{"id":620072,"date":"2025-12-22T16:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/620072\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:00:13","slug":"l-a-rams-news-playoff-picture-is-clearing-up-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/620072\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Rams News: Playoff picture is clearing up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Often times, it\u2019s overstated just how \u201ccrazy\u201d the NFL season is because they are all crazy, they are all different and unique and unless you know something others don\u2019t, the NFL is nearly impossible to predict. This season has been insane in terms of surprises, upsets and shocks, but at this point, the playoff picture is finally really taking shape, and teams are starting to get an idea of where they\u2019ll be going in the weeks to come when the regular season comes to its natural end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This past Sunday had plenty of exciting games with some teams locking up a spot in the playoffs while other teams saw their season come to their official end.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">There are still two regular season games left, and there are still some things to be determined, but this end of season is taking shape, and the playoffs are coming, and everything that comes with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Thank you to everyone for checking out Turf Show Times, please comment on whatever you want and have a great day!<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIt\u2019s almost closing time for the NFL regular season, as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/schedules\/2025\/by-week\/reg-16\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Week 16;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Week 16<\/a>\u00a0is about to wrap up. There once again were a number of games that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/nfl-week-16-fallout-sorting-through-the-upsets-playoff-berths-and-overall-chaos\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:played a pivotal role;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">played a pivotal role<\/a>\u00a0in playoff seeding and a handful that ended with dramatic finishes. All this craziness tells you the postseason will be something special. This league has been wide open all year, and that parity is still resonating throughout most of what we witness each weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This is why it\u2019s also important to start defining which teams to believe in when it comes to making a run at a championship. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/standings\/playoff-picture\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:playoff scenarios;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">playoff scenarios<\/a>\u00a0will give you math and projections. This edition of The First Read will give you certainty. Here\u2019s who you\u00a0should\u00a0be buying and selling when it comes to deciding who can win a Super Bowl at this stage of the season.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cBoth\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/los-angeles-sean-mcvay-latest-davante-adams-update-means\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Davante Adams;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Davante Adams<\/a>\u00a0and Kevin Dotson have essentially been ruled out for the Rams\u2019 next game against the Atlanta Falcons. While things could change as the week progresses, both men have been pillars of the offense, and after the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/los-angeles-spirits-remain-high-after-seahawks-loss\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Seattle;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Seattle<\/a>\u00a0game, there\u2019s a major concern that the Rams won\u2019t be able to come close to replicating their production.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cFormer NFL referee Walt Anderson, the league\u2019s sole official spokesperson for rules application, addressed the play during a short Sunday morning NFL Network segment. Anderson focused on explaining the mechanics of the backward pass, clarifying that the play was correctly ruled under the existing rules. Yet, as Mike Florio of NBC Sports\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/nfl\/profootballtalk\/rumor-mill\/los-angeles-rams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:points out;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">points out<\/a>, a key point went largely unmentioned: why it took more than 100 seconds from the end of the play for the review to be officially initiated.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cAs for who will step into Blackburn\u2019s role,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/2002493228860510503\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Adam Schefter of ESPN reported;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Adam Schefter of ESPN reported<\/a>\u00a0that assistant special teams coach Ben Kotwica is taking over. Kotwica is the only special teams coach listed on the Rams\u2019 site, so it\u2019s not as if they have another option.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Kotwica, 51, is an experienced coach who\u2019s in his first year with the Rams. He probably didn\u2019t expected to get promoted to the lead position during Year 1 in Los Angeles but he\u2019ll now be tasked with improving a struggling special teams unit that has directly cost the Rams two of their four wins.\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Often times, it\u2019s overstated just how \u201ccrazy\u201d the NFL season is because they are all crazy, they are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[254,5430,7,25023,1014,58,2444,2611,6,30529,1865,424,237,30867,3416],"class_list":{"0":"post-620072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-atlanta-falcons","9":"tag-davante-adams","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-kevin-dotson","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-rams","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-losangelesrams","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-nfl-regular-season","18":"tag-playoff-picture","19":"tag-rams","20":"tag-seattle","21":"tag-special-teams-coach","22":"tag-the-rams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115764057334415100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}