Week 17 concludes tonight with a Monday Night Football game between the 11-4 Los Angeles Rams and the 6-9 Atlanta Falcons. Though the Rams cannot win the NFC West, they can help their playoff position with a win. However, the Falcons will be looking to play spoiler in what will be Atlanta's second-to-last game of the 2025-26 season.

It feels like things have taken a little bit of a turn in the ATL. After suffering five straight losses, the Falcons are 3-2 in their last five games and are looking to continue to rack up wins even though they are out of the playoff race.

“I really wouldn't expect anything else to happen other than guys to come back and finish and be able to do everything they can to try to win football games,” head coach Raheem Morris said on December 22nd. “I think it's just going out there, putting ourselves in position, and - really - putting yourself in the mindset that you want to be playing in these games, right? You don't put yourself in those spots when you get there. You gotta generate that type of stuff for yourself.”

For quarterback Kirk Cousins, he knows that the Falcons have a tall task ahead of them, trying to neutralize Los Angeles' seventh-ranked scoring defense. He highlighted the young players who have allowed that unit to flourish this season.

“I think it's - first of all – well-coached by Chris Shula. I think [those] guys understand the scheme, play hard. They don't beat themselves,” Cousins told reporters on Christmas Eve. “You do see the two edge rushers being really good players for them, impacting the game. I think the interior D-linemen are also really strong players. A couple younger guys there who are really ascending. Nate Landman’s done an outstanding job for them. You kind of see players all over the field, and it's a big reason why they are where they are as far as record and production and all that.”

With Los Angeles wide receiver Davante Adams expected to miss his second straight game, the Rams will once again lean heavily on their three-tight-end sets, or "13" personnel.

“You do what your staff and your people allow you to do, and that's what you go out there and do. That's what it's always going to be,” Morris said on December 24th. “When (Sean McVay) got there, he was able to have 11-group, and he was able to see 11, and he got a bunch of the same looks and was able to go and take advantage of those things. It's no different than him transitioning [to] 13, like us.”

On a more positive note, it sounds like Atlanta’s number-one receiver, Drake London, will once again be in the lineup. After returning from injury last week, he recorded three catches for 27 receiving yards.

“The only way to get better at football and get back into the groove of football is playing football. And I think [I’m] expecting to see good strides from him,” offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said on Wednesday. “He said he felt rusty out there. He hasn't played in a while. There's a rhythm to football, and, obviously, a lot of our guys have gotten into this rhythm, especially the last half of the year. For him to miss all those games, you lose a little bit of your rhythm, but [I] expect he's going to have a great week of practice and would anticipate him looking even better. Hopefully, we get that version of Drake that was before the injury because he was playing as good as any receiver in the league.”

In all likelihood, the Rams did not have a very Merry Christmas after suffering a 38-37 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks on December 18th. The team has had 11 days to stew on that game.

“I think you acknowledge it. The first thing is, we're not victims. We're not going to make excuses. Let's acknowledge what we did do, and let's also acknowledge the fact that there was a handful of plays in all three phases that if we make any one of those, we probably feel different in the result,” head coach Sean McVay said on December 27th. “All four of our losses, there were opportunities. We don't lose; we learn. I just love the response of this group… Those scars can be your strength if you use them appropriately. And, with this group, I got a funny feeling that that's exactly where we're headed.”

One of the more interesting storylines heading into this game is the relationship between Raheem Morris and the Rams, considering Morris was LA's defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023. Current Los Angeles DC Chris Shula worked under Morris before replacing him in 2024 and has a special relationship with the Falcons' head coach.

“He's one of my best friends. I owe him a lot,” Shula told reporters on Friday. “I kind of follow the way he studies the game. He taught me so much [with] how he studies offense because he, obviously, was coaching offense in Atlanta for a few years before he came here… He'll be a great friend for life, but - as far as the game goes - it's an opponent like anybody else. We have a lot of coaches and friends that we play against; if you're in this business long enough, that's just part of the deal. It'll be fun to see him pregame, fun to see him before, and as soon as the ball's kicked off, we'll be ready to go.”

For the Rams to win, they're going to have to limit the production of Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson, who ranks second in the NFL in scrimmage yards this season (2,026).

“He's probably - you could make an argument – [the] best back, best skill player in the league. Whatever it is, he's definitely in the conversation and [is] going to be one of the best skill players we see all year,” Shula said of Robinson. “It's huge. It's the explosive play waiting to happen. He can make something out of nothing. Obviously, with the stretch run game, him looking to cut back, whether it's the check down screens, just him getting the ball in space, and that's dangerous. So, we’ve just got to be on it every single snap. We gotta population tackle. We gotta run to the ball. We gotta play with great effort, and it's going to be a huge challenge.”

Prediction for Los Angeles Rams (-7.5) @ Atlanta Falcons

This feels like a no-brainer decision in favor of the Rams. LA has everything to play for, and Atlanta has no reason to want to win this game, despite what the Falcons' coaches might say. The Rams will win because this contest will go one of two ways. One scenario is that Los Angeles gets out to an early lead with their top-ranked scoring offense, and the Falcons are forced to abandon the run and get into a shootout. If that ends up being the case, Atlanta will lose because it’s 26th in scoring. The other option is that LA's 11th-ranked run defense will stifle the Dirty Birds' rushing attack, and the Rams win a slugfest. Regardless, Los Angeles will come out on top.

Prediction: Rams 30 - 20 Falcons

How to watch Los Angeles Rams (-7.5) @ Atlanta Falcons

Rams @ Falcons starts at 8:15 p.m. EDT at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. You can watch it on ESPN or stream it via the ESPN app or YouTubeTV.

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