This past week there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Rams. Fans all over social media overreacted to the loss against the Saints and jumped to point out the flaws the Rams have. Even I focused on the negatives from last week which included the poor play of the Rams secondary and inability to get to Drew Brees. However, we as a fan base need to realize that the goal of this season was not to go undefeated. Sure, going undefeated would’ve been nice but the end goal is and has always been winning the super bowl.
Despite losing to the Saints last week, I believe the Rams still have the best chance to win home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Let’s start by comparing the Rams and Saints schedules for the rest of the year.
Rams
Week 10: vs Seattle (4-4)
Week 11: vs Kansas City* (8-1)
Week 12: Bye
Week 13: at Detroit (3-5)
Week 14: at Chicago (5-3)
Week 15: vs Philadelphia (4-4)
Week 16: at Arizona (2-6)
Week 17: vs San Francisco (2-7)
*Game played in Mexico City
Saints
Week 10: at Cincinnati (5-3)
Week 11: vs Philadelphia (4-4)
Week 12: vs Atlanta (4-4)
Week 13: at Dallas (3-5)
Week 14: at Tampa Bay (3-5)
Week 15: at Carolina (6-2)
Week 16: vs Pittsburgh (5-2-1)
Week 17: vs Carolina (6-2)
The Rams still have their bye and the Saints do not. The Rams also have only 3 true road games and the Saints have 4. In the Rams final seven games their opponents have a combined record of 28-30 (.482) and for the Saints their opponents combined record is 36-27-1 (.570). Not only is the Rams schedule significantly easier, but they also end the year against the Cardinals and 49ers whereas the Saints have to face the Steelers and Panthers. These games could have huge playoff and seeding implications attached to them depending on how the season plays out.
Besides the easy schedule the Rams still rank very highly in offense and defense. The Rams lead in the NFL in total offense and are 3rd in points per game. Despite giving up 45 points last week, the Rams defense is still very respectable and ranks 13th in yards allowed per game and 10th in points allowed per game.
It’s easy to panic after a loss, but the fact of the matter is the Rams are still loaded with stars everywhere and had a lot of positives to take away from last week. Under head coach Sean McVay, the Rams have never lost back to back regular season games and should bounce back in a big way this week vs Seattle. Maybe this loss was a blessing in disguise by showing our players they can be beaten. It will help them focus on improving and not allow them to become complacent. One loss is not the end of the world, and I am very confident that the Rams will learn and grow from this to obtain their season goal of winning a super bowl.
Photo: David Currie/Sky Sports
