If you would have said the Los Angeles Rams (10-6) would win the NFC West, let alone clinch it before their Week 18 game after a 1-4 start to the season, you would have sounded crazy. Now, you would be a genius as the Rams have clinched their fourth division title since 2017 on Sunday night.
With a win from the Washington Commanders over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football, the Rams clinched the division as they have won the strength of schedule tiebreaker over their division rival Seattle Seahawks (9-7).
The Rams took care of business last Saturday night, taking down the Arizona Cardinals (7-9) to improve their overall record to 10-6 and 4-1 in the division. They needed some help from a few other teams in the NFL over the course of the week and got just enough to take the West.
With the Seahawks being just a game back of the first place spot in the division, the Rams needed wins from four of a select group of six teams in Week 17 to clinch.
The Rams received wins from Cincinnati, Minnesota, Buffalo, with the clinching result being the Commanders winning over the Falcons. The Rams officially won the division as they have the tiebreaker over the Seahawks even if Seattle were to win next week against the Rams.
The fact that Los Angeles was even be in a position to win the division at all is beyond belief after they starting with a 1-4 record. They were one of the most injured teams with struggles on both sides of the ball and completely turned their season around, winning nine of their next 11 games.
Head coach Sean McVay has now won the division four times in his eight years at the helm of the team. It marks back-to-back seasons that the Rams have come back from a poor intiial record to earn a playoff spot. They went 7-1 in their final eight games last season to reach the Wild Card.
It is still to be determined who the Rams will host at SoFi Stadium in the first round of the playoffs and their seeding will be determined depending on whoever else makes the playoffs over the next week. The Rams will likely rest many of their stars next week in preparation for another deep playoff run.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as BREAKING: Rams Clinch Fourth NFC West Title In Eight Years.