The Los Angeles Rams had the week off after playing in London, hitting their Week 9 bye at the midway point in the season. It was a good break for the team, allowing players such as Brandin Cooks and Clay Matthews to get healthy, but it also came right when the Rams were gaining some momentum.
They hit the bye as the No. 14 team in Doug Farrar’s power rankings at Touchdown Wire, but coming out of the break, they’re slightly lower now. In Farrar’s Week 10 rankings, the Rams just barely crack the top half of the league at No. 16.
You can’t blame the Rams if they’re feeling a bit uncertain right now. Last season, they were the absolute kings of the NFC West halfway through the season, with an 8-1 record after nine weeks. Now, they’re looking up at the 49ers, the NFL’s only remaining undefeated team, and a 7-2 Seahawks squad that is winning ugly, but still winning. The Rams already have lost to each of those teams. Trading Aqib Talib to the Dolphins in what was essentially a complicated salary dump ostensibly gives the Rams more money to sign Jalen Ramsey to a mega-contract down the road. In the interim, both Talib and Marcus Peters, the former stalwarts of the secondary, have been shown the door via recent trades. Not that they’d admit it, but you tend to wonder if head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead are assembling their pieces for a run in 2020 and accepting the idea that this might not be their year.
With the NFC playoff picture being as tight and competitive as it is, the Rams have plenty of work to do. They’re 1.5 games behind the Seahawks and three back of the 49ers in the NFC West, and even at 5-3, the Rams don’t currently hold a playoff spot.
Upcoming games against the Seahawks, 49ers and Cowboys will have a big impact on the conference standings and could determine whether the Rams make the playoffs or ultimately fall out of the race.
Finishing the second half with another 5-3 record to get to 10-6 might not be enough for the Rams to make the postseason.
