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Feel that heat? Suddenly things a little brighter to you? Not to worry, everything is just fine. What you are experiencing is called "the spotlight," and the St. Louis Rams are now, officially under it. NFL columnist/writer laureate Peter King predicts that the Rams will win the NFC West and make the playoffs this season.
In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, the NFL season preview, King predicts the Rams to finish with a 9-7 record. That punches their ticket to the playoffs, where King predicts 30-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons, per King's forecast, win the Super Bowl.
Talk about having arrived, huh?
Funny, the Falcons seem like the one elite team not on the Rams' regular season schedule, except for the Patriots. The Rams play five teams that King predicts will make the playoffs this year. That should drive home just how difficult the Rams' schedule is this year. It also shows that Sam Bradford and his teammates made quite an impression on King during his visit to camp this year since he foresees them finishing with a 9-7 record. Of course, playing in the NFC West helps; King predicts losing records for the other three teams in the division.
The last time the Rams made the playoffs, in 2004, they lost to the Falcons in the division game. A 9-7 record would be the team's first winning record since 2003, when the last vestiges of the Greatest Show on Turf led them to a 12-4 record...and a division round loss to the Carolina Panthers.