Los Angeles Rams’ perspective outlook drops as team clunks up Week 15 opportunity against Philadelphia Eagles

Los Angeles Rams 23, Philadelphia Eagles 30.

Comfort 0, narrative onslaught 1.

Injuries

The Rams picked up two notable ones at one position, one looming quite obviously over the other.

Reserve RB Justin Davis picked up a shoulder injury which, along with backup RB Malcolm Brown being out for the remainder of the season with a clavicle injury, left rookie reserve RB John Kelly as the only option to backup RB Todd Gurley...

...who got injured himself. Gurley picked up a knee injury that altered the gameplan per Head Coach Sean McVay and altered it significantly:

Yeah, a lot. It affected it. Also, some of our early down efficiency, when we did run it, affected it a lot. So, that was tough. To be able to get any sort of continuity going. Then, you put yourself behind the eight ball when you go down 30-13 and really, you kind of get yourself in a one-dimensional game. To our player’s credit, this is what you love about them – they continue to battle, they continue to fight. Had a chance there at the end, but ultimately, we didn’t make enough plays. It’s nobody’s fault but our own that we put ourselves in that hole from the start.

So now the question is how ready that knee will be for the playoffs and if it will alter gameplans at the point it matters most.

Performance issues

Yes.

QB Jared Goff. The offensive line. WR Josh Reynolds. Defensive linemen not named Aaron Donald. The linebackers. CB Aqib Talib. PR JoJo Natson Jr.

More to come this week on all of that, but suffice to say the Rams have a lot to work on performance-wise in light of last night.

On a brighter note, S John Johnson III is absolutely balling.

But it’s making it real easy for him to stand out in a positive way when so much around him on both sides of the ball is struggling.

Standings

Having the NFC West locked up is perhaps cold comfort today:

And this is where things look real uncomfortable...

With the New Orleans Saints yet to play on Monday Night Football tonight against the Carolina Panthers, the Rams have perhaps ensured their chances at the #1 overall seed are over with a Saints win. More ominously, the Chicago Bears’ win over the Green Bay Packers puts them within a game’s reach of the Rams with the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand due to the Week 14 loss.

The Dallas Cowboys lost in inglorious fashion to a streaking Indianapolis Colts team though the Seattle Seahawks didn’t take advantage in being dunked on by the San Francisco 49ers.

The Minnesota Vikings and Washington Game Winners both picked up crucial wins...as did the Eagles...to keep them in the thick of the race.

A loss for the Panthers tonight would clip them out of the picture next week, though a win would keep things tight from the top to the bottom of these standings.

Suffice to say, the Rams did themselves no favors in the playoff picture last night.