tweets, analysis, etc. … Washington game

Rodrigue: Rams have some say over their destiny, now what will they do with it?

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/5144793/2023/12/17/la-rams-playoff-position-nfc/?source=emp_shared_article

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams arrived at SoFi Stadium on Sunday morning with little say over their postseason hopes and dreams. All they could do, they knew, was try to win the one ahead of them.

By kickoff of their Week 15 game against Washington, they had gotten a little help from their frenemies across the NFL — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (quarterback Baker Mayfield helping the Rams in December? You don’t say …), who beat the Green Bay Packers, and the Carolina Panthers’ victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Beating Washington 28-20 now means the 7-7 Rams currently have possession of the No. 7 seed in the postseason hunt. It means, as inside linebacker and captain Ernest Jones aptly put it, “not having to depend on someone else to lose all the time.” It means more serious tones are used by the many, many voices on the outside who pointed at this roster in May and openly laughed.

“I’m not surprised,” said coach Sean McVay of his team’s position after going 4-1 since the bye week. He’s not lying, either — McVay has earnestly championed the potential of this team since May, no matter the surprised faces people pulled in response to that sentiment. “(But) there is a lot of football left. There are a lot of teams in contention. Hey, let’s see what the hell we can do moving forward against a great challenge on Thursday.”

But here’s the thing about controlling your destiny, about having a say: If you’re not careful, you can cough it up in a blink. The Rams almost — almost — lived that nightmare Sunday, after two early fumbles by lead running back Kyren Williams, shortcomings in the red zone (McVay owned up to this as bad play calls on the first drive, when the Rams stalled from the 4-yard line and ultimately kicked a field goal) and a late Commanders aerial attack between quarterback Jacoby Brissett and star receiver Terry McLaurin. A 20-0 lead through the initial two-and-a-half quarters got a little too close for comfort.

Williams lost two fumbles, one in the second quarter as he got to the Washington 10-yard line and the other at about the Washington 41-yard line on a short pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Rams had 242 yards of first-half offense (and had held Washington to 83 net yards and no points) but just 13 points to show for it, between the fumbles and the red zone gaffes.

A beautifully designed play-action shot from Stafford to receiver Cooper Kupp on the second play of the third quarter went for 62 yards and a touchdown, and Stafford hit Demarcus Robinson for a pretty corner end zone touchdown catch with 13:31 left in the game. The Rams successfully went for two after the score.

Williams still got the goal-line carry that resulted in his touchdown, which came after the first of his two fumbles.

“(I said) that I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, those are very correctible things,” said McVay, and he showed it. Williams had 15 second-half carries (he totaled 27 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown) and closed the game out on the ground in the final minute-and-a-half. It was, as McVay noted, a known-run situation at that point to burn the Commanders’ timeouts and the clock, which meant seeing a defense that loaded up the box. Williams and the Rams’ offensive line asserted on the first two snaps of the possession to force Commanders coach Ron Rivera’s hand on his timeouts.

“If I’m getting the ball that many times, I have to have great ball security,” Williams said. “Keep it high and tight, no matter what the situation is. Be more aware. That’s on me. I’m going to fix it, and be better next week. … It means everything (that McVay stuck with him). He was telling me right when it happened, ‘I’ve still got trust in you. I’ve still got 100 percent trust in you.’”

McLaurin made an outstanding catch in the end zone with 7:24 left to play that brought the Commanders to a 14-point deficit, then a possession later Brissett hit McLaurin for 49 yards to move the ball to the 1-yard line.

On both plays, second-year cornerback Derion Kendrick was in coverage. After McLaurin’s catch set the Commanders up at the goal line, Kendrick was flagged for pass interference on a fourth-and-7 that gifted the Commanders a fresh set of downs, which they used to score (again on fourth down).

“I mean, you saw it. It was an individual guy being able to win right there,” McVay said. “McLaurin is a really good player. But I think there are some learning opportunities that we can have — both from our coaches and from our players in terms of how we want to play some of those situations. Those are the things that occur in this league, when you’re asking guys to be able to match up sometimes it doesn’t go down for you. But it’s always about the response. There are a lot of things that we can all do better today.”

The one positive from the entire sequence was that it killed a ton of clock. Still, there is reason to be concerned about the breakdowns, especially with Ahkello Witherspoon’s status for Thursday night’s game in question after he exited in the fourth quarter with a groin injury.

“Man, there are so many things that we can learn from,” McVay said. “It’s a lot easier to be able to learn when you find a way to win. The turnovers, some of the red zone sequencing starting with myself could have been so much better. … But I did like the grit that I saw from our group toward the latter part of the game.”

If Williams was a great example of that, second-year cornerback Cobie Durant was, too.

Durant, who said he has “finish the race” written on a large whiteboard in his home, has seen his playing time diminish a little but made the most of the snaps he did get — in particular, a blocked extra-point attempt after the Commanders’ last touchdown that McVay pointed to as a momentum-killer for Washington’s surging offense.

“I line up, and (the special teams coaches) told us in the meeting all week, ‘The end is not blocking the edge rushers,’” Durant said. “I just timed up the snap, and as I went I didn’t feel a nudge or anybody pushing me. I see the holder, he had to pick the ball up off the ground. I knew I was going to block it, then.

“I’m taking advantage of (my) opportunities when they come. Just have to make plays. … It means a lot. Being available wherever they want me to be — they could ask me to be at long snapper and I’d go in and long snap! I’d just need a little practice on that, though. Just being available and being the playmaker that I am. I preach that all the time to myself. I write it down on my board … ‘finish the race’, finish what I started.”

There is no time for any real rest this week, with the New Orleans Saints (also 7-7) in town Thursday night. As soon as McVay broke down the team in the locker room after the game, athletic trainers and medical staff began rolling out large massage tables and the cushions that players lay on while getting recovery treatment on their legs and hips.

“It’s both (above the neck and physical preparation),” said Stafford of the short week. He finished the game 25-of-33 for 258 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers. He was also sacked three times and hit six times.

“It’s obviously tough, it’s not an opponent in-division that we really know, got to kind of dive in and see kind of what they are doing, what their team looks like this year from a defensive standpoint for me. And then I came out this one pretty clean, so that’s a good thing. But it’s always a challenge. … Adrenaline will kick in (and) it will be fun.”

There’s no time to think about what this moment can mean for a possible playoff run, either. The Rams have a say in their own destiny, yes — and right now, a 56 percent chance at the postseason, according to the New York Times’ simulator. If they beat the Saints, that increases to 77 percent and if they beat the New York Giants in Week 16, to 96 percent.

If, if, if. McVay knows they need to look at themselves, not the possibilities.

“Unless you told me the season ended right now, it doesn’t mean anything to me,” he said. “How we move forward and how we handle our business over the next 72 hours and then leading into the game on Thursday is what is most important.”