Last week was a whirlwind for the Los Angeles Rams, to say the least, with their Pro Bowl receiver, Puka Nacua, getting into a controversy on a live stream, and then losing an overtime matchup against the Seattle Seahawks after surrendering a 16-point lead with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
If the Rams hold on to that victory, it becomes very likely they will win the division and secure the top seed, but after losing, the team's playoff seeding has turned upside down.
Now, with the San Francisco 49ers' win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday and Seattle's win over the Carolina Panthers, the Rams are eliminated from contention for the NFC's one seed and can only finish between the fifth and sixth seeds.
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One question the Rams may be asking themselves is how their team's seeding changed in just one week. There is more than one answer to that when you factor in losses like the one in Seattle, which is not the sole reason Los Angeles may not get a home game in the playoffs despite having one of the best records in the league.
For starters, the NFC West is arguably the best and most competitive division in the league this season, as the Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks have at least 11 wins, and only the division winners are granted a top-four seed and home game in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Another reason why the Rams won't have a top seed comes from the team having multiple games where last-second plays resulted in losses, such as their game-winning field goal getting blocked in Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, running back Kyren Williams fumbling on the goal line in the first meeting versus the Niners, and, of course, the game-winning two-point conversion by the Seahawks last week.
Even though the Rams are still capable of making a deep playoff run as a fifth or sixth seed, there is no doubt their path could have been more straightforward if just a few plays had gone their way.
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