Will the Rams play their starters in Week 18 against the Cardinals?

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Will the Rams play their starters in Week 18 against the Cardinals? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Rams saw their grip on the NFC’s top seed — and the NFC West title — disappear over the span of two weeks, leaving them headed into the postseason as a wild-card team.

Monday night’s surprising loss to the Atlanta Falcons (7-9) sealed that reality, as the Rams (11-5) fell behind 21-0 by halftime and never fully recovered.

The defeat also effectively ended Matthew Stafford’s MVP momentum. By the break, the Rams quarterback had thrown multiple interceptions, and Los Angeles found itself chasing the game instead of controlling its postseason destiny. Although the Rams mounted a second-half comeback, the damage had already been done.

Sean McVay says Rams need to play in Week 18

With one week left in the regular season, Los Angeles is now locked into either the fifth or sixth seed in the NFC, regardless of its Week 18 result. There’s also a scenario in which the Rams could be locked into the No. 6 seed before they even take the field Sunday afternoon, should the San Francisco 49ers win Saturday night. That possibility raised questions about whether head coach Sean McVay might choose to rest his starters against the Arizona Cardinals.

McVay, however, left little room for interpretation.

“Oh, we’re playing. They’re playing,” he said postgame.

Asked whether Monday night’s loss factored into that decision, McVay insisted the plan never changed, even though he has downplayed seeding in recent season finales. His focus, he said, is simply getting his team back on track before the playoffs.

“They were going to play anyways,” he said. “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.”

For the Rams, Week 18 now serves less as a tune-up for seeding and more as a necessary reset heading into the postseason.

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