With a loss to the Seattle Seahawks and a victory over the visiting New York Giants on Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams secured a postseason berth.
With 35 seconds remaining, kicker Mason Crosby missed a 54-yard field goal, and Los Angeles ran out the clock to win the game narrowly for the Rams (9-7). In the aftermath, Rams head coach Sean McVay stated that “a lot of things” that happened in the game were “uncharacteristic of playing sharp, good football that I know we’re capable of.”
“We had some uncharacteristic mistakes by some of our guys and I’m excited about being able to say, ‘Hey, it’s going to be a lot more fun cleaning these things up after a win,'” McVay stated.
Before their Week 10 bye, the Rams had a 3-6 start to the season. Since then, they have won six of their last seven games. Their lone defeat came away from home against the AFC’s top-seeded Baltimore Ravens in overtime.
Los Angeles’ over/under was 6.5 wins going into the season after the Rams lost key defensive talent during the offseason and carried over a large amount of dead money.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Los Angeles’ 6-1 record since Week 11 is tied for the second-best in the NFL during that time. Since Week 11, the Rams have averaged 29.3 points, which is third most in the NFL.
A year after finishing 5-12 in the season that followed their victory in Super Bowl LVI, Los Angeles is back in the postseason.
The Rams will play the 49ers on the road in their final regular season game. With a 27-10 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, San Francisco secured the NFC’s top seed.
During the Seahawks and Steelers game, which Pittsburgh ultimately won 30-23, McVay stated at the team’s postgame news conference that the Rams had been in “playoff mode” for the previous few weeks.
“We’ll see what else happens [in the playoff race] and then we will have our plan accordingly,” McVay stated. “But our focus and concentration will be on cleaning up these mistakes from this game and then doing a great job with our preparation against the No. 1 seed in the NFC.”
