Rams can catch Seahawks with Monday night win over Bills

Sunday afternoon brought a major development in the NFC West divisional standings because the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-29. This gives the Los Angeles Rams a chance to catch the Seahawks and be tied for second place in the division, if they can beat the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. The Rams would then be 3-2 and keep pace with the undefeated 49ers.

• 1st - San Francisco 49ers: 5-0
• 2nd - Seattle Seahawks: 3-2
• 3rd - Los Angeles Rams: 2-2
• 4th - Arizona Cardinals: 1-4

The 49ers have now taken down both the Rams and Seahawks, and as noted this outcome makes L.A.'s need to beat Buffalo even more critical. As Kenneth Arthur wrote last week, if the Rams lose, they will now be 3 games plus a tiebreaker behind San Francisco in the standings. Yes, there is a lot of season left, but Sean McVay's team would need to be near perfect or actually perfect for the rest of the season to catch the Niners.

LA won't see San Francisco again until Week 14 in mid-December. A lot can happen between now and then. Somehow the 49ers look unbeatable despite their roster being littered with injuries.

The Rams also have a long while until they see Seattle. These two teams will clash in two of the final three weeks of the regular season: first on Christmas day and then in the Week 18 season finale.

But it's at least comforting that-for as much as gone wrong for the Rams-they have a chance to climb into second as soon as Week 5.

Beating the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football would mean second place despite all of the following obstacles in their way:

• Only 1 game with Myles Garrett where he was evidently injured
• Aaron Donald not providing an overwhelming impact
• The offense performing closer to average than top of the league
• Missing Jaylen Watson for at least 1.5 games
• Missing Puka Nacua for two weeks and Terrance Ferguson for longer

Things seemed bleak when the Rams fell to 1-2. Defeating the Bills would put a renewed wind into their sails.

And whatever happens against the Bills, Los Angeles is probably primed for a run anyways:

Week 6 vs Arizona Cardinals

Week 7 at Las Vegas Raiders

Week 8 vs Los Angeles Chargers

Week 9 at Washington Commanders

Week 10 at Arizona Cardinals

Week 11 - BYE

Week 12 vs Green Bay Packers

It's not how you start. Finishing is much more important. While the home stretch of the Rams' schedule will almost certainly be difficult, LA has a path in front of them to find out who they want to be this season.

Is this truly a super team"? The early indications suggest not. They can still be a force to be reckoned with, and they must prove how dangerous they are over the next 6-8 weeks.

At least for Week 5, the Rams have a golden opportunity to pull even with the Seahawks. That didn't feel possible just a few weeks ago.