When Their Backs Were Against the Wall, the Rams Responded

The Los Angeles Rams entered the final six weeks of the regular season unsure whether or not they would make it to the postseason. Then, head coach Sean McVay issued his team a challenge that would change the season.

Jan 5, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams Tight end Tyler Higbee (89) celebrates a touchdown versus the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images / William Navarro-Imagn Images

With six weeks remaining in the regular season, the Los Angeles Rams battled their way back from a 1-4 start to pull to 5-5. The Rams had won four of their previous five games heading into their home matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.

While the Rams had been inconsistent up to that point, mainly because of injuries, they still expected to have a shot against the Eagles. Philadelphia was and is one of the best teams in the National Football League, but the Rams still expected to at least play a competitive game against the Eagles.

The opposite happened: the Eagles embarrassed the Rams, beating Los Angeles by nearly three touchdowns. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley put on a show against the Rams in an all-around thrashing of a formidable Rams team.

The Rams dropped to 5-6 on the season, and following their loss, Rams head coach Sean McVay issued a stern challenge to his team to finish the season strong and play hard for one another.

The message got through to the players as the Rams rattled off five consecutive wins. Los Angeles did not lose another game after losing to the Eagles until the final game of the regular season, in which they did not play quarterback Matthew Stafford or multiple other players.

McVay acknowledged how well his team responded over the final six weeks of the season.

"I think anything that we say, we're talking to ourselves first and foremost," McVay said. "The guys have always responded to what we've asked, but it's really, how do you really try to create a perspective? I thought the finality brought a focus into the light and the possible finality.

"While the days sometimes might seem long, our time was short. Now, that's a to-be-determined timetable. We have another week that we're assured and we're going to take advantage of every single day that we have, make sure that you cherish it and maximize it.

"I did think that a lot of those things that we mentioned, first and foremost, you're making sure that you're keeping yourselves accountable and myself accountable to what I want to be for these guys, and then usually, they do an excellent job of reciprocating the respect and the perspective that we want to have in terms of our urgency, but also our enjoyment with our approach every day."

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