Los Angeles Rams: Why the Rams will miss the playoffs

The Los Angeles Rams were handed an ugly loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and have since kissed their playoff hopes goodbye.

The Los Angeles Rams were the most dominant team in the NFC last season and that was showcased by the team representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. Although the Rams fell short, the young roster mixed with excellent head coaching seemingly set the team up for years of continued success.

The team picked up where it left off a year ago, winning its first three games of the year, including a win against the New Orleans Saints. However, since then, the Rams have not looked like the same team.

After winning three in a row the Rams lost three in a row. The team bounced back with two wins against two bad teams in the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals but were handed an ugly loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

More from LA Sports Hub

That loss was not only ugly but has taken the Rams’ playoff hopes away. Despite literally stating that the Rams would still win the NFC West just a few weeks ago, I am now declaring that it is time to give up on the Rams making the playoffs.

First and foremost, the Rams play in the crowded NFC. If the Rams were in the AFC then I would give them the benefit of the doubt with a 5-4 record. That just won’t cut it in the AFC.

Right now, the NFC’s two wild card teams are the Minnesota Vikings (7-3) and Seattle Seahawks (8-2). The Rams will gain a game late in the year either way when the two sides play each other, but it is hard to see the team catching up to either team’s win totals.

The thing is that the Rams have to win bare minimum 10 games to overcome either team in the wild card, whether it is them or the current division leaders, the San Francisco 49ers. That means finishing 5-2 for the Rams, who have a tough schedule and should not be giving anyone and confidence with the way they are playing.

The Rams still have to play the Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, which are three very tough games. They also have to play the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, who are not elite teams but will post a threat with their defenses against Jared Goff.

Based on how the Rams are playing, it is not hard to envision the team losing two of those five games. That also is not including two games against the Arizona Cardinals, who have been a frisky team this season that could surprise the Rams in one of the games.

Meanwhile, the Vikings have three very winnable games against the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos remaining on their schedule. That alone gets them to 10 wins.

Seattle does have a tougher path to end the season but only needs two more wins to get to 10 wins and has two winnable games against the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals. If they win those, they only have to win one more against the Rams, 49ers, Eagles or Vikings, which is definitely doable.

So even if things go as planned for the Los Angeles Rams and they finish 10-6, they would still likely be tied with the Vikings, which would then come down to conference record. Right now the Vikings have a 6-2 conference record, the Rams are 3-3. That is a big gap to make up.

Next. Who won the 2010s, the Dodgers or Lakers?. dark

Based on the difficulty of the remaining schedules, it is clear that the Los Angeles Rams simply have dug themselves too big of a hole to get out of, which is why they won’t make the playoffs for the third year in a row.

Home/Los Angeles Rams