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With a third consecutive victory, the St. Louis Rams are clinging on to playoff hopes and are two wins away from the first winning season for the franchise since they finished 12-4 in the 2003 regular season. With three games upcoming against teams with just as many or more wins than the Rams, the road will be difficult, but the team has garnered some respect regardless.
Joel Thorman of SB Nation is one of those, as he bumped the Rams up five spots in his latest power rankings after their 15-12 win against the Buffalo Bills:
19. St. Louis Rams (LW: 24, 6-6-1): Keep those playoff hopes alive! Remember who was on the Rams bandwagon back in August!
ESPN also took notice of the winning streak, bumping the Rams up two spots to the No. 17 slot in their power rankings, just one spot behind their Week 15 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings:
17. St. Louis Rams: A victory over Minnesota would give the Rams their first winning record this late in the season since 2003. (Sando)
NBC's ProFootballTalk also gave the Rams the No. 17 spot and also ranked the Vikings in the No. 16 spot just ahead of them:
17. Rams: This team is going to end up far closer to a postseason berth than anyone ever would have imagined.
The Week 15 game against the Vikings will be the home finale for the Rams before a two-game road trip to finish the season against the Buccaneers and Seahawks. They are three games behind the 49ers for the NFC West lead, but just 1.5 behind the Seahawks and Bears for the NFC wild card.