Los Angeles Rams Climb Into Playoff Position With Win Over Washington Commanders

The Los Angeles Rams hold the NFC's seventh and final seed after Sunday's win over the Washington Commanders, but Thursday's game against the New Orleans Saints looms large.

The Los Angeles Rams, winners of four of their last five games, have clawed their way back from No Man's Land.

Week 15 went just about as well as it could've for the Rams. Not only did they defeat the Washington Commanders 28-20 at home, but other wild card contenders in the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, and Atlanta Falcons lost as well. Add it all together, and L.A. now holds the NFC's final Wild Card spot, only behind Minnesota due to a tiebreaker.

The Rams deserve a lot of credit for their recent surge, but they can't afford to get complacent just yet. Suddenly, Thursday night's home game against the New Orleans Saints, another 7-7 team, holds massive implications for the NFC playoff picture.

Rams running back Kyren Williams during Sunday's game against the Commanders / USA TODAY Sports

According to PlayoffStatus.com, L.A. currently has a 51 percent chance to make the playoffs, while New Orleans sits at 38 percent. The Rams would improve their odds to 68 percent with a win on Thursday night, while the Saints' chances would skyrocket to 73 percent with a win of their own. 

However, the Rams' odds would fall down to 12 percent with a loss, whereas the Saints' odds would plummet to 21 percent. The reason why New Orleans' odds seem better than L.A.'s I because the Saints are still in the mix for the NFC South title, while the Rams' NFC West hopes faded long ago.

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After the Saints game, the Rams close out the season with road contests against the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. The former should be a winnable game, while the latter could become much more favorable if the 49ers are locked into their playoff seed and choose to rest their starters. 

L.A. controls its own destiny from here, but even by just winning two of the final three games, the Rams would have a rock-solid 86 percent chance to make the dance. 

There's obviously still a ton to sort out, but compared to where they were a month ago, the Rams are sitting pretty.