The Los Angeles Rams may not be as bad as we think

The Los Angeles Rams have garnered a lot of criticism recently due to their fall from grace but the team is probably better than we are giving credit for.

I will admit, I was one of the first people to discount the Los Angeles Rams this season and for one reason: Jared Goff. I just cannot get over that the team paid Goff what they paid him when he put together two decent seasons where he was the least exciting part of a stellar offense.

You would think that his performance in the Super Bowl would be a red-flag and that the Rams would wait until after the season to extend him. They didn’t and they are stuck with him for four more years and he simply has to be better.

However, that is not indicative of the entire team and a lot of people are letting the poor play of Goff influence the view of the rest of the team. It is the same effect that Mitchell Trubisky has on the Chicago Bears.

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It’s can be tough, though, to say that the Rams are better than we think as they have some ugly losses including a blowout loss against the Baltimore Ravens and an ugly loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But if these games were to happen on Sunday morning instead of primetime the discussion around the Rams would not be as prevalent. Playing in prime time has actually hurt the opinion on the team as the entire nation watched them lay an egg against the Steelers, beat the Bears in an ugly fashion and then get creamed by the Ravens.

The Los Angeles Rams have some work to do and they have to overcome some things, such as the offensive line and Goff’s struggles. And while I still do think that the playoffs are a stretch, just because the team shot themselves in the foot earlier in the season, the Rams are better than people are giving credit to and deserve more respect in the last four games.

First of all, it is not like the Rams have a losing record. They are the seventh-seed in the NFC with a 7-5 record. All they have to do is finish 3-1 and they will be a 10-win team.

Look at the teams the Rams have lost to as well as they have not had it easy. The Ravens look unstoppable and caught the Rams at the right time. Let’s not forget that the Ravens also blew out the Houston Texans and beat the Patriots and Seahawks by two or more possessions.

They also lost by 13 to the 49ers in a game that could have been drastically different. It was still a 7-7 game when the Rams turned the ball over on downs late in the first half and then the team fumbled in its first drive of the second half.

If the Rams score that touchdown and then don’t fumble and kick a field goal the team would have been up 20-7 in a vastly different game.

Speaking of different outcomes, the Rams should have beaten the Seattle Seahawks but Greg Zuerlein missed the game-winning field goal. That is one that we can excuse and with that win you figure the Rams would be 8-4 and the Seahawks would only be one-game ahead at 9-3.

The Steelers loss was ugly, there is no excuse for that one but even the best teams have ugly losses. The Ravens lost to the Browns, the Saints lost to the Falcons, the Packers lost to the Chargers, it happens.

And then they happened to be on the receiving end of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers annual surprise game. Every year the Bucs go off in at least one game to surprise a contender and this year it happened to the Rams as the Bucs dropped 55 games.

We simply cannot go back and change the record books but if Zuerlein makes that field goal and the Bucs have their breakout game the following week then this would be a 9-3 team.

Granted, the same problems would exist, such as the offensive line, but the opinion of the team would be vastly different than it is right now.

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Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Rams, they are a victim of circumstance and it may be little to late to make the playoffs. They are going to have to finish the season with a 3-1 record at worse and hope that the Vikings lose two games to NFC opponents.

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