All around the Rams locker room Sunday evening, players were stretched out on contoured beds, their legs encased in compression sleeves. At least a dozen massages were underway in an adjoining training room.
With the New Orleans Saints coming to town Thursday night, there’s no time to spare.
Amazingly, these Rams are not only relevant, they took control of their situation with a 28-20 victory over Washington. A playoff berth is theirs to hang on to or lose.
How weird. This was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Rams, among the NFL’s youngest teams. Remember all those rumblings of how they should tank for the No. 1 pick so they could draft USC’s Caleb Williams? How Sean McVay was probably going to leave for a TV gig? How Matthew Stafford was done?
As it stands, it would be a disappointment if they didn’t make the playoffs. Few people saw that coming. And they’re playing well enough to be particular about the way they win. They could have beaten the Commanders by more. The game should have been on ice sooner. Imagine, quibbling over style points in what was forecast as a season to forget.
“We knew we could do it, man,” Rams guard Kevin Dotson said. “Sometimes you’ve got to go through adversity to get to where you want to go. I feel like we’ve been through that adversity, and now we’re kind of seeing what we can really be.”
This feels like a completely different team than the one that dropped consecutive games to Pittsburgh, Dallas and Green Bay to fall to 3-6.
Running back Kyren Williams has been a big part of that turnaround, as has the play of Stafford, who in the last four games has 12 touchdowns and one interception.
Suddenly, the Rams are one of the league’s more dangerous teams.
The Rams’ Kyren Williams ran for 152 yards against the Commanders.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
That’s particularly odd when juxtaposed with the season of the Chargers, who were expected to far surpass the Rams this fall. The league gave them six primetime games, the maximum allowable, whereas the Rams got two. Now, the Chargers are looking for a new coach and general manager, and the Rams are somehow still rolling.
The shifting sands of December make predicting what will happen a risky endeavor. At this snapshot in time, the Rams are in the postseason as the NFC’s No. 7 seed. They are 7-7, the same record as the Saints, giving Thursday night’s game a distinct playoff feel.
Whoever emerges victorious in that game is in good position to keep playing beyond Week 18. The loser will be in choppy waters.
Players are conditioned to not look past the challenge in front of them, so good luck trying to get something out of them about potential playoff scenarios. But this is “what if” season, and there’s a postseason possibility that’s especially enticing.
If the Rams were to make the playoffs — and they would need to win games against the Saints, at the New York Giants and perhaps even at San Francisco — they could wind up facing Detroit in the first round.
Sure, there are lots of different ways the path could unfurl, but a Rams at Lions matchup would be fascinating.
The play of quarterback Matthew Stafford, shown scrambling as he looks for a receiver against the Commanders, has the Rams thinking playoffs.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Just imagine, Stafford going back to play in Detroit. He’s still a Lions legend, so much so that when Los Angeles was in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago, there were people in the Motor City sporting Detroit Rams T-shirts.
And what about Jared Goff versus McVay, the coach who swapped him for Stafford?
If those pieces were to fall into place, there would be no complaining by the NFL.
Rams-Lions would be the tentative matchup given three entirely plausible outcomes in Week 16: Rams beat New Orleans, Detroit beats Minnesota and Philadelphia beats the New York Giants.
Of course, with two weeks of games following that, there’s no telling how the final picture would look.
Still …
“Believe me, I’ve thought of it,” said the now-retired Bill Keenist, a Lions executive for three decades. “That would be surreal.”
Naturally, Lions fans would pull for the hometown team but many would be a little conflicted because of their love for Stafford.
“You talk about the ultimate full-circle story,” Keenist said. “Matthew would finally get to play a playoff game at Ford Field, where he did magical things for so many years.”
It’s all fantasy football now. Predictions and possible permutations are just an academic exercise.
Regardless, even though the treatment-minded Rams were scattered around the locker room floor after Sunday’s game, it was remarkable to think that they’re still standing.
