The Rams announced Jimmy Garoppolo will start at quarterback against the Seahawks on Sunday earlier this week and head coach Sean McVay shared some more changes to the lineup on Friday.
Wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp will be joining quarterback Matthew Stafford on the Rams’ sideline. McVay also confirmed that running back Kyren Williams will not play, which is something he hinted at earlier this week by saying rookie Blake Corum is in line for an expanded workload.
The Rams will clinch the No. 3 seed with a win. A loss and a Bucs win over the Saints will make the Bucs the third seed in the NFC.
McVay also said that left tackle Alaric Jackson, right guard Kevin Dotson and right tackle Rob Havenstein will sit out. Other starters will see limited time as the Rams look to keep their key players healthy for the postseason.
Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams is in his 10th NFL season and has been recognized for years as one of the best at his position. But he’s only made the Pro Bowl once, in 2016. And he’s not happy about that.
“It’s pretty disappointing, if I’m being honest,” Williams said after Pro Bowl rosters were announced on Thursday, via ESPN.
Williams thinks he was deserving, although he didn’t name which of the NFC defensive tackles chosen (the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence, Buccaneers’ Vita Vea or Eagles’ Jalen Carter) he thought was less deserving.
“I feel like I definitely deserved it this year, but I’m happy for the guys that made it,” Williams said. “They equally deserved it. That’s why they’re in the Pro Bowl.”
Williams is an alternate, and alternates usually end up getting invited to the Pro Bowl Games because so many players drop out, but he said making it because someone else drops out wouldn’t be the same.
“Honestly, I don’t care at this point,” he said of being an alternate.
For as much as the Pro Bowl itself has lost its luster over the years, it’s still an honor to the players who are selected. And it’s an honor Williams thinks he should have had more than once in a decade-long career.
After clinching the NFC West through the strength of victory tiebreaker last Sunday night, the Rams will do what they’ve traditionally done under head coach Sean McVay and rest starters in the final week of the season.
That means Jimmy Garoppolo will start at quarterback for Los Angeles when the team plays Seattle this weekend.
Garoppolo, 33, has not appeared in a game this season for the Rams after signing with the club in the offseason. Being a backup for the entire year has been a change for the veteran, who spent 2017-2022 with the 49ers and then began last season as the Raiders starter.
Garoppolo told reporters on Wednesday that getting back on the field has “been a long time coming.”
“I kind of had a feeling as I was watching the games this past Sunday, but it’s exciting,” Garoppolo said in his press conference. “It’s about time, just get out there with the guys and get some real football in.”
Having been in a few different places, Garoppolo said he’s been impressed with the way the Rams run things from McVay on down in 2024.
“It’s impressive, honestly. It’s a very tight-run outfit, just how they do everything,” Garoppolo said. “Little details aren’t overlooked. That’s something that I really was impressed by early on and it’s carried out this whole season. I think that’s how you get to a place like this though, when you’re allotted this in the last week of the season to play some other guys and it’s good for us.
“Sean does a really good job of explaining it in detail, too. He’ll take the time to slow things down. If you don’t understand it, he’ll explain it to you in a way that you do which as a teacher, that’s really impressive. I haven’t had many coaches that do that. To take the time to do little things like that, I’m really grateful for. It’s just a lot of good people, man. That’s what makes this thing go, is a lot of good people in the right positions.”
In a sense, Sunday will represent an audition for Garoppolo, as he’s slated to become a free agent again in March when his one-year deal expires.
“Anytime you get on the grass in live action, that’s your resume. That’s the life we live,” Garoppolo said. “It’s just what you do out there, everyone sees it around the league. They’re going to break that tape down, good, bad, or indifferent. They don’t really care who’s playing, what week it is or whatever it is. That’s your resume. That’s how I’ve always approached it. It’ll be no different this week.”
After each Thursday night game of the year, Amazon usually sends out an email with the audience numbers. After the final Thursday night game of the year — a 6-3 stinker between the Seahawks and Bears — no press release was sent.
That created the impression the numbers reflected the quality of the game. However, given how bad the game was, the ratings weren’t.
Via SportsMediaWatch.com, 11.04 million tuned in for the Week 17 contest. That beat the 2023 game between the Jets and Browns by seven percent, and the 2022 game between the Cowboys and Titans by 13 percent.
It was still the second lowest audience of the year for TNF, ahead of only Broncos-Saints in October.
Prime Video will televise one of the wild-card games. The goal will surely be to beat the streaming records set by Ravens-Texans (24.3 million) and Chiefs-Steelers (24.1 million) by the Netflix games on Christmas Day.
Ultimately, it comes down to the quality of the matchup. The better the game that the NFL gives to Prime Video, the more likely a new high-water mark will be established.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won’t be playing against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that he will likely rest regulars in Week 18 and he announced on Wednesday that Jimmy Garoppolo will be starting at quarterback. It will be Garoppolo’s first start and his first appearance of any kind since signing with the Rams.
Garoppolo’s last start came as a member of the Raiders in Week Eight of last season. He was benched after that game and signed with the Rams after becoming a free agent.
McVay didn’t share a full list of lineup changes, but said earlier this week that he anticipates running back Blake Corum playing a heavy role. McVay said Wednesday that right tackle Rob Havenstein will miss another game, but the team thinks he’ll be able to play in the playoffs.
