The Rams have 6 meaningful games left now that they won their 5th straight game. Their season has become a 6 game sprint. By sprint, I mean a 400-meter sprint, not a 100-meter sprint. It is going to take high energy, full effort, minimal mistakes, good special team play, offensive and defensive line dominance and the league’s last two MVP’s playing at their best for a long stretch of time (much of it on the road) if our beloved Rams are to have a chance to make the playoffs.

Winning 11 games would normally be good enough for a spot in the play-offs and therefore a chance to win the Super Bowl. I do not know if an 11-5 record is going to be good enough to get into the play-offs this year. Why? With only two wild card spots available this year, let’s look at the three teams that are in front of the Rams for the last wild card spot.

First - the New York Giants. They beat us earlier this year, so they would win the head to head match up. They have a record of 6 wins and 4 losses, a one game lead in the stat column, but in reality, a two game lead over the Rams. Their remaining schedule has them playing 3 teams that have winning records as of this date. As we all know, Philly has lost their offensive catalyst for 6-8 weeks, and the Giants play the Eagles on December 28th. If the Giants continue to win, they may just win the division outright because of the injury to the Eagles Donovan McNabb.

A closer examination of their schedule reveals the Giants playing the Titans at home, at the Redskins and at Indianapolis. They also play the Texans and Cowboys at home. Their schedule is comparable to that of the Rams in terms of difficulty.

Next is Atlanta; they are currently 6-3-1. They have a ridiculously easy schedule over the last six weeks of the season. They do have to play Tampa Bay, but the rest of their opponents, the Panthers, the Vikings, the Seahawks, the Lions and Cleveland, do not pose much of threat. They have a two game lead over the Rams as they only have three losses in the conference.

New Orleans has a 7-3 record and like the Falcons, their remaining schedule is similar in how easy their opponents appear to be. They play the Browns, the Vikings, the Ravens, the Bengals, the Panthers and Tampa Bay. They have already beaten the Bucs once this season and if they beat them again (they play on December 1st) and win the rest of their games, they will win their division. If they get beat by the Bucs, I do not see them tanking it again like they did last year after getting beaten by the Rams. I think that they believe that they are the team to beat this year and they want to prove last year was an aberration.

As for other teams that may have a hand in deciding our fate…

I think that Philly is in big trouble with the loss of their team leader and their hold on first place in the NFC East is in jeopardy. The Eagles have to play the 9ers this week and the Rams next week. Their division lead is in jeopardy and may very well be decided by their next game. They may not get beat by the 9ers this coming week; a number of teams, when faced with adversity, respond with tremendous team efforts and win a game that many feel they should have lost. The next game (against the Rams) could be different in that the Eagles may have some of the emotion from losing Donovan McNabb start to set in. The Rams will also have the benefit of seeing the new Eagle QB, Detmer, in real game situations.

An interesting team that bears watching is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Why? They are 8-2 after all. The reason is that they have to play the Falcons and the Saints. These are two tough opponents for them because both teams have mobile QB’s and both teams are playing good football right now and are also thinking of securing a play off spot. They also have to play the Green Bay Packers, the Pittsburg Steelers and the Chicago Bears. The Bears? Am I kidding? Not by a long shot. They have to play the Bears in Chicago on Dec 29th. The temperature should be below 32 degrees and we all know the Buccaneer’s and their infamous history of cold weather performances. If given an opportunity to win a game that would eliminate another team from the play offs, I believe the Bears will prove to be a tough opponent and if they were to win a game like this one, it would be something to build upon for next year. With this schedule, Jon Gruden’s Bucs could lose 4 of their last 6 games, just like Gruden’s Oakland Raider team did last year. That would give them a 10-6 record at the end of the season. The Bucs beat us earlier this year, so if we ended up with the same record, they would have the advantage because of that loss.

Finally, what about the 9ers? They have to play in Dallas and Arizona, at home against Seattle, Green Bay and Philly(not in that order), and they close out the season with the last Monday night game of the year in St. Louis. They have a two game lead on us right now for the NFC Western Division crown. We may get lucky this Sunday, as Philly may be able to beat them on shear guts due to the injury to Donovan McNabb. Probably not, but you never know. As an organization, the 9ers know one thing – they do not want to have to play us in St. Louis with the Divisional Championship at stake. They are feeling some pressure right now and we need to intensify that pressure by winning our next game…and the next game…and the next game…and the next game. And the next game, because if the outcome of the game on December 30th is going to determine the NFC Western Divisional Champion, the 9ers will be on a downward slide and we will have won 10 games in a row. The crowd noise in the Ed Dome would be unmatched in St. Louis football history. Maybe even in NFL football history. We would have 12 players on the field for that MNF game if the NFC West Championship was on the line.

I understand that each game has to be won, and the championship can only be won one game at a time. I realize we cannot watch nor should we care what any other team does or doesn’t do on any given game day in order for us to be successful. However, it always pays to be aware of the entire field when beginning an offensive. Our sights must be set on winning a 6 game sprint that will get us to the finals and an give us an opportunity to rewrite the history books