As of this writing, the Rams have been sitting on a bitter loss for 16 of the last 20 days.

Only a very short week separated the lingering frustration of Philadelphia from the newfound nausea of letting the Niners off the hook.

In each instance, Los Angeles was defeated on the last play of the game.

Adding to the dark mood this week is another upsetting memory, as the Rams make a return trip to Baltimore. Just two years ago, despite playing one of their best games of 2023, the Ravens walked them off in overtime as a backup punt returner took it the distance.

Here in present day, the Rams need a reset. They need a cathartic win over a franchise that was favored to chase a championship but instead has limped to a 1-4 start.

It's too early to call Sunday a must-win. But for both Baltimore and Los Angeles, it sure feels like a cannot lose.

Hurt So Good

Now, allow me to cast the Rams 3-2 beginning in a slightly different light.

We know that if either one of two kicks in both losses goes through the pipes, LA is 5-0 and the last undefeated in the NFL.

But this is football, and in the short-window, hyper-competitive space in which the Rams compete, outplaying an opponent doesn't always correlate with a win.

"It's not the NBA where you go out there, the worst team in the league versus the best team where I guarantee you, 90% of the time the better team is going to win," veteran receiver Davante Adams said.

If you're a visual learner like I am, look at these objective illustrations of how well your team has played so far.

As the head coach Sean McVay told me on his show this week, "When we are executing on a consistent basis the way that we're capable of, man it's a pretty good movie."

First to Worst?

Asked to distill this week's game down into two sentences, here's what I'd offer:

The depleted Ravens have been abysmal on defense. However, the Rams are in no position to take anyone lightly.

First, the Ravens are the worst defense in the league, and it's not particularly close. They just gave up 44 points to Houston, the most in a home game under John Harbaugh. They've surrendered 177 points through five weeks, the most in franchise history. The Ravens are the first team in the Super Bowl era to allow 37-plus points in four of their first five games, according to NFL Research.

With that on the record, let's be frank – having just lost to the 49ers practice squad, there is no excuse for the Rams to underestimate any opponent. We touched on that and more in this week's Between the Horns, with D'Marco Farr and Stu Jackson.

Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

The Rams are on a run-stuffing rampage right now.

Saquon Barkley – 2.6 yards per carry (46 total).

Jonathan Taylor – 4.5 yards per carry (76 total).

Christian McCaffrey – 2.6 yards per carry (57 total).

This looks like the best-case scenario any of us could have envisioned with the addition of Poona Ford at defensive tackle and Nate Landman winning the middle linebacker job and captaincy.

On deck, a slumping Derrick Henry (with or without the best rushing quarterback in NFL history).

The ultimate workhorse and ageless wonder led the NFL with 16 rushing scores last year, and another 1,921 rushing yards. But after racing to 169 on the ground in the Ravens opening loss to Buffalo, Henry's only gained 148 combined, since.

NFL Research tells us he's enduring the longest drought of his career, with 50-or-fewer rushing yards in four straight games. As much as the lack of ball security has dominated our conversation around the Rams, Henry's put three on the deck and lost two fumbles this season!

Can LA preserve a rushing defense that's allowing just 3.5 yards per carry in 2025? The Rams haven't strung together four consecutive regular season games allowing fewer than 90 rushing yards in the McVay era. It may be difficult to accomplish without Omar Speights running next to Landman, after suffering a high ankle sprain last Thursday.

In his stead, will the undrafted rookie Shaun Dolac get his first defensive snaps? Get to know the 24-year-old from Buffalo on a new episode of Rams Revealed.

Kick the Habit

The elephant in the room continues to be the Rams kicking game. With blocked attempts in three of the last four games, McVay knows there's blood in the water.

"If I was on the opposing team, I would be attacking that phase of our kicking game," he said this week. More so than ever, the head coach is dialed into the third phase. "If you don't get things fixed in this league, the bleeding won't stop but we expect to stop that bleeding."

And since we're laser focused on kicking woes, I thought it might be worth a reminder that Lucas Havrisik was the Rams kicker just two seasons ago when they last played at M&T Bank Stadium – he made a 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left to force OT.

Somehow it feels like, relatively speaking, things are in a better place with the Rams' operation now than they were back then. Certainly, Ethan Evans and the punt coverage unit have improved.

Staffing Up

Let's start our odds and ends section with what I believe is driving our collective aggravation at not being in command of the division and conference: The Rams have the best quarterback in the NFC again.

Matthew Stafford leads the NFL in passing. He's gone back-to-back with his highest yardage totals as a Ram (375 vs Indianapolis, 389 vs San Francisco). The league tells us that only two players since the merger have had three straight games with 375 passing yards and three passing touchdowns: Tom Brady and Ryan Fitzpatrick.

With QB1 firing on all cylinders, only Dallas has put up more yards than the Rams. Puka Nacua's been unstoppable and record-setting. Plus, he's suddenly a red zone threat! Combined with Adams, LA is the only team with multiple players already accumulating at least 350 receiving yards.

"I just appreciate him more and more every time we get to work together," Stafford said of Adams this week. "As good a player as he is, he's an even better teammate. He's professional. The guy is as prepared as they come."

Adams has nine red zone targets, per NextGen Stats. Only Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown has more (10). In a similar vein, only Jared Goff has more passing scores (12) than Stafford (11).

Meantime, the Ravens are 4-11 without Jackson as starter since 2019 (including playoffs). Even if he plays, opponents have been getting to the ever-elusive MVP. Jackson has been sacked 15 times already and is one of the most pressured signal-callers in the league. There's opportunity for the Rams front, and this feels like Braden Fiske's week. Hard to believe the 2024 sack leader still isn't on the board.

And lastly, Sunday's forecast calls for showers, because of course. For now, less than half an inch of rain is expected. Might not be enough for Puka to ditch the gloves, but we'll see.

Watching the West

The only comfort last weekend was seeing Seattle and Arizona implode late and give away what should have been home wins. (Philadelphia, too, for that matter.)

That took some – barely any, if I'm being honest – of the sting out of the Rams' Thursday night defeat.

Week 6 is unique in that the entire NFC West hits the road for massive tests, and LA is the only favorite of the bunch.

The 2-3 Cardinals will be in Indianapolis to face the 4-1 Colts.

The 3-2 Seahawks make the trek to Jacksonville to joust with the 4-1 Jags.

And the 4-1 Niners travel to Tampa to battle the 4-1 Bucs.

If Sunday breaks the Rams' way, we could be singing an entirely different tune come Monday.