The issue is: is it better to try your best to stay as the 3rd seed by playing your starters against the Niners, or is it best to make your seeding secondary to being as rested and as healthy as you can be at this time of year?
McVay looked at the facts as he sees them and decided on the latter.
The reality is this: 1) There's no guarantee that the Rams would beat the Niners this Sunday if we played all of our starters.
2) We have no way to know how the Saints game is going to play out. 2 of the 3 possible scenarios keep the Rams at the 3 seed. If the Rams win, it doesn't matter what the Saints do. If the Saints lose, and if the Rams lose, then the Rams remain the #3 seed. If the Saints win and the Rams lose, the Rams move to the #4 seed.
3) As of today, we don't know who the WC teams are for sure. But one thing is for sure: the first game for the Rams is a home game no matter how week 17 turns out in the NFL.
4) It is mathmatically impossible for the Rams to be the 1 or 2 seed.
5) It is a fool's folly to try to manipulate who you play in the playoffs. No one knows how that team will fare once the playoffs begin. It's all speculation, stats, and opinions.
6) Typically the two biggest factors to winning in the playoffs are home field advantage and overall team health (especially as it applies to key players). Having a bye and thus reducing the number of games you have to play to reach the Superbowl by one is really huge. So the 3 and 4 seeds and the WC teams are behind the 8 ball from the get-go.
I heard another local announcer and a former player say that while the "rest the players" formula might not be the best for every team, it's up to the HC to know if it is best for his team. Are they more liable to be "rusty" from not playing or lose momentum? Or are they more liable to come out re-energized? The evidence thus far this year is the latter.
And I trust McVay to know his team.
And we also can't overlook the fact that the Rams are easily the best road team in the NFL. If you include the London game as a road game (which of course you should), then the Rams are an astounding 8-1 on the road, their only loss coming against the Vikings. So for the Rams, playing on the road may well actually be an advantage for this year's team. Even weather doesn't seem to bother them.
This game on Sunday has NOTHING to do with the Niners and everything to do with the Rams. The meaning of the regular season is over for the Rams; it ended in Nashville last week. Now all that matters is getting to the Superbowl.
And when you look at things as to what is best for the Rams, it's a no-brainer that creating a mini-bye, by resting your key players and some other starters, is the only logical decision. Doing anything else is Rex Ryan, phony macho stuff, that gets you no where. There is nothing to gain by doing otherwise.
