Los Angeles Rams: Case for and against making the playoffs

Case Against Rams Making the Playoffs

Sure, the Los Angeles Rams have won their last two games, but it came against the Falcons and Bengals. They are two of the worst defensive teams in the league, ranked 29th and last overall. It will be telling if they can execute offensively against the Ravens, Seahawks, Cowboys, and 49ers in the second half.

The running back position has been volatile, to say the least. Gurley is not the sam effective back that he was last year. While Brown and Henderson Jr., have filled in admirably and sometimes have even received more carries than Gurley, the Rams will have games where the running game does not produce enough.

The big question is, can Jared Goff keep willing the Rams to victory if this happens?

So far, Goff has 11 touchdowns to seven interceptions which shows he is not having the same success offensively when he went 32 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last year. The Rams not being able to achieve a balance between the passing and running games will put even a bigger pressure on Goff to overcome.

Look around the NFC. The Rams are a good team. But there are tons of good teams that will be competing with the Rams for a playoff spot. Look no further than the Eagles, Vikings, Panthers, and Seahawks. If things stayed the way they were today (where the 49ers, Packers, Saints, and Cowboys are divisional leaders), the Rams will have little room for error.

The Eagles seem to be on the rise after its terrible loss to the Cowboys a couple of weeks ago; The Vikings and Panthers have excellent defenses and Russell Wilson is willing a rebuilding Seahawks team to victory almost every week.

Factor in that the Rams have not been the most consistent on a week to week basis and they are facing an uphill battle.

By no means will it be easy for the Rams to get there, especially with half of their games being divisional games (49ers once, Seahawks once, Cardinals twice). While winning these games could easily catapult the Rams back into play for the division title, it can also easily take them out of playoff contention.

With a questionable running game mounting pressure on Goff to keep the team in games and other wild card teams knocking on the door to push their way into the playoffs, the Rams will disappoint and will not make the playoffs this season. The Rams are a good team, but not good enough.