There’s a lot riding on Monday night’s game between the Rams and Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. The Cardinals can not only clinch a playoff spot with a win, but they can also move one victory closer to locking up the NFC West crown.
The Rams need a win to stay alive in the race for the division title, with a loss sending them three games back of Arizona with only four weeks remaining.
As important as this matchup is in the NFC West, even more pressure has been put on the Rams because of the results from Sunday’s games in the conference. They got absolutely no help, with all of their top competitors earning victories on Sunday.
The 49ers beat the Bengals in overtime to improve their record to 7-6, only 1.5 games back of the Rams entering Monday night. The Cowboys held on to beat Washington, moving to 9-4 on the year. The Buccaneers also won in overtime, beating the Bills after blowing a big fourth-quarter lead. They’re now 10-3 and holding the third seed in the NFC. The Packers wrapped things up with a big win over the Bears on Sunday night, maintaining the No. 2 seed at 10-3.
The Rams couldn’t have overtaken the Packers, Bucs or Cowboys even with a win against the Cardinals because they still wouldn’t be a division leader over Arizona. However, those wins by the Packers, Bucs and Cowboys will make it even tougher for the Rams to earn the top seed in the NFC if they do somehow manage to eclipse the Cardinals in the NFC West.
That’s not to say they should be scoreboard-watching at this point in the season, but the Rams would love for the top teams in the conference to lose a few more games down the stretch so they can improve their seeding in the NFC.
What really puts pressure on Los Angeles is the 49ers’ resurgence. If the Rams lose tonight, they’ll only be one game up on the 49ers and they still have to face San Francisco once more in Week 18. That game could very well decide the fifth and sixth seeds in the NFC, which might be the difference between facing the Cowboys, Buccaneers or Packers.
Dallas is probably the team the Rams would most prefer to face in the playoffs, even after already beating the Bucs in Week 3. So it’s critical for Los Angeles to hold onto that fifth seed, with Dallas likely finishing in the fourth spot in the NFC.