A common theme for the Los Angeles Rams this season has been resiliency. This is a team that has gone through a lot of adversity, from Robert Woods’ season-ending injury to the 30-plus players who were knocked out of action due to COVID-19.
They’ve stayed the course and wrapped up a terrific regular season by going 12-5, but they can’t help feeling like they left plenty on the table. With their loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams gave up the No. 2 seed and fell all the way to fourth, which sets up a wild-card matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Thankfully, the Cardinals also lost and didn’t steal the NFC West title, but the Rams have to feel extremely disappointed in the way they closed out the year by losing in overtime to their division rivals.
Matthew Stafford would’ve liked to win the game and secure the No. 2 seed – thus, lining up the Rams and Saints for a first-round matchup – but he’s confident in his team if the Rams have to go on the road in the playoffs.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is we’re a resilient bunch,” he said after Sunday’s game. “We have been all year, whether we’re playing at home, playing on the road, things are going our way, things aren’t going our way, we continue to battle. That’s what it takes to win games in the playoffs, there’s no question. You’ve got to play good football, but you’ve got to be resilient too. Right now, it’s testing us. We lost the football game that we had chances to win and would have felt great winning that game and winning the division the way we wanted to win the division, but we’re a resilient group and we’ll be ready to go.”
The Rams could have to go on the road as early as the divisional round, potentially needing to travel to Lambeau Field for the second time this season. That’ll be the case if the Buccaneers and Cowboys also win, making the Rams the lowest remaining seed.
It wouldn’t be impossible to beat the Packers on the road, but the Rams would’ve been in much better shape had they clinched the No. 2 seed and guaranteed home games in the first two rounds.
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