Bye Week couldn’t have come at a better time for the 2024 Los Angeles Rams. Usually, it’s preferable to have the break towards the latter part of the season schedule. But this season the team has only one win in five games, the worst start since Sean McVay became head coach in 2017.
“This one hurts because there were a lot of opportunities that we had,” said McVay following a 24-19 loss in Week 5 to the visiting Green Bay Packers at SoFi Stadium last Sunday. “What we have to do is use this bye as an opportunity to get refreshed, rejuvenated, and we have to reassess what we can do as a coaching staff to make sure that we’re doing everything in our power to try to put these players in the best spots that they can be in to consistently try to play quality football.”
The NFC North has been the Achilles’ heel for the Rams this season with three straight losses including road defeats to the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. The Rams had excellent chances to win each one in the closing minutes. Yet for the third straight season the Rams have placed themselves behind the curve by starting below .500 after five games.
The first five seasons under McVay the Rams started off 5-0 once, 4-1 twice, and 3-2 twice for a 19-5 (.791) composite record. The last three season starts have produced a 5-10 (.333) record, including 2-3 records for 2022 and 2023. Their odds of making the playoffs have dropped from their preseason high of 53.5% to the current low of 11.8%. Diving deeper, only 15 of 253 NFL teams starting at 1-4 since 1970 have made the playoffs, or a diminishing 5.9% chance.
If there is a silver lining, it’s the fact that all four teams in the NFC West currently have issues. The Seattle Seahawks lead the Division at 3-2, but were upset at home by the New York Giants in Week 5, 29-20. The Arizona Cardinals (2-3) also upset the San Francisco 49ers (2-3) 24-23 last Sunday leaving the Rams only two games behind in the Division race with 12 games remaining on the schedule.
Following their Week 6 rest, the Rams will start the latter half of their season with two more home games: Week 7 hosting the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, October 20, and Week 8 versus the Minnesota Vikings four days later for Thursday Night Football at SoFi. The Vikings (5-0) are one of the two undefeated teams remaining in the league this season along with the Kansas City Chiefs (5-0). The Raiders (2-3) have somehow won two games this season but most recently got buried 34-18 at Denver last Sunday.
The positive news is that Rams star wide receiver Cooper Kupp has an outside chance to return to action in Week 7 against the Raiders, though McVay said. Kupp injured his ankle in Week 2 against the Cardinals. Also reported was Kupp having some specific work with VP of Sports Medicine and Performance coach Reggie Scott over the last couple days. Wide receiver Puka Nacua, still rehabbing a knee injury suffered in the opening week against the Lions, is not expected back any time soon.
The Rams tied the game with the Packers when running back Kyren Williams punched in a 1-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter. They received a gift when Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love when he was hit in his own end zone by linebacker Byron Young. Love threw an ill-advised off-balanced interception to Rams safety Jaylen McCollough, who returned the ball a mere four yards for a pick-6 touchdown. Unfortunately, rookie kicker Josh Karty’s extra point attempt was blocked.
The Packers controlled the 3rd quarter with two touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft, including a 66 yard pass from Love to lead 24-13 going into the fourth. The Rams managed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson with 3:30 remaining in the game to cut the lead to 24-19.
The defense proceeded to hold Green Bay to three-and-out, giving the Stafford and the Rams one last opportunity for their second comeback of the season at home. Stafford moved the team to the Packer 38-yard line before a 4th-down pass fell incomplete and with it, the game.
“I thought our defense came out and played really well,” said McVay. “There were some turnovers that really cost us. There were some negatives that moved us back, but we’ve got to do a better job.
“This doesn’t feel good right now being in this situation. But what our guys will do, we’ll look at the film. They’ll get a couple of days off. We’ll look at this as coaches and figure out how do we reset ourselves. How do we make sure that we do a better job? But this was a tough loss.”