The Los Angeles Rams have already clinched the NFC West, but coach Sean McVay is still going to have a big decision to make this week.
The Rams coach has the option to rest his starters on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, but if he does that, then there's a good chance his team will lose, which could potentially drop them to the fourth seed in the NFC (A Rams loss combined with a Buccaneers win over the Saints would do the trick).
The problem with the fourth seed is that landing in that spot would mean that the Rams would have to open the postseason with the loser of the Vikings-Lions game.
On the other hand, a win over the Seahawks would clinch the No. 3 seed in the NFC and a win would obviously have a much better chance of happening if McVay plays his starters. As the No. 3 seed, the Rams would open the postseason against either the Commanders or Packers.
Although facing the Lions or Vikings is the tougher draw, it's a draw that McVay sounds open to taking. During this week's episode of the the "Coach McVay Show," the Rams coach strongly hinted that he would likely be resting multiple key players this week.
"Those are always the great questions you ask yourself," McVay said of possibly resting players, via USA Today's Ramswire. "But relative to what's at risk, what's at reward in terms of either or, and being able to maybe get some guys that are -- you know, the toll that a season takes -- get them back, refreshed, rejuvenated. Typically, we've erred on the side of leaning a little bit more towards that and I would imagine as we continue to finalize our plans, that's probably the direction we'll go."
That's about as close a coach will come to say "we're benching our starters" without actually saying "we're benching our starters." Based on McVay's comments, it's almost a certainty that players like Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp won't be playing on Sunday.
Although resting his starters will mean a likely game against the Vikings or Lions, McVay probably isn't too worried about that. When the Rams are healthy, they can beat anyone and they proved that during the regular season. Not only did the Rams beat the Vikings, 30-20, back in Week 8, but they also went toe to toe with the Lions during an overtime loss in Week 1. Not to mention, the Rams would be playing at home, so the loser of Sunday night's game between Detroit and Minnesota will have to play across the country after playing a brutal game to end the regular season.
