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Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff Writer
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — At 5-6, the Los Angeles Rams are not out of the playoff hunt, yet. But Sunday’s 37-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles showed how far they are from competing with the best teams in the NFC.
The Rams have a 14.8% chance to make the playoffs and a 12.5% chance to win the division, according to ESPN Analytics.
Los Angeles is a game behind the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, who lead the NFC West. The Rams hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Seattle but not Arizona. The Rams end their season hosting the Seahawks in Week 17 and the Cardinals in Week 18.
But in the loss to the Eagles, it was apparent that while they still may make the playoffs in a mediocre NFC West, the Rams are not playing like a top contender in the conference.
The offense — featuring quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua and running back Kyren Williams — has struggled to score consistently this season. The unit scored a touchdown for just the second time in the first quarter on Sunday and then had minus-6 yards in the second quarter.
The Rams were 0-8 on third down, their first game since 2019 without a third-down conversion, although they did go 3-3 on fourth down. According to ESPN Research, the Rams are the first team to go 0-8 or worse on third down in a game this season. It’s also the first time in Stafford’s career that his team has gone 0-8 or worse on third downs in a game he started.
The Rams struggled to finish drives — as they have for much of this season — going 2-4 in the red zone. Once again, coach Sean McVay said it’s “execution” that is holding the Rams back from converting on third down and from finding the end zone.
One of those failures in the red zone was a fumble by Williams on the Rams’ opening drive — one on which the offense had looked good moving the ball down the field. The Rams have had only two games this season when they didn’t turn the ball over, and Williams has four fumbles (two lost) in his past four games. When asked after the game whether he’s concerned about the fumbles, McVay said, “That’s something that we have to be better at, for sure.”
“It’s tough, you’re close on some stuff, but for some reason just aren’t able to make the play,” Kupp said. “Got to do a better job finishing. And ultimately I think a lot of it’s finding ways for guys to make plays and turn small plays into [explosive ones].”
The Rams also have to better protect Stafford, who was sacked five times and hit 11 times on what McVay called a “tough night” protecting the quarterback. The Rams are missing right tackle Rob Havenstein, who injured his ankle in Week 9. He practiced in the lead up to the game against the Eagles but was listed as doubtful and did not play.
“We knew that they had some guys that were pretty damn good, but we’ve got to be able to consistently do a better job and give him a little bit more time,” McVay said. “And it wasn’t one person in particular … but there were some really quick beats, and we got to be able to look at that and see where we can be better.”
The Rams’ struggles on Sunday were accentuated by a high-performing Eagles defense that is ranked fifth in DVOA.
Los Angeles travels to New Orleans to play a Saints team on Sunday (FOX, 1 p.m. ET) that is ranked 22nd in defensive DVOA.
The young defense has carried the Rams at times this season after a rough start but could not contain the Eagles’ talented offense, including running back Saquon Barkley, who ran for 255 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries and caught four passes for 47 yards.
While the Rams’ season is far from over, it’s clear that if they want to win the division and make a playoff run, they need to figure out how to correct the mistakes they seem to be making week after week.
“Yeah, we do,” Kupp said, when asked whether he thinks the Rams are a playoff team capable of beating teams like the Eagles. “I think that’s the mentality each of us has taken and feel like we’re right there. It’s just, we haven’t been able to put it all together as much as we’d like to, but it’s there, it’s just finding it.”
Source: www.espn.com