The Rams are 2-2, but that record still doesn’t tell the full story. Los Angeles came into the season with Super Bowl expectations, yet the first month has been defined by uneven play, injury absences and a lot of questions about how high this team can really climb. Sunday’s comeback win over the Eagles helped the standings, but it didn’t exactly settle the debate.
Down in Philadelphia, the Rams had to dig out of a hole against an Eagles team that was missing DeVonta Smith, while Saquon Barkley exited early and Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson were also out on the offensive line. Even then, Los Angeles trailed late and had just a 3.2 percent chance to win with 8:16 left. Matthew Stafford finished the job with another fourth-quarter rally, and two late touchdown drives turned a 24-20 victory into another chapter of this team surviving when it looked stuck.
That kind of escape act is part of why the Rams remain such a complicated team to rank. Stafford has thrown an interception in every game this season, and he sits 20th in EPA per pass.
That has to change, especially with the Bills next on the schedule. The defense has held up, but the offense has not exactly looked like a machine.
Across the consensus rankings, the Rams mostly held their ground or nudged upward, but not by much. ESPN kept them at No. 7 after the comeback, and Sarah Barshop pointed to the injury situation as part of the story.
“The Rams have been inconsistent and missed significant players because of injuries, including Garrett (three games), Donald (one) and wide receiver Puka Nacua (two),” wrote ESPN’s Sarah Barshop. “Los Angeles might not be playing like a Super Bowl contender right now, but it could be later in the season, especially once Garrett is back from knee surgery.”
Connor Orr moved them up one spot, though the narrow road win didn’t exactly erase the concern that had built up while the Rams spent most of the game looking like they were headed toward a lopsided loss. The Athletic was even more bullish in the standings, slotting Los Angeles inside the top five at No. 5, up three spots from No.
- But even there, the Stafford question remained front and center.
“While the defense was great, what is going on with Matthew Stafford?” wrote The Athletic. “The defending MVP is completing just 61 percent of his passes and has six touchdowns to go with six interceptions.”
NFL.com’s Nick Shook didn’t move the Rams at all. His read on the game was blunt: the Rams spent most of Sunday staring down the possibility of a 1-3 start before Stafford and Sean McVay finally pulled them out of it.
“For three quarters, serious, nearly existential questions began to build for these Rams. They’d fallen behind in Philadelphia and couldn’t get out of their own way offensively, raising the specter of a 1-3 start to a season that began with immense hype,” wrote Shook.
“But Sean McVay’s squad proved something amid the chaos of a fourth-quarter comeback: L.A. is not going to lay down, no matter the odds. Matthew Stafford needs to be better, though.”
Mike Florio has the Rams climbing for a second straight week, though still just outside the top five. That feels about right for a team that could just as easily be 1-3 as 3-1.
The 2-2 mark fits the chaos so far, and if Los Angeles can string together some consistency, it still has the look of a dangerous team. But right now, the ceiling is still a work in progress.
The schedule hasn’t done the Rams many favors either. They’ve already played two teams in the top 10 of the consensus rankings, and DVOA says they’ve faced the sixth-hardest slate to start the season.
That’s part of why the record feels so fragile. A Week 7 date with the Raiders is on deck after Monday night, and the schedule does loosen up a bit after that.
If the Rams can stay afloat now and find their rhythm before the bye, they could set themselves up well for December and January.
Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano saw enough in the finish to keep the Rams in the contender conversation.
“If you ignore the first 52 and a half minutes this past Sunday in Philly, the Rams looked great,” wrote Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano. “Actually, even without Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, their defense was terrific all game long.
It just took more than two hours for Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay’s offense to get moving in the right direction. Once it did, L.A. reminded everyone why it’s still a serious Super Bowl contender.”
Pete Prisco has them hanging on inside the top 10 at No. 9, and a win over the Bills would only strengthen that case. That matchup comes on Monday Night Football against a Buffalo team that lost in Week 4 and hasn’t looked as crisp over the last two weeks. The Bills beat the Chargers despite four turnovers and then allowed 29 points to a Patriots offense that had been quiet through the first three games.
Still, Buffalo brings its own kind of urgency. The Bills sit fifth in the consensus rankings with an average spot of 4.86, and when they play clean, they look like one of the best teams in the league.
The problem is that they haven’t always played clean. They enter with a -2 turnover differential, while the Rams are at -5.
That sets up a game with real volatility. When these teams met in 2024, the Rams won 44-42 in what was arguably the game of the year. Monday night could have a similar feel.
The bigger picture is still unsettled. The Vikings are unbeaten, but DVOA says they are the 12th-worst 4-0 team in NFL history.
The Raiders are 3-1, but whether they’re truly trustworthy is another matter. Over the next four weeks, the league should start sorting out the contenders from the pretenders.
For the Rams, that process is already well underway.
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