Rams fans may see Jimmy G in action and Stetson Bennett as backup

The LA Rams at 10-6 have clinched the NFC West Division, regardless of the outcome in Week 18. What that boils down to is that the Rams roster now has a golden opportunity to sit and rest some key starters in Week 18 as the team faces the Seattle Seahawks in a game that now only holds the possibility of seeding teams in the NFC Wild Card Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs. If the Rams lose and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win in Week 18, the Rams will likely host the Minnesota Vikings.

If the Rams win in Week 18, regardless of what the Buccaneers do, they will retain the third-seed in the upcoming playoffs and are likely to face the Green Bay Packers. But that is all to be decided. Let’s focus on what the Rams strategy will be in Week 18.

The Seattle Seahawks (9-7) fended off direct elimination with a 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears. But an equally impressive defensive stand from the LA Rams (10-6) over the Arizona Cardinals (7-9) by a score of 13-9 placed elimination back on the menu.

All the Rams needed to do is kick back and await the final scores of six specific games to be played on Sunday, December 29, 2024. If four of the games resulted in wins by teams favoring the Rams, that would result in the Rams clinching the NFC West Division via the Strength of Victory (SOV) tiebreaker.

Which teams chipped in for the LA Rams?

The tiebreaker is based on the premise of one team defeating teams with an aggregate win-loss record move favorable than the teams with an aggregate win-loss record of the other team. And so, the mad statisticians worked feverishly to work out the details prior to Week 17 to determine exactly which teams the Rams needed to win in order to ensure that they would end up with the SOV tiebreaker.

Here is one version of the NFL Playoff scenarios heading into Week 17:

Week 17 NFL Playoff Scenarios:

DETROIT LIONS
  Detroit clinches North division and homefield advantage throughout NFC playoffs:
   1) DET win + MIN loss
 
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
  Philadelphia clinches East division:
   1) PHI win or tie
   2) WAS loss or tie
 
LOS ANGELES RAMS…

— Joe Ferreira (@JoeNFL) December 23, 2024

Well, that was all as clear as mud.