Tough Perspective Gleaned In Rams' Home Loss To Bears

Yesterday's 13-37 working over at the hands of the Chicago Bears leaves the St. Louis Rams in the tough spot of holding a losing record in mid-November.

Two weeks ago, we were celebrating the Rams' first winning record in November since 2006. Now, we're back in familiar territory looking up at playoff contention after two straight losses.

Time to take stock.

Injuries

Obviously, the Jamon Brown injury stands out. With Rodger Saffold already out for the season with a shoulder injury, the Rams now likely have to play the final seven games of the season without either of their Week 1 starting guards.

Throw in an injury to RT Rob Havenstein who himself was just coming off the "Questionable" section of the injury report, and the Rams have some serious problems to deal with on the offensive line in terms if personnel if not in terms of performance.

Performance Issues

Hell yes.

The passing offense stinks.

The Rams abandoned Just Todd Gurley and the rush.

The defense got carved up with two 80+-yard touchdowns.

Jeff Fisher & Co. got worked. Badly.

Standings

Updated NFC West standings after Week 9:

Arizona continued to exhibit their dominance over the division with a 39-32 road win in Seattle over the Seahawks. Now they invite the 8-0 Cincinnati Bengals who will follow up tonight's Monday Night Football clash against the Houston Texans with a Sunday Night Football feature in Arizona.

As for the Rams, they're among the six 4-5 teams on the outside of the playoff picture. Technically, Washington sits in 7th with Tampa Bay thereafter. The Rams are in 9th. The problem is that with the Cardinals out to 7-2, the wild card is the only likely road to the playoffs for any other team in the NFC West. Right now, the 6-3 Green Bay Packers and 6-3 Atlanta Falcons are both holding on to those spots.

Schedule

The back-to-back losses make things look much less hopeful moving forward. The Rams now head on the road to face the reeling Baltimore Ravens. They'll follow that with a trip to Cincinnati and a home contest against Arizona.

Nothing's easy in the NFL, but the Rams have certainly made things tougher on themselves in these last two games. If they're going to turn their season around, it's going to be under austere conditions.