Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is set for a couple of head coaching interviews this week.
Peter Schrager of ESPN reports that the Cardinals and Raiders requested interviews with LaFleur and that he plans to meet with both teams this week. LaFleur can interview virtually ahead of the Rams’ divisional round game.
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula and pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase have also drawn head coaching interest.
LaFleur has been the coordinator for the Rams since 2023. He spent the previous two seasons running the offense for the Jets and was an assistant on Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers staff prior to making the move to the AFC East club.
Sean McVay’s assistant coaches have been popular targets in recent head coaching searches and this year’s cycle is no exception.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Browns have requested an interview with Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Raiders have done the same.
Scheelhaase drew interest as an offensive coordinator candidate last year, but remained with the Rams after being promoted to his current job. He joined the Rams in 2024 after serving as Iowa State’s offensive coordinator.
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula’s name has also come up in head coaching searches and both men will be able to have virtual interviews ahead of the Rams’ divisional round game.
After Saturday’s win over the Panthers, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford left the door open to the possibility that the index finger injury he suffered on his throwing hand could turn out to be a problem.
So far, it’s not.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, X-rays on the finger were negative, and there was no dislocation.
Said Stafford in his post-game press conference: “I got a finger bent back. They saw it on the TV, on the sideline or whatever. I didn’t, obviously, know exactly what had happened. It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t great. We’ll see what it is. Was obviously able to finish the game and throw it decent. You know, once the ball’s snapped, the adrenaline’s pretty good. So we’ll hopefully, you know, just keep it going.”
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine Stafford not playing next weekend, whatever the status of the finger. Stafford made that clear during his rookie season of 2009, when he suffered a left shoulder injury on the last play of regulation against the Browns. Pass interference in the end zone gave the Lions an untimed down. And Stafford refused to stay out of the game.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons for an injured player to not play. Stafford has yet to find a single one. Based on his 17 years in the NFL, the safest assumption for next weekend is that Stafford will play.
Even if the finger falls off between now and then, there’s no way Stafford will miss a return to Seattle, where the Rams and Seahawks staged an epic overtime thriller last month, or Chicago, where Stafford played plenty of games as the starting quarterback in Detroit.
Matthew Stafford’s Saturday started with him being named a first-team All-Pro and he closed it with the kind of performance that showed why he’s a frontrunner for the NFL’s biggest award.
With the Rams down 31-27 late in the fourth quarter, Stafford went 6-of-7 for 71 yards on a go-ahead touchdown drive. The final throw of the drive was a 19-yard dart to tight end Colby Parkinson and Parkinson made a twisting catch while falling into the end zone.
After the game, wide receiver Davante Adams said Stafford started the final drive by telling the offense “let’s go snatch these guys’ hearts.”
“That was pretty cold, just to hear that,” Adams said, via the team’s website. “And I actually literally smiled in the moment, because I thought that was like one of the most gangster things you could say in that moment, honestly. And to hear him say that, and the look on his on his face, and then throw the touchdown, and then the look on his face after that, was just MVP stuff.”
Stafford was 12-of-15 for 143 yards and two touchdowns over the entire fourth quarter, but none of those heroics will count toward an MVP vote that was already closed before the game kicked off. While it remains to be seen if Stafford will win that prize, Saturday’s performance provided reason to think bigger trophies might still be coming the Rams’ way this season.
If the Packers hadn’t blown a 21-3 halftime lead to the Bears, the Seahawks had a chance to avoid playing either of their two division rivals that currently are in the NFC postseason. Thanks to Chicago’s comeback, there’s a chance Seattle will host both of them.
Next week, Seattle will definitely see one of them.
If the 49ers win on Sunday at Philadelphia, it will be San Francisco at Seattle in the divisional round. If the Eagles win, the Rams will face the Seahawks.
Seattle, which went 14-3 for the season, was 2-2 against the Rams and 49ers. In Week 1, the Seahawks lost at home to San Francisco. In Week 16, the Seahawks beat the Rams in an overtime classic at Lumen Field.
If the Seahawks survive a visit from the Rams or the 49ers next weekend, the Seahawks could see the other one the next weekend. Which gives a very different vibe to winning the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
