Who’s No. 1?
Not the Rams. Not for now anyway.
Before last Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, the Rams held the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
After their defeat, the Rams (9-3) are No. 2 heading into Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals (3-9) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The Chicago Bears (9-3) currently hold the top spot.
How closely are Rams coach Sean McVay and his players tracking the race for the No. 1 seed — and home-field advantage for the playoffs?
“It’s not important to me at all,” McVay said.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford apparently feels the same.
“That’s the last thing on my mind at the moment,” he said.
Understandably so.
The Panthers ended the Rams’ six-game winning streak and knocked the Rams from their perch atop the NFC.
The Rams are attempting to regain momentum and stay atop the NFC West.
“Last week serves as a phenomenal reminder of… you get all ahead of yourself, we won’t even be in the playoffs if we’re not careful,” McVay said.
Or, as receiver Davante Adams put it: “They were just singing our praises a week ago, and now, ‘We suck’ just because we go out and don’t win the game.”
Barring a complete collapse, the Rams appear on their way to the postseason. But the Seattle Seahawks (9-3) and the San Francisco 49ers (9-4) — also of the NFC West — are among the teams that remain in contention for the top seed.
This is the time of year when playoff projections are omnipresent.
“I’m not naive to the fact that every time you flip on NFL Network or ESPN or you’re watching games… and it pops up,” McVay said. “Our guys see it, but I think they’re also smart enough and humble enough to know that none of it really matters. … It’s something that you’re aware of, but it doesn’t move the needle for us at all.”
In his first eight seasons with the Rams, McVay led them to the Super Bowl twice, and neither road included home games for every round.
In 2018, the Rams had a bye in the wild-card round, and then defeated the Dallas Cowboys at the Coliseum and the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome en route to Super Bowl LIII, where they lost to the New England Patriots.
In 2021, the Rams did not have a bye. They defeated the Cardinals at SoFi Stadium, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa and the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium to advance to Super Bowl LVI. The Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium to win the title.
After Sunday’s game, the Rams play host to the Detroit Lions and then play a “Thursday Night Football” game at Seattle. They travel to Atlanta to play the Falcons, and finish the season at home against the Cardinals.
“If you said, ‘would I be happier if we ended up being able to be in a position where that means we won more games that maybe gave you a chance to get an automatic bid to the Division Round?’ Yeah, of course,” McVay said.
The last two seasons, the Rams were eliminated from the playoffs on the road.
In 2023, the Lions beat them in a wild-card game at Ford Field. Last season, the Rams lost in the divisional round at Philadelphia to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Eagles.
“I don’t think being on the road had anything to do with us coming up short in those games,” McVay said.
If the Rams have clinched the No. 1 seed or a playoff spot before the finale against the Cardinals, McVay, as he did the past few seasons, might opt to rest most starters.
“We’re trained to do whatever is right in front of us and if that is to go play a game for this seed, all the marbles or whatever it is, we’ll go do it,” Stafford said. “If it’s to sit, rest and take care of yourself, you do that.
“We’re not anywhere near that conversation at the moment. We’re laser focused on Arizona and trying to get the result that we want.”
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