The starters let him down when it mattered most. The Rams were just inches away from forcing overtime for a second straight week, one last push from clawing back an improbable win. Instead, it ended in a 27–24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to a team sitting at 7–9 with nothing left to play for. When a game slips away that narrowly, against an opponent with no stakes, a change in the lineup should have been expected.

When asked about potentially resting quarterback Matthew Stafford and the rest of the starters, head coach Sean McVay clearly said no.

“They were going to play anyways,” he said as reported by ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler. “We need to play. We need to play better football. I don’t know what the consequences are as far as those different types of things, but we’ve got to play better,” he added.

But that margin mentioned earlier wasn’t figurative. On the final drive, Matthew Stafford’s deep throw to Puka Nacua hung in the air long enough to freeze the stadium. Nacua dragged his toes, secured the ball, and briefly thought he had the catch that would send the game to overtime. The review overturned it. Inches short, mind you.

From a standings perspective, the Los Angeles Rams don’t have much control left. They’re locked into either the fifth or sixth seed regardless of what happens in Week 18. If the San Francisco 49ers win Saturday night, the Rams will be slotted into the No. 6 seed before they even take the field Sunday. Sean McVay isn’t interested in that math. But what the coach wants is sharper football, one clean performance before January begins.

He’s watched his team let the No. 1 seed and the NFC West title slip away over the past two weeks, sliding into the wild-card mix. Then came this game, against an Atlanta team with no postseason path, and the Rams never really made it competitive.

Los Angeles had 11 days to prepare and still found itself down 21–0 in the first half. The offense turned the ball over three times. The defense couldn’t slow down Bijan Robinson, who piled up 195 total yards. Mistakes showed up everywhere, on both sides of the ball.

“We weren’t making no plays and they were,” safety Kam Curl said. “That’s what happened, honestly.”

Still, the collapse wasn’t without reminders of who the Rams believe they are. Down 24–3 in the second half, they rallied with urgency. Stafford started firing side-arm throws and deep shots, Kyren Williams powered through ankle pain to spark the run game, and Jared Verse produced a rare special-teams jolt by blocking a field goal and returning it 76 yards for a touchdown. For a brief stretch, the Rams looked dangerous again.

But for Stafford, the night was especially rough. Whatever slim MVP buzz still existed might just have evaporated quickly. Should the Rams be worried about their quarterback?

Matthew Stafford delivers a disaster class in Week 17

After losing to the Seahawks in Week 16, they followed it up with another defeat, dropping back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 4 and 5 of the 2024 season. And on Monday night, the biggest reason was hard to miss. Matthew Stafford didn’t look like himself.

It’s still the regular season, but nights like this linger. Stafford threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns, but the three interceptions are what defined the game. One of them went the other way for a touchdown, spotting Atlanta a 14–0 lead. The last one came on fourth down in the fourth quarter, just as the Rams were trying to climb back into it.

“Obviously, I didn’t play well enough,” Stafford said. “Nothing [the Falcons] did, to be honest with you. Same kind of stuff they’ve been doing all year. We didn’t execute well enough. I obviously didn’t play well enough and that’s what it is.”

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Coming into the night, Stafford was sitting in a strong position in the MVP race. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, he was the odds-on favorite at -225. By the time the lights went out, he lost that position. Drake Maye moved into the favorite spot at -400, while Stafford slid back to +300.

Sean McVay has already said the Rams’ starters will play in the finale against the Arizona Cardinals, so Stafford will get one more chance to steady things if Maye stumbles against Miami. The door isn’t completely closed.