 2025:
1 – Two matchups against Seattle will decide how Rams finish
By most objective measures, both the Rams and Seattle Seahawks rank towards the top of the NFL. These are two of the most well-rounded teams in 2025 as they can beat you with either of their offense or defense.
While LA should feel positive about it’s 5-2 start to the year, every single one of their wins have come against AFC teams. Meanwhile, they’ve dropped two games against NFC teams in the playoff hunt—the Eagles and 49ers—and they’ve yet to build their resume as a contender in their own conference.
Personally, I don’t see the 49ers on the same level as either the Rams or Seahawks. San Francisco is clearly the third-most talented team in the division, though they benefit from a pillow fight schedule that will bolster their overall record ahead of the postseason.
LA will play the Seahawks in weeks 11 and 16 and these are the single two most important games they could play the entire year. It’s unclear which team is better, and it’s likely these could be closely competitive games that help shape the entire NFC playoff picture.
Worried about the Rams’ ability to hold up at corner? Well, how can you expect to stop Jaxon Smith-Njigba and company?
We watched Jared Verse and Braden Fiske wreck Sam Darnold’s season a year ago. Can they do it again?
2 – Rams are finding multiple ways to win
The ability to shapeshift and be multiple is how you win in the playoffs. NFL coaches are adept at crafting gameplans that takeaway your best strengths, and you must be able to counterpunch or you risk watching the rest of the postseason from your couch.
This year’s Rams team might be the best at finding counters that we’ve seen in the Sean McVay era. They just played more 13 personnel in one game against the Jacksonville Jaguars than some franchises use in an entire season. LA demonstrated they can win without Puka Nacua by sharing the offensive workload and tapping into their promising young depth in Blake Corum, Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield, and Terrance Ferguson.
There are also encouraging signs on the defensive side of the ball.
Darious Williams just put together his two most impressive weeks of the season. Is he amidst a turnaround, or this unsustainable? I’m not sure of the answer but I do know things are trending in the right direction for him.
Braden Fiske should have paid rent to the Jaguars for how he lived in their backfield last week. He’s put his oblique injury in the rearview mirror and looks like his disruptive self that we saw from him as a rookie.
3 – Terrance Ferguson could be a difference maker
If the Rams are going to deploy heavy personnel more often, rookie TE Terrance Ferguson immediately becomes a more important player. While Tutu Atwell has made his living on the deep ball—and is adept at drawing pass interference penalties that aren’t reflected in the traditional box score—it’s clear he loses his role in favor of tight ends and Whittington/Mumpfield when running (or the illusion of running) takes priority. Atwell played only 10 snaps last week while the receivers behind him on the depth chart played into the 20’s. Xavier Smith also included.
We haven’t seen much of Ferguson. When the ball is thrown his direction—whether in the preseason or games that matter—it’s almost always on a downfield shot. Based on the info we have, we can only draw the conclusion that the Rams see their rookie tight end as a vertical threat.
So if Atwell’s role is diminished into the second half of the season (likely dependent on game plan), could Ferguson arise as a change of pace player to offset the speedy receiver’s role in some fashion? In other words, can the Rams put heavier personnel on the field but still find ways to push the ball vertically to positions you wouldn’t normally expect to see?
Ferguson is an interesting tool for McVay to keep in his belt. Will he get more run over the second half of the year?
LA is reportedly making calls to possibly acquire a corner ahead of the trade deadline. This does not mean much necessarily, as you’d expect the Rams to kick the tires on any available player given their struggles at the position and the extended absence of Ahkello Witherspoon. Whether the team pulls the trigger and departs from draft capital is a burning question in and of itself.
Maybe Darious Williams can maintain his positive performance from the last two weeks. Cobie Durant and Emmanuel Forbes are both very hot and cold players, though Durant seems to perform well more often than Forbes. Durant and Forbes will always struggle in tackling because of their slight frames.
Corner is clearly the weakest position on the Rams’ roster. Solidifying one starting role outside would greatly improve the overall outlook for the defense, and then you can platoon the other position between a healthy Witherspoon and Williams/Durant/Forbes.
Sure, there are probably good players that teams who’ve already lost hope could part from. But generally speaking most NFL teams could use another corner and the Rams could easily talk themselves out of the cost to acquire the more appealing players on the market.
I’m not sure that a trade happens; however, the difference a capable player could make on the roster is immense.
