{"id":113586,"date":"2025-12-30T12:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T12:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/113586\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T12:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T12:46:09","slug":"why-the-rams-are-suddenly-staggering-ahead-of-the-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/113586\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Rams are suddenly staggering ahead of the playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ATLANTA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Rams<\/a> wanted to make the playoffs in the worst way.<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished. They\u2019re headed to the playoffs in the worst way imaginable.<\/p>\n

Monday night\u2019s 27-24 loss<\/a> to the Atlanta Falcons was an abomination \u2014 you could feel that vibe in the postgame locker room \u2014 but the Rams need to study it, even if it requires contraptions to pry open their eyes.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if we play the way that we did in the first half … we\u2019re going to be at home watching everything go down in two weeks,\u201d defensive tackle Kobie Turner<\/a> said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get our stuff together.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was one of only three times in Sean McVay<\/a>\u2019s nine seasons that his team was held scoreless in the first half, which is bad enough. But that the going-nowhere Falcons built a three-touchdown halftime lead is absurd. Not so long ago, Atlanta lost seven of eight.<\/p>\n

The Rams looked nothing like the team that just about everyone had at the top of their power rankings for most of the season. Matthew Stafford<\/a> had three interceptions. Fill-in left tackle D.J. Humphries<\/a> had a pair of penalties that wiped out two huge receptions. And Atlanta\u2019s Bijan Robinson<\/a> would still be running now but decided to stop once he reached the end zone (after a 93-yard touchdown, mind you.)<\/p>\n

Those Rams who started 9-2 (and should have won those games against Philadelphia and San Francisco) are a fading memory. Since, they have lost three of five.<\/p>\n

Now, all the other NFC contenders are getting hot \u2014 Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago \u2014 and the Rams are shuddering in an emotional ice bath.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, their erstwhile insignificant finale against Arizona on Sunday is vitally important. They need to rediscover their rhythm rather than hoping to do so in the first round of the playoffs. They can\u2019t change their swing in the middle of this golf tournament. They need to work out the kinks on the practice range.<\/p>\n

Getting receiver Davante Adams back is key, and he looked good in warmups, running as if his hamstring problems are behind him. But he\u2019s desperately needed in the red zone, and that will lift some weight off the shoulders of Puka Nacua<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just as important, the team needs left tackle Alaric Jackson<\/a> and right guard Kevin Dotson<\/a> back from injuries. The Rams are getting a taste of what the Chargers have been through all season, their offensive line going through a reshuffle every week.<\/p>\n

And the defense should benefit greatly from the return of Quentin Lake<\/a>, a quarterback on that side of the ball.<\/p>\n

Regardless, good teams overcome the loss of key players and find ways to win with backups. Every team would love to be at full strength.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua pulls in a long pass over Atlanta Falcons cornerback C.J. Henderson in the first half Monday.<\/p>\n

(Brynn Anderson \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

And while the Rams should have been in position to kick the tying field goal down the stretch \u2014 there was an unflagged pass interference against Tutu Atwell<\/a>, who made a good attempt to catch a deep ball with his hand that wasn\u2019t being grabbed \u2014 they shouldn\u2019t have been in that predicament in the first place.<\/p>\n

As they watched their lead evaporate, the Falcons had to be having flashbacks to their catastrophic 25-point collapse to New England in the Super Bowl. After all, the Rams outscored them in the second half, 21-6.<\/p>\n

But all of that was cold consolation to the visitors, who couldn\u2019t close the deal.<\/p>\n

The Rams have lost back-to-back games, and were looking for a boost after blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead in Seattle. Instead, they got a slap in the face.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford speaks to reporters after a 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday.<\/p>\n

(Brynn Anderson \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ultra-rare for a team to head into the playoffs on a down note yet still reach the mountaintop. The last franchise to do that was Baltimore in 2012, a club that lost four of its last five games \u2014 albeit missing a slew of injured stars \u2014 then beat in succession teams quarterbacked by Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and an in-his-prime Colin Kaepernick.<\/p>\n

So it can be done. A bumbling team can find its way. And it looked for a moment Monday night as if the Rams had turned a corner.<\/p>\n

Jared Verse blocked a Falcons field-goal attempt, recovered the bouncing ball and returned it for a 76-yard touchdown. As he tore past the Atlanta sideline, he glanced over and playfully raised his hand to form a G-rated gesture.<\/p>\n

Unless a dramatic change is coming, it\u2019s a message the rest of the playoff teams could be saying to the Rams.<\/p>\n

Peace out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Rams wanted to make the playoffs in the worst way. Mission accomplished. They\u2019re headed to the playoffs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6448,60893,4472,423,48,52,51,47,50,49,3289,317,9330,8841,11706,10947,101,278,7853,427,430],"class_list":{"0":"post-113586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-atlanta-falcons","9":"tag-bad-way","10":"tag-ball","11":"tag-game","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-headlines","14":"tag-la-news","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","17":"tag-los-angeles-news","18":"tag-loss","19":"tag-monday-night","20":"tag-philadelphia","21":"tag-playoff","22":"tag-ram","23":"tag-rams","24":"tag-san-francisco","25":"tag-season","26":"tag-seattle","27":"tag-team","28":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}