Swanson: At 1-4, Rams could be approaching a crossroads

INGLEWOOD – I wouldn’t tell you to stick a fork in ’em.

But you might want to start thinking about meal prep for next season, start contemplating what’s going to be on the menu in seasons to come.

Because after Sunday’s 24-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Rams are 1-4 entering their bye week and staring up at a gargantuan mountain to climb if they’re going to get themselves back into playoff contention.

They’ve got injuries galore and gotten off to the worst five-game start since Coach Sean McVay took over in 2017.

They’ve got the second-youngest roster in the league being led by a 36-year-old quarterback. They’ve got an oft-injured star receiver Cooper Kupp on a contract that could save the team a potentially appetizing $7.5 million cap hit next season if he were cut or traded.

And, of course, they don’t have Aaron Donald; the defensive pillar of the Rams team that won the 2021 Super Bowl is now comfortably retired.

But they still have plenty of fight. These Rams are shorthanded and keep coming up short, but they aren’t going to roll over.

They didn’t in their comeback victory against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 22. And they didn’t Sunday at SoFi Stadium, either, even after a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad third quarter put them in a 24-13 hole entering the final 15 minutes.

Even after a barrage of blunders – a missed extra point, a lost fumble, an ill-timed interception, a drive-extending too-many-men-on-the-field penalty – Stafford and his teammates were still swinging.

They were still game, going 91 yards and scoring in 2:32 before getting the ball back with 2:57 to play for another potential go-ahead drive that fizzled out when the Rams couldn’t convert on fourth down.

This is a team that talks at meetings about last season’s rousing “switchup,” as rookie defensive lineman Jared Verse called it, when the Rams won seven of their final eight games to reach the postseason after starting 3-6.

But it’s asking a lot for this version of the Rams, underwhelming defensively and disappointing in the red zone, to pull that rabbit out of the helmet again, to become just the 16th team to start a season 1-4 and make the playoffs.

Kupp is eyeing a Week 7 return from the high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 2, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports – but what about fellow receiver Puka Nacua (sprained PCL)? Center Steve Avila (sprained MCL)? Guard Jonah Jackson (bruised scapula)?

Those are cornerstones of the offense that the Rams are missing as they approach an existential football crossroads, if they’re not there already.

They might be eyeing another mid-season comeback and looking at the beginning of the end of an era at the same time.

They might be trying to teach sharpen the new guard’s tools and mental acuity while also executing a changing of the guard.

They’ll go forth, developing character, developing their talent and, quite possibly, developing a new identity too.

At some point we’re probably going to be thinking more about the Rams’ future than how they’re faring this season.

The way it’s going, it’ll probably be soon – if not already.

Who’s keeping a progress report on defensive linemen Verse and Braden Fiske? How about the carries rookie Blake Corum got Sunday in support of steadily ascending second-year running back Kyren Williams? And there was rookie receiver Jordan Whittington having a better day Sunday (seven catches for 89 yards) than he did the previous week (six for 62), which was better than his performance the Sunday prior (three for 28).

“This one hurts,” McVay said after Sunday’s loss. “This doesn’t feel good right now, being in this situation.”

His Rams might be feeling the pain of yet another close loss, but they’re getting the growing pains too. Pain and gain go together, of course, though not always exclusively – and so don’t expect these Rams to succumb yet, at least not without a fight.