Jared Goff was a highly touted prospect when the Rams took him with the top draft pick of 2016. But he’s had ups and downs. After leading the Rams to the Super Bowl two seasons ago, they missed the playoffs last year. With the team’s inconsistency, the Rams aren’t getting as much positive publicity as they should be. The media may underrate the Rams, but they’re a better team than they get credit for.

People aren’t talking enough about the Rams

Teams that play in New York and LA usually get a lot of media attention because those cities are the media capitals of the country. But the Rams seem to be a forgotten team in LA despite being just a couple of years removed from a Super Bowl appearance.

They don’t get as many games in featured time slots as you would expect from a team of their caliber that plays in Southern California. Even recently beating Tom Brady’s Buccaneers didn’t get the media on the Rams’ bandwagon as much as you might have expected.

The Rams are on pace to make the playoffs

Although the Rams missed the playoffs last season, they ended with a winning record at 9-7. They’re looking to finish better than that this season, with a 7-4 mark in their first 11 games, including a surprising Week 12 loss to the 49ers. This mark puts them in second place in the NFC West and fifth place in the conference standings (in a season when the top seven teams will make the postseason).

The road to the playoffs seems to be easier in the NFC than it is in the AFC — especially with the Saints missing Drew Brees for at least a couple more games and the Bucs, who are currently the sixth seed, faltering of late, including a loss to the Rams which gives LA a tiebreaker over Tampa Bay if it comes down to that.

The Rams look really good at times

There have been weeks this season when the Rams have looked really good, and perhaps one of the favorites to win the NFC. They started the year strong, winning their first two games — with a rather impressive Week 2 win over the Eagles in which the Rams scored 37 points, nearly doubling up Philadelphia’s 19-point output.

Weeks 4 and 5 saw the defense step up, allowing 10 points or fewer to the Giants and the Washington Football Team, respectively, in those games. The game of the season for the Rams may have been the 27-24 win in Tampa in Week 11. Goff outplayed the future Hall of Famer in Brady, passing for 376 yards and three touchdowns compared to the former Patriot’s 216 yards and two scores.

The road ahead for the Rams

Other than a Week 16 contest at the Seahawks, the rest of the Rams’ season doesn’t seem to be too difficult. They have both games remaining with the Cardinals, including the road meeting in Week 13. The Rams’ other two games are against AFC East opponents underperforming this season.

The Rams host the Patriots in Week 14’s Thursday night game — the Rams’ final scheduled primetime game — and then the currently-winless Jets come to SoFi Stadium to try to take down the Rams in Week 15. With that remaining slate of games, the Rams look to have a relatively easy path to at least 10 wins.