The Los Angeles Rams’ miracle 2017 season came to a disappointing end losing to the Atlanta Falcons 26-13 in the Wildcard Game before 70,000 raucous fans in the Coliseum.

The key factor in the loss—the turnovers.

Special teams miscues

Head Coach Dan Quinn of the Falcons was the former defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. In order for the Rams to slow down the Falcons’ copycat Seahawk defense, the Rams offense has to be on the field chewing up clock.

In this game, the Rams’ turnovers gifted the Falcons offense more opportunities to be on the field invariably leading to points on the board in Atlanta’s favor. The Rams’ defense did a remarkable job in keeping it to just six points on two field goals, but the offense continued to sputter in the first half.

In trying to get back into the game, the Rams got away from their gameplan which got them into the playoffs—running the ball with RB Todd Gurley.

Even though the Rams were only down 13-10 at halftime, the defense showed the wear from being out on the field too long. The first evidence of fatigue is missing easy tackles. The Falcons opened up the second half with a long drive for a touchdown which was almost exclusively accomplished through the ground game aided by missed tackles. The series covered 76 yards, consuming 8 minutes off the clock and midway through the 3rd quarter, Rams fans sensed the team was in trouble.

Down 26-13 the Rams battled back into the game and almost made a comeback. But on 4th down at the goaline with just a little over 2:00 minutes to play in the game, the Rams came up short.

Ram fans then made that slow walk to the exits.

Focus on the future

It’s more important to think about the positive things that have occurred through the course of the season rather then this last game.

The Rams have built a good foundation—they’re back. The future looks good.

A lot of things are going to happen between now and when the 2018 regular season begins: free agency, the 2018 NFL Draft, trades, etc. The staff at TST will be there every step of the way in 2018 bringing Rams fans all things Rams as they march towards Super Bowl LIII.

Knowing the guys at Turf as the most hard working and dedicated loyalists, we will continue to give you, the reader, up-to-the-minute insight about our favorite football team year round.

So as we go through the process of saying goodbye to 2017, keep the good memories alive.

We know there will be ups and downs along the way to a Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl Championship; nevertheless, we are bound together by a something that can’t be explained to just anyone, living deep inside of us, through good times and bad:

GO RAMS!