The Los Angeles Rams were one of the NFL’s surprise teams this year because, since the offseason, even they have acknowledged that this is a rebuilding year.
However, the Rams made an impact with both their draft class and some of the other veterans they added. With one week remaining in the 2023 regular season, the Rams secured an NFC playoff berth thanks to a combination of factors that included Sean McVay’s outstanding coaching, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, and Cooper Kupp getting back to their previous level of play.
Following victories over the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks in Week 17 by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Rams, respectively, Los Angeles finally secured a postseason berth after missing out on one last season due to Super Bowl defense.
Given this, McVay decided to sit a number of important players against the San Francisco 49ers in the regular season finale. The 49ers had already secured the top seed and had rested their starters.
In any case, the Rams defeated their opponents on the road with a thrilling 21-20 triumph led by Carson Wentz and Tutu Atwell.
The Rams have secured the No. 6 seed in the NFC, and given the way the games played in Week 18, they will play the Detroit Lions in the first round of the playoffs.
There are other reasons why this is an interesting battle, but the quarterbacks are the main one because of the huge transaction that happened a few years ago. In exchange for Stafford, the Rams infamously sent Jared Goff and two first-round selections to Detroit.
The Rams, who won the Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season with the organization, have already benefited from that transaction. With Goff playing at a very high level, Detroit had one of their best regular seasons in franchise history, and they have begun to reap the rewards of the deal in recent years.
For the first time since 1994, the Lions will now host a playoff game, but given how well they have been playing in the second part of the season, they can’t be too happy to see Stafford and the Rams come to town.
Rams’ NFC playoff bracket
The NFL is surely happy about this though as it gives them another high-profile game in the first round. The full Wild Card Weekend schedule will come out after all the games are played, but the NFC half of the bracket is set and goes as follows…
(1) San Francisco 49ers: Bye
(7) Green Bay Packers at (2) Dallas Cowboys
(6) Los Angeles Rams at (3) Detroit Lions
(5) Philadelphia Eagles at (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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