The Los Angeles Rams‘ disappointing 2022 season came to an end on Sunday with a 19-16 overtime loss against the Seattle Seahawks.
Considering the Rams finished the season 5-12 and don’t even own their first-round pick in 2023, there wasn’t a whole lot to play for in the season finale.
On the other hand, the Seahawks had everything to play for as they needed a win and a Green Bay Packers loss to the Detroit Lions to clinch the final postseason spot in the NFC, which is exactly what happened. The Seahawks will join the San Francisco 49ers as NFC West teams to make the playoffs this season.
Even though the Rams had nothing to gain of their own, they were playing to help the Lions make the playoffs as Detroit needed the Seahawks to lose.
Rams fought until the end
Although the Seahawks ultimately came out on top, the Rams deserve some credit for fighting all the way until the end.
In the season finale, it would have been easy for the Rams to just give up and coast to the finish line. “One, two, three, Cancun!” as they say.
It was clear early though that they wanted to win and kick their division rivals out of the playoffs while also helping the Lions, who helped the Rams win a Super Bowl last season by trading them Matthew Stafford.
The Rams jumped out to a 13-6 lead at halftime with Cam Akers continuing to run the ball at a high level. It was a tough season for Akers although he ended it strong with three straight 100-yard rushing games, putting him firmly in the Rams’ plans at running back moving forward.
Jalen Ramsey was also playing his behind off with two interactions and some huge tackles. You never want to blame the refs, but there were unquestionably some tough calls on the Rams late in this game that led to the Seahawks victory whether it was the running into the punter penalty, the silly unnecessary roughness on Ramsey or the missed unnecessary roughness on DK Metcalf.
Despite those penalties though, the Rams still were able to get to overtime after Jason Myers doinked a potential game-winning field goal off the right upright as time expired in regulation.
L.A. actually had a chance to win it in overtime. After their defense got a stop, Baker Mayfield had a wide-open Van Jefferson down the field. He underthrew him though and the pass was intercepted, setting up the game-winning field goal by Myers that this time went through the uprights.
Lions didn’t make playoffs but get better pick
Moreso than the Rams, the loss was unfortunate for the Lions who went out and beat the Packers at Lambeau Field later that night.
Although Detroit won’t be going to the playoffs, the Rams losing helped them in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft as the pick they will be getting dropped to No. 6 overall.
This is the final pick the Rams will be giving to Detroit as a part of the Stafford trade, although it’s a costly one as no one could have expected L.A. to be this bad coming off a Super Bowl victory.
That’s the reality of the NFL though as it’s a year-to-year league. Going into the offseason, the Rams now have a ton of questions to answer starting with Sean McVay’s future as he will take some time to decide if he wants to continue coaching or not. While this team clearly still has some fight in them and could bounce back in 2023 with better health, it will all hinge on what McVay decides in the next couple of weeks.
