After a 30-22 win over the New Orleans Saints, which didn’t feel as close as the final score indicates, the Rams put a firm grasp on their playoff chances, moving to the sixth seed in the NFC with a red-hot offense and a defense that’s coming into its own. The Rams were a wild card coming into the year, considering Matthew Stafford’s health and Sean McVay’s near retirement, and now they could be the most dangerous team in the wild-card round.Rams

Once again, McVay has found the next evolution of what his offense is going to look like, from the super-heavy play-action days with Jared Goff and Todd Gurley to a unit that relies less on play-action but still takes hacks down the field with in-breakers and sideline shots thanks to Stafford’s arm talent. Kyren Williams has turned into the kind of workhorse back that McVay likes to have in his offenses, and the Rams have moved to a more gap-heavy run game instead of one that’s outside zone-based. McVay’s willingness to tinker and play around with his offense instead of staying steadfast in one philosophy has put

Of course, the singular force that is Stafford’s right arm allows for the Rams to run one of the most high-difficulty passing games in the league. Just go back and watch some of the throws Stafford made against the Ravens to keep his team in the game while Lamar Jackson toyed with their defense. Stafford is damn near a one-of-one arm talent in a league that features a ton of talented passers right now. His expertise and physical ability allow the Rams to run one of the more unique passing games in a league that has embraced shorter passing concepts.