INGLEWOOD \u2014 The Rams handled their business Sunday, as they should.<\/p>\n
Any real peril against the Detroit Lions and Jared Goff disappeared<\/a> early in the second half of L.A.\u2019s 41-34 victory.<\/a> A field goal and two extended touchdown drives wiped out a 24-17 Detroit lead, and a 41-27 lead with 4:49 left ensured that nothing short of a Hail Mary ending would prevent the Rams from being the first NFL team to clinch a playoff spot in Week 15.<\/p>\n Super Bowl? At 11-3, why not dream big, right?<\/p>\n Um \u2026<\/p>\n Health is the great equalizer. When Davante Adams ran a deep pattern<\/a> down the left sideline early in the fourth quarter, only to pull up limping, with what turned out to be a hamstring injury, SoFi Stadium got really quiet. And when Puka Nacua went down<\/a> one series later, with what turned out to be cramps, some in the crowd started a \u201cPuka \u2026 Puka \u2026 Puka. \u2026\u201d chant, maybe hoping to will him back up and back into the game.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t happen. Nacua, at least, seems more likely to be in uniform for Thursday night\u2019s game in Seattle, the fight for the top of the NFC West becoming collateral damage in the league\u2019s desire to wring as much prime time product (and, of course, rights fees) out of its players as possible.<\/p>\n As for Adams, who has 60 catches for 789 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, including four for 71 yards Sunday, and who has earned Matthew Stafford\u2019s trust? Hard to tell at this point.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d coach Sean McVay said shortly after the game ended. \u201cI mean, he was optimistic, talking to him. He knows his body really well. They had an east and west double (coverage), he split it and then, you know, it just kind of came up where he felt it. So we\u2019ll see what that means.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine that\u2019s good for Thursday, with just the short amount of time. I certainly wouldn\u2019t rule him out quite yet, but it didn\u2019t look good.\u201d<\/p>\n The point? This is a good team, potentially a really good one, but there\u2019s still a really long way to go.<\/p>\n The Seattle game is huge, obviously.<\/a> The Seahawks ran their own record to 11-3 Sunday when Jason Myers kicked a 56-yard field goal with 22 seconds left to knock off the Indianapolis Colts, 18-16, and spoil 44-year-old Philip Rivers\u2019 return to active duty. The Rams currently hold the tiebreaker after winning the first meeting in Inglewood last month, 21-19, but that could change Thursday night.<\/p>\n And the Seahawks aren\u2019t the only ones coming up fast. San Francisco, which will host the Super Bowl Feb. 8, is 10-4. So is Chicago, and if you\u2019re a Ram fan who remembers so many other promising seasons that ended in disagreeable winter conditions \u2013 including, but not limited to, last season in Philadelphia \u2013 doesn\u2019t the thought of a January date in frigid Soldier Field make you shiver involuntarily? When the Bears beat Cleveland 31-3 Sunday, the game time temperature was 8 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill was minus-2. B-r-r-r-r-r.<\/p>\n Incidentally, if the name Dieter Brock<\/a> comes to mind when the combination of playoffs and Soldier Field is mentioned, you really are a long-term Rams fan.<\/p>\n