Sean McVay reveals whether Rams starters will play Week 18 after Falcons loss

Entering Week 17 as heavy favorites to come out of Monday Night Football with a victory, the Los Angeles Rams were embarrassed on a national stage, dropping a very winable game 24-27 to an Atlanta Falcons team with a sub-.500 record.

Fans were shocked, fantasy football players were dismayed by the brutal production from Matthew Stafford and company, and in the end, the Rams were forced to take the long flight back to LAX with their tails between their legs, knowing that their playoff journey just became a little bit harder for the second week in a row.

Discussing how it felt to lose such a close game to old friend and former defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Sean McVay, usually a man of many words, kept things brief, telling reporters his team felt “humbled” by his team’s performance on ESPN.

“This is a humbling league, and we got humbled tonight,” McVay told reporters via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Asked if he plans to play his starters in Week 18 now that the five seed likely belongs to the San Francisco 49ers, McVay made his stance clear, noting that his players need to play in order to pick up the right habits they need for the playoffs in January.

“We need to play,” McVay declared.

Once sitting pretty as the top team in the NFC, the Rams now find themselves in the fifth seed heading into the final week of the 2025 NFL regular season, with the division out of reach and a comparatively easy trip to the NFC South for the Wildcard round very likely gone too. While seeding ultimately doesn’t matter as much as winning games when it counts, the Rams now find themselves in the midst of their first losing streak of the 2025 NFL season, and it’s unfortunately come at the worst possible time.

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