Even though the Los Angeles Rams had their first loss to the undefeated Arizona Cardinals, the Rams remain an NFC playoff favorite in a tough division.
Divisional games are always tough, and they’re always unpredictable. So when the Los Angeles Rams lose at home to the Arizona Cardinals 37-20, it’s not something anyone expected — the Rams have been the NFC team pulling playoff bids, not the Cardinals.
Even if the betting spread was majorly off this week, the intuition that this Rams team will see the postseason is not: this is still a stacked football team in spite of the loss.
In a highly-competitive division, the Rams are still the overall strongest team in the NFC West, a team that will at least snag a wild card slot if not the division title.
Rams fans shouldn’t be worried about losing NFC West lead to Cardinals — for now
The Cardinals may have gotten the win this week, but before the Rams, their three consecutive wins were at the hands of some deeply-flawed NFL teams.
The Jaguars hardly count as a win, while the Vikings have struggled all season. Surprising, so have the Titans, who were slain by the Cardinals in Week 1, barely beat the Seahawks in overtime in Week 2, and just gave the New York Jets their first win in Week 4.
The Rams had their fair share of easy games by playing a Colts team that was 0-3, as well as a Bears team headed by Andy Dalton in Week 1. But last week, the Rams handed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers their first loss 34-24, creating the conversation that this is an NFC playoff contender to be feared.
And it still is. The Rams take on the Seahawks in Week 5, then the New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans for the remainder of October. Betting on the Rams to win in all three of these matchups is a given, which now puts the team at 7-1.
During that time, the Cardinals will be taking the San Francisco 49ers, the Cleveland Browns, the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers, and one of those games is likely to result in a win.
Even if the Cardinals remain undefeated for the rest of October, the Rams still stand as one of four current NFC teams with 3-1 records. Nothing is broken on this new team — losses happen to the best of the best, even a team with Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.