The Los Angeles Rams had 90% of a great win on the road without one of their top players, but unfortunately sometimes those small differences in a game amount to a huge difference in the standings. Although the Rams blew a 16-point fourth quarter lead and gave up eight points in overtime to lose to the Seattle Seahawks, not everybody sees L.A. as dead in the water.
On ESPN’s Get Up, betting analyst Joe Fortenbaugh pointed out just how many weird things had to happen for the Rams to lose and he still believes that L.A. should be the betting favorite to come out of the NFC and reach the Super Bowl:
Fortenbaugh notes that the Rams had to win this game without Davante Adams and they still scored 30 points in regulation against Seattle’s defense and then another touchdown to Puka Nacua in overtime to take a lead. He notes, as many have, that Matthew Stafford had 457 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions despite not having Adams.
He didn’t mention that the Rams also lost Kevin Dotson in the middle of the game.
On The Athletic Football Show, Robert Mays and Derrick Klassen discuss how Stafford is still the MVP and that his argument may have only gotten stronger on Thursday despite the loss:
The Rams loss almost totally crushes their hopes of winning the number one seed, which is so odd to say given that a win would have all but guaranteed it. L.A. still has a one-in-four chance of earning the one seed, but it would necessitate for the Seahawks and 49ers to have a really bad next 10 days and then the Rams would have to win their own games. Either Seattle or San Francisco is going to win in Week 18 because they play each other. It’s not even very possible for the game to end in a tie because the 49ers and Seahawks aren’t going to intentionally tie unless they know it eliminates the Rams from contention of winning the division.
Even so, are the Rams not still the best team in the NFL and the most dangerous potential wild card in football?
Fortenbaugh reminded the Get Up crew that even if the Rams are a wild card, they probably would face the winner of the NFC South in round 1 and be favored by a touchdown, then they could end up going on the road in round two to play a Bears team or an Eagles team that has not looked unbeatable in 2025, and then L.A. could possibly end up right back in Seattle for an NFC Championship knowing that as of yesterday, the Rams were the better team for most of the game without Adams or Dotson.
He also thinks that Nacua has nearly caught up to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the Offensive Player of the Year race and that Stafford is still the betting favorite to win MVP.
The Rams ended up losing a game that they had control for three and a half quarters. Worst case scenario, they proved that they can go on the road and be in a great position to beat the team that is the current number one seed. They also proved that they can go to Santa Clara and beat the other team that could get the number one seed. The Rams know that they can beat any team, in any stadium, in the NFL.
So going on the road is anything but the final nail in L.A.’s coffin. Managing how to put those teams away for good is the question that Sean McVay has to answer this week, but it’s far from over.
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