Unlike last year, Rams feel sense of urgency heading into season finale

Andrew Whitworth and John Sullivan had a full practice week. That’s 70 years’ worth of knees, shoulders and other offensive lineman body parts that usually get mid-week rest, but the Rams aren’t letting up.

The Rams secured a playoff spot three weeks ago, but they want more. They want a first-round bye and a home game, and a chance to host the NFC championship game if they win and New Orleans slips. All of that is on the line when the Rams play San Francisco in Sunday’s regular-season finale at the Coliseum.

Each of the past five Super Bowl champions has been able to enjoy a first-round bye. Rest is one thing, but from a practical standpoint, the bye means one fewer game of potential elimination.

“It’s a really important game for us,” Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “It’s whether you get in the final 12 or the final eight. So, that’s a big factor.”

Either a victory by the Rams (11-3) or a loss by the Chicago Bears (10-4) to Minnesota will give the Rams their bye. That’s important, and that’s why, in Week 17, when teams start to cull their active rosters and either gear up for the playoffs or wind down for the end of the season, the Rams continue to push.

There are no guarantees, and the Rams already are tempting recent-history fate. No matter what happens this weekend, New Orleans already has secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC. That’s big, and not only because the Saints play so well at home (they beat the Rams 45-35 at the Superdome last month).

In the past five seasons, all five AFC champions and four NFC champions have been No. 1 seeds, and no team has won a conference-championship game on the road. Two years ago, No. 2 seed Atlanta reached the Super Bowl with a home victory over No. 4 seed Green Bay. The last teams to win a conference championship on the road were Baltimore and San Francisco, at the end of the 2012 season.

“We know we’ve got more to play for,” quarterback Jared Goff said, “but we’re treating this week like a playoff game, like being in the playoffs for us. If we win, we get that 2 seed locked up and do what we have to do.”

A home playoff game also doesn’t assure anything. The Rams had one last season, in the wild-card round, and lost, but the timing seems right for the Rams to play a good game, secure the bye, then rest.

That’s particularly important for running back Todd Gurley, who has been nursing a sore knee for the past two weeks and won’t play Sunday against the 49ers. An extra week should help Gurley be ready for the playoffs, and would give the big guys who block for him a chance to recuperate.

Whitworth, age 37, and Sullivan, 33, are the Rams’ two oldest players and typically have not been on the field for Thursday practices. But after the Rams lost consecutive games to Chicago and Philadelphia, the two linemen jumped back in on Thursdays at the request of the coaching staff, Sullivan said.

“They wanted us to practice and we practiced,” Sullivan said. “We want to do what we’re told. If we’re told to practice, we practice. If we’re told to recover, we recover.”

The implication is clear. The Rams felt a sense of urgency, and perhaps a sense that the first-round bye might be slipping away. They rebounded last week with a victory at Arizona, and now they have a chance to become the first team to sweep all six division games since Arizona in 2008.

That Arizona team was an odd one. The Cardinals went 6-0 against the NFC West but 3-7 against everyone else. They failed to get a bye but, as the No. 4 seed, made it to the Super Bowl and lost to Pittsburgh.

The Rams would prefer a more traditional path. They lost to the 49ers in last year’s regular-season finale, but they rested almost all of their starters for that game, because their playoff footing was secure. This game is much more meaningful, and the Rams’ preparation indicates they know it.

“It’s all about just going out and taking care of business this weekend,” Sullivan said, “and getting a first-round bye and finishing this thing out the right way. We know if we go out and get the job done and play the way we did a week ago, we expect to come out on top and get the No. 2 seed and have some time to rest before we play again.”

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