The Los Angeles Rams will play for the NFC West title next week unless they clinch a championship this weekend or Monday night in the most complicated way possible.
The Rams came close to clinching the NFC West title with a 13-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, improving to 10-6 and 1-0 against the 9-7 Seattle Seahawks. Maintained a game difference. LA has won five in a row.
The game came down to the final drive, and the Cardinals had plenty of time to score a touchdown and take the lead. As he reached the Los Angeles 5-yard line, Kyler Murray’s pass hit tight end Trey McBride’s helmet.
Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon did his best to catch the deflection and nearly decided the game. The play was reviewed to see if Witherspoon got off with the ball, and the interception ruling was upheld, but the Rams needed to make a push after being given the ball at the 1-yard line.
The Seahawks will play the Rams in Week 18. If Los Angeles wins, they will win the division. If Seattle wins, let’s get down to business.
If the Seahawks defeat the Rams in Week 18, both teams will fall to 10-7 and the division title will be contested in a tiebreaker. First tiebreak: A head-to-head matchup where the teams are even (the Rams defeated the Seahawks in Week 9). Second tiebreak: Division record with both sides tied. Third tie-break: record against common opponent, even. 4th tiebreaker: Conference records are even.
Finally, the fifth tie-break, the strength of victory. In that case, the Rams could lock in the advantage on Sunday or Monday if three of the five teams below achieve at least two wins and one tie (all odds from BetMGM).
Buffalo Bills (10-point favorite vs. New York Jets)
Cleveland Browns (3.5 points difference vs. Miami Dolphins)
Minnesota Vikings (1 point favorite vs. Green Bay Packers)
Washington Commanders (3.5 point favorite vs. Atlanta Falcons)
San Francisco 49ers (3.5 points difference vs. Detroit Lions)
The Cincinnati Bengals have already contributed on this front with a dramatic overtime win over Denver earlier Saturday.
With four of those games on Sunday and the Niners’ game on Monday, Rams head coach Sean McVay said his focus will be on whether his team can win outright division this week.
The Rams jumped out to a big lead and then held a comfortable lead.
It’s a familiar scenario for the Rams this season, with the offense struggling and the rest of the team doing enough to pick up wins and stay on pace for district contention.
Neither team scored until midway through the second quarter, when the Rams completed some long passes and Kyren Williams scored a 1-yard touchdown.
Overall, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 17 of 32 for 189 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and no sacks. Cardinals passer Kyle Murray had a more adventurous day, going 33-of-48 for 32 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions and four rushing yards.
That one touchdown started the third quarter for McBride. That score was long overdue for McBride, who entered the game with 92 receptions on 120 targets and 958 receiving yards on the season, but as any fantasy manager of McBride will tell you, it was a touchdown. There wasn’t.
McBride’s teammates were elated that he finally found the end zone.
Chad Ryland’s extra point try was blocked, and scoring chances would once again come back to haunt the Cardinals.
After trailing 10-0 at halftime, the Cardinals scored a McBride touchdown and a field goal on the first two drives of the third quarter. They only got two more drives in the entire game, and both ended in Murray interceptions.
