The Rams almost mounted the comeback. The season isn't a disappointment—it's a ghost story about what could have been–where almost is a four-letter word.
ATLANTA — The football hung in the air longer than physics should allow, a leather ellipsis punctuating a season of unfinished sentences.
Matthew Stafford watched it shoot from his fingers towards his intended target. Yet, it found Falcons safety Jessie Bates III instead of Rams receiver Xavier Smith, and it became a 34-yard interception return that felt like a final judgment rather than a first-half mistake.
Almost.
This season, the word follows these Rams like a shadow they cannot outrun.
They almost beat Philadelphia until a blocked field goal became a missed block.
They almost beat San Francisco until a Kyren Williams fumble at the goal line turned into a kick in the gut.
They almost beat Seattle until Eric Saubert's two-point conversion reception knocked them from their conference playoff–leading perch.
And now, on a Monday night in Atlanta, they almost completed the most remarkable comeback in Sean McVay's nine-year tenure until Bijan Robinson's 93-yard touchdown run — the longest in Falcons history, a sprint through defensive seams that looked like Swiss cheese — and Zane Gonzalez's 51-yard field goal with 21 seconds left turned their season into a 27-24 line in their season's obituary.
"This is a humbling league, and we got humbled tonight," McVay said.
Humbled. Not beaten. Not outclassed. Humbled.
The distinction matters because it suggests the Rams chose this fate rather than had it thrust upon them. They led the NFL in scoring and yards entering the night, a juggernaut offense that looked Super Bowl-bound.
They left the field third in their division, losers of two straight, a team that will open the playoffs on the road, fighting for the fifth or sixth seed like desperadoes rather than dignitaries.
The descent has been Shakespearean in its tragedy, Greek in its inevitability.
Consider the arithmetic of anguish: The Rams allowed 30-plus points in three of their last four games after allowing 30-plus just once in the first 12 weeks.
Their defense ranks 27th in points allowed (30.0 per game) and yards surrendered (370.8 per game) since Week 13.
They have become a team that trades punches until someone lands a knockout blow. Lately, everyone's been Mike Tyson.
Consider the anatomy of almost: Stafford, who began the night leading the NFL in touchdown passes and passing yards, a man with a career-best 42 touchdowns this season, threw three interceptions — his first three-pick game since Week 1 of 2022.
He completed 22 of 38 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and those three interceptions. He earned his third Pro Bowl honor this season but played like a man trying to throw a piano up a staircase.
"I obviously didn't play well enough," Stafford said. "Nothing they did, to be honest with you. Same kind of stuff they've been doing all year. Just we didn't execute well enough."
Execution. That word again. The Rams executed themselves, really. They strangled their own momentum with D.J. Humphries' penalties that wiped touchdowns off the board.
They surrendered a 93-yard touchdown to Bijan Robinson on the ensuing play after a Stafford interception, up a vertical seam that made the defense look like cardboard cutouts.
They watched A.J. Terrell limit Puka Nacua — the Rams' explosive All-Pro who entered averaging 87.3 receiving yards per game — to five catches for 47 yards, tying him in knots like a Boy Scout practicing knots.
"This is a humbling league," McVay repeatedly said.
The Falcons led 21-0 at halftime, the largest halftime deficit for the Rams since McVay arrived in 2017. The offense was kept out of the end zone until Stafford's 27-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Ferguson late in the third quarter.
The special teams provided hope when Jared Verse blocked a 37-yard field goal and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown, the Rams' first blocked kick returned for a score since 1986.
Verse chucked the deuce at the Atlanta sideline as he hauled tail toward the endzone, a moment of defiance in a night of disasters.
For a moment, they almost had it.
Stafford's 11-yard touchdown pass to Nacua with 2:46 left tied the game at 24. The comeback was complete. The narrative was rewritten.
Almost.
Gonzalez's 51-yarder sailed through the uprights with 21 seconds left.
The Rams' final drive ended with another set of almosts.
Stafford almost connected with a wide-open Smith on a corner route that would have scored a touchdown.
Tutu Atwell almost caught a pass where he was blatantly interfered with.
Nacua almost made a miraculous one-handed catch along the sideline, dragging his toes, pulling the ball toward his body before it came free.
Almost. Always almost.
Stafford stood at the lectern, answering questions about execution, rhythm and missed throws, his MVP candidacy crumbling like ancient parchment.
The Rams had the inside track to the No. 1 seed, the NFC's top spot, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Now they're vying for fifth or sixth, destined for road games in January, playing in hostile environments where almost becomes elimination.
Robinson needed 151 scrimmage yards to break William Andrews' franchise record of 2,176 set in 1983.
He finished with 229 — 195 rushing, 34 receiving — including that 93-yard run where he made Jared Verse miss and broke off the right end for 31 yards on another carry, forcing 11 missed tackles, gaining 168 extra yards, tied for the most by any player in a game since Derrick Henry in 2018.
He did it from 12 personnel, from 2-RB sets, from everywhere. He was a one-man demolition crew against a defense that had become a welcome mat.
"It takes everybody for those kind of runs to happen," Robinson said.
The Rams will play their starters Sunday against Arizona, McVay announced, refusing to rest his wounded warriors. They need to play better football, he said. They need to find themselves.
Almost doesn't count. Almost is a medal for participation. Almost is a scar that never quite heals.
The Rams' season isn't over. They'll make the playoffs. They'll travel.
They'll have chances to rewrite this narrative of near-misses and what-ifs.
Almost.
Category: General Sports
