TST staff’s final 2019 Los Angeles Rams win-loss predictions

Well, here we go again. The Los Angeles Rams are set to kick off their 2019 regular season this week with a trip to face the Carolina Panthers on the docket for Week 1.

So let’s take a look at the TST’s staff’s course for the season via our win-loss projections.

Last year, we were pretty spot on. Of the 15 staffers, eight had us going 13-3, and another four were within a game of the Rams’ final record.

And yes as always, the Professor is going on record with the Rams going 16-0 so his predictions aren’t included in the final tally for accuracy.

Week 1 - @ Carolina Panthers

Consensus: 14-0

Unanimity out the gate.

A little surprised nobody took us struggling in the opener given (a) it’s on the road against a quality team and (b) given some of the questions facing this team this year, they didn’t get a chance to iron them out at all in the preseason.

Week 2 - v. New Orleans Saints

Consensus: 6-8

Well how about that. A majority of us with the Saints getting their revenge for the Nickell No Call.

Obviously, this is going to be a tough one. The Saints have edged up slightly from bookmakers as slight favorites to win the NFC this year over the Rams.

Bottom line is that this is one of the games of the year not just for the two teams but for the NFL as a whole.

Week 3 - @ Cleveland Browns

Consensus: 8-6

Again, a close call. The Browns are one of the darlings of the offseason heading into 2019, and this one’s on the road for Sunday Night Football.

What’s interesting here is the fulcrum it presents for the early portion of the season.

Six staffers have the Rams 2-0 at this point while eight have us at 1-1.

After? Two have us at 3-0. ten at 2-1 and two at 1-2.

It’s obviously the last outcome that’s of most impact as the Rams certainly don’t want to get behind the curve early.

Week 4 - v. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Consensus: 14-0

The second unanimous game of the year, we’ve all got the Rams getting the better of the Bucs at home in the second home game of the year and the first after the Saints game.

Not calling this a trap game with a road trip to meet a familiar foe up next, but it has the makings...

Week 5 - @ Seattle Seahawks

Consensus: 7-7

The first three games as a group hold immediate intrigue, but this is perhaps the most important game from the first half of the season.

The Rams open their NFC West slate on the road...on Thursday Night Football...in Seattle. Any of those three alone makes for a memorable contest. All three together? This one’s going to be huge.

And the disparity is striking. A 50-50 split among the TST staff. What’s stranger is the equilibrium it strikes. Of the seven who have the Rams losing this, six have it bringing the Rams to 3-2 (the seventh, Skye, has it as the Rams’ first loss of the season dropping us to 4-1). Of the seven who have the Rams winning, only two have it dropping us to 3-2. Four staffers have us winning here to get to 4-1 while Kristian has us on the mark to start out 5-0 (and more beyond that, but alas).

So you’ve got a group that’s set up for a loss in Week 5 to keep the Rams a bit muddled in the middle while most of the staff who have us grabbing a win here see us way out in front after five games.

IT’S AS IF THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT.

Week 6 - v. San Francisco 49ers

Consensus: 14-0

Unanimous game #3, nobody has the Rams losing to the Niners at home.

Could this one serve as a trap game by the time we get to Week 6?

Week 7 - @ Atlanta Falcons

Consensus: 10-4

This was the first real surprise to me.

An Atlanta team at home that has won 28 games in the last three seasons and came to the Coliseum to beat us on home soil in the playoffs two years ago...and more than 70% of us have us winning this one?!

Three of the four picks that have us losing have us picking up loss #2 while six of the 10 of us already have us with two losses so there might be a bit of median-seeking here.

Week 8 - v.* Cincinnati Bengals

Consensus: 14-0

London calling...

Week 9 - Bye

Week 10 - @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Consensus: 7-7

Woof. What a way to come out of the bye with a split among the staff.

We’re starting to get deep into the unknown at this point. Remember that by Week 9 a year ago, CB Aqib Talib had been on IR since Week 4. CB Marcus Peters had been playing through a calf/leg injury having been injured in Week 3 with Talib. WR/PR Pharoh Cooper, WR Mike Thomas, DL Morgan Fox and EDGE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (all of whom have made the 2019 initial 53-man roster) had been on IR since before the Rams’ starting corners. Oh, and Week 9 was when WR Cooper Kupp came back from injury...before suffering an ACL tear two weeks later.

So projecting things this far into the season is pretty...ridiculous.

That being said, 11 of the 14 staffers have the Rams with either two or three losses after this one.

Week 11 - v. Chicago Bears

Consensus: 6-8

After the game against the Saints in Week 2, this is the second (and last) home game in which a majority of staffers have the Rams losing.

The Rams went to Soldier Field in Week 14 last year to kick off a two-game losing streak. And yet...

Week 12 - v. Baltimore Ravens

Consensus: 10-4

...only one staffer (Joey) has a two-game losing streak through this tough back-to-back. Overall, 10 staffers have one loss coming between Weeks 11 & 12. Three have a 2-0 stretch.

Throw in the Steelers game out of the bye, and only Skye has a 3-0 record from Weeks 9-11.

Week 13 - @ Arizona Cardinals

Consensus: 14-0

Look, I get it. The Cards had the worst record in the NFL last year. They’re restarting behind a new coach and a new quarterback, but if we’re being real...we have little idea what the hell the Cardinals are going to look like when we play them for the first time in 2019 in December. At this point, they’ll have played 11 games and will be coming off of a bye.

Regardless of what we’re facing, clearly the fifth (and final) unanimous win projection is a sign of confidence.

Week 14 - v. Seattle Seahawks

Consensus: 13-1

Nine weeks after heading to the Clink, the Rams host the Seahawks in the midst of the playoff race.

Nine weeks after the TST staff were split 7-7 for a Rams win, we’re 13-1 in favor of the good guys with just Eddie having us come up short.

Week 15 - @ Dallas Cowboys

Consensus: 7-7

The Cowboys were a playoff team last year forced to come to the Coliseum for a loss in the divisional round. This year, we’re headed their way in the regular season like we did two years ago in Week 4 of the 2017 season.

So it’s understandable that of the Rams’ final six games of the season, this is the only one where less than 10 TST staffers project a win.

Part of the framing of the season then is getting through the first 11 games without losing to many games while racking up the wins in the final five.

This might be the biggest test among the latter of the two schedule groupings.

Week 16 - @ San Francisco 49ers

Consensus: 12-2

Week 17 - v. Arizona Cardinals

Consensus: 12-2

I lumped these two together as a two-game item.

Perhaps the Rams have a strong enough record to repeat the 2017 season strategy to sit starters in Week 17 ahead of a locked-in playoff bid. Otherwise, this is a post-Cowboys playoff push. Four staffers, split evenly, have the Rams going 1-1 over this stretch. The other ten have us 2-0.

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11-5: 3k, Brandon Bate, brennansmith, Elijah Kim

12-4: EddieP, Hotdaddywags, Joey the Jerk, Michael Frank, seattlerams, Sosa Kremenjas, TG25

13-3: Sean Wilkinson, Skye Sverdlin

14-2: kristianramirez

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Suffice to say, the entire TST staff is buying on the 2019 Rams. None of us took the under for a team with a 10.5 over/under on total wins. With 11 wins or more, all of us are taking the Rams to threepeat as NFC West champions.

The real question is where that leaves us in January, and really that’s the setup for the season.

Coming out of an appearance in the Super Bowl, the Rams are in fine position to put together another winning season and get ready for a postseason run, health abiding.

If the TST staff projections are any indication of what to expect, it’s worth buckling up.

We’re in it for the long haul.