Sean McVay says Rams won't rest starters in Week 18 despite being out of NFC West race: 'We need to play better' Chris Cwik December 30, 2025 at 6:05 AM 0 In the past, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has prioritized rest as his team prepared for the playoffs. With the Rams in excellent position heading into Week 18 last season, Matthew Stafford and various other Rams starters were held out of action to prepare for the postseason. But McVay is changing things up this year.
- - Sean McVay says Rams won't rest starters in Week 18 despite being out of NFC West race: 'We need to play better'
Chris Cwik December 30, 2025 at 6:05 AM
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In the past, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has prioritized rest as his team prepared for the playoffs. With the Rams in excellent position heading into Week 18 last season, Matthew Stafford and various other Rams starters were held out of action to prepare for the postseason.
But McVay is changing things up this year. Despite the Rams being out of contention for the NFC West title, McVay said the Rams' starters will play against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18, per ESPN.
"Oh, we're playing," McVay said Monday night after the Rams' 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. "Yeah, they're playing."
McVay did not elaborate on why he was treating the final week of the regular season differently this time around. When asked whether it's because the Rams have lost in back-to-back weeks, McVay said the plan was always to play his starters in Week 18, adding, "We need to play better football."
"No, they were going to play anyways," McVay said. "We need to play. We need to play better football. So I don't know what the consequences are in those different types of things, but we got to play better."
Following a tight overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16, the Rams lost a sloppy game to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday. Stafford — who came into the contest as the MVP favorite — struggled mightily in the outing, tossing three interceptions in the 27-24 loss.
The only thing on the line for the Rams in Week 18 is playoff seeding. Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Rams are currently the No. 6 seed in the NFC. With the division no longer in play, the highest the team can move up is to the No. 5 seed. While that's better, it doesn't drastically improve their chances of hosting a playoff game ahead of the Super Bowl. If the Rams are going to win another championship, they'll have to win multiple games on the road either way.
Last year wasn't the only time McVay opted to rest his starters ahead of the playoffs. The coach also used the method during the 2017 season, when Sean Mannion started over Jared Goff in Week 17. The move backfired, as the Rams lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the wild-card round the following week.
Though the Rams are in a similar spot this time around, McVay will let his starters play in Week 18. It's unclear how much, if at all, Stafford's race for the MVP played a role in the coach's decision. Following his poor performance in Week 17, Stafford needs a big game in Week 18 to reassert himself as the MVP favorite.
While McVay possibly took that into consideration, it's more likely he truly believes his team needs more work ahead of the playoffs. The Rams have, at times this season, looked like the best the NFL has to offer. After two down weeks, McVay likely wants to give the team one more opportunity to return to form before the postseason begins.
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: December 30, 2025 at 04:27PM on Source: RED MAG
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