Coming into Week 14 with a 9-3 record kept the Los Angeles Rams firmly in the top-seed conversation. With the NFC’s upper tier tightly packed, December will hinge on head‑to‑head leverage, conference record, and whether the bracket leaders avoid upsets.
How Far Can the Los Angeles Rams Go?
Before their game against the Arizona Cardinals, according to PFSN’s NFL Playoff Predictor, the Rams had a 94.2% chance of making the playoffs and a 45.6% chance of winning the NFC West. Critically, for the bye, the model assigned Los Angeles a 32% chance at the No. 1 seed, reflecting its strong current form and a schedule that still features NFC opponents with direct impacts on conference filters and common-opponent tiebreaks.
These distributions also capture the presence of other top contenders (e.g., the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears) within striking distance, keeping volatility high.
The top‑seed lane begins with clean NFC results. In the seeding matrix, conference losses carry outsized weight. The Rams’ No. 1 probability rises materially when they reach 13 or 14 wins without adding NFC blemishes.
That dynamic is why the Rams’ remaining divisional slate looms large; every NFC win doubles as protection against seventh‑seed tie clusters and as a tiebreak lift at the top.
As a result, their comfortable win over the Cardinals today will significantly help them in their goal of securing the top seed in the NFC. Following their Week 14 result, the Rams now have a 96.90% chance to make the playoffs, a 46.90% chance of winning the NFC West, and a 36.9% chance to get the first seed.
The Rams’ schedule supports multiple routes. With the NFC West race tight and two other contenders in the conference holding double‑digit win trajectories, the No. 1 seed probability indicates the Rams already banked enough equity to keep the bye viable, provided they convert against NFC opponents and avoid cross‑conference stumbles
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The path isn’t complicated at all for the Rams if they win NFC games, protect their conference record, and let peer contenders cannibalize each other. The Rams’ No. 1 seed probability rises with each clean NFC win and falls with any tiebreak‑damaging result. The division remains attainable, but the bye requires threading the conference needle while maintaining momentum against teams fighting for wild‑card placement.
If Los Angeles sustains pace to 13‑4 or better while preserving NFC tiebreaks, the model keeps the No. 1 seed within reach and pushes advancement odds toward the top of the conference.
Here are the remaining fixtures for the Rams this season:
- Week 15: vs. Detroit Lions
- Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks
- Week 17: at Atlanta Falcons
- Week 18: vs. Arizona Cardinals
