Will Rams' McVay Play Starters In Week 18?

The Los Angeles Rams are officially preparing for a first round match in the upcoming playoffs, but they have one more regular season game to go. Will McVay play the team's usual starters?

Dec 28, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) carries the ball to the 5-yard line in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams are officially NFC West leaders and have clinched a spot in the upcoming playoffs, where they will go against the league’s best teams.

It has been a roller coaster of a season for the team, from extensive injuries that traveled throughout the team to winning streaks that turned their whole season around, but now the Rams are going into their last regular season game in Week 18 with very low stakes.

Just a few days before, their impending matchup against the Seattle Seahawks seemed like it would be extremely important for the Rams, as the two teams were tied for the first spot in the NFC West, and even though the Rams won against the Cardinals, they still had not clinched.

But a final win from the Commanders on Sunday because of a specific tiebreaker called “Strength of Victory” rendered the Rams division leaders and made their Week 18 match one that will have little impact on the team’s playoff chances.

However, now the question stands of how Rams head coach Sean McVay and the team’s coaching staff will approach this game, and moreover, whether or not they will allow their starters to rest. 

And it seems that as they continue to get their plans together, the Rams lineup might look a little different when they come onto the gridiron on Sunday, Jan. 5.

“Those are always the great questions you ask yourself, and I think you have a responsibility as a head coach and with your coaching staff to collaborate and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to compete every opportunity that we get.’ You don’t minimize the importance of every single game,” said McVay.

“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,” he continued.

It could be good for Rams starters like quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Kyren Williams and others who have been important parts of the team’s nine wins out of their past 11 games, especially when they do have other talent that have not seen many snaps this season.

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