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No panic yet, but Rams have urgent need to solve self-inflicted wounds

LOS ANGELES -- The home-team locker room inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was silent. Los Angeles Rams players sat at their lockers and appeared stunned.

Never before in Sean McVay's two seasons as coach had the Rams suffered back-to-back regular-season losses. And they didn't seem to figure it could happen Sunday night against a 13.5-point underdog Philadelphia Eagles team that was forced to start backup quarterback Nick Foles, with Carson Wentz sidelined because of a back injury.

But Foles pushed the defense to its breaking point in a 30-23 defeat as Jared Goff and the offense, for a third consecutive week, struggled to find its footing.

"Back-to back-losses is definitely going to faze a team a little bit," receiver Robert Woods said.

The Rams (11-3) have clinched the NFC West and a playoff berth is secured.

But for now, that's the only certainty.

They lost control of NFC home-field advantage with a loss last week to the Chicago Bears, and can only regain it if the New Orleans Saints stumble, likely twice, since the Saints hold the head-to-head tiebreaker for the top seed against the Rams. And the Rams are close to losing control of a first-round bye. That can still be earned with two wins, but another loss could allow the Bears to move past the Rams.

"We're not tripping," cornerback Marcus Peters said. "We just have to get back to our P's and Q's."

For as dominant as the Rams were through their 11-1 start, with the exception of a loss against Drew Brees and the Saints, their vulnerabilities have been exposed over the last three weeks.

It started in Detroit in an offensive struggle against the Lions that was settled only when Todd Gurley rushed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to give the Rams the win. It continued the following week in a disastrous offensive performance against the Bears in which Goff threw a career-high four interceptions.

And it continued Sunday night in an inexplicable loss to the Eagles, who came in with a 6-7 record.

"Definitely got to tighten up," Gurley said. "(We're) doing stuff that's not us, so we need to get back to ourselves. … It's not the end of the world."

Two games remain before the playoffs.

The Rams must travel to Phoenix next Sunday to face the three-win Arizona Cardinals. Then they'll play a regular-season finale at home against the San Francisco 49ers, who have won two straight.

McVay expressed confidence that their issues could be solved. But he knows it must be done before the postseason, and it needs to start with his quarterback.

Through their first 12 games, the Rams had just 10 turnovers. But in their last two, they've turned it over seven times -- including six Goff interceptions.

Goff remained true to character after the loss Sunday. He did not show signs of panic but said in a matter-of-fact tone that there were some issues that needed to be solved.

"I don't think it's much," said Goff, who completed 35 of 54 passes for 339 yards and two interceptions. "I think it's little things here and there. I need to do a better job. We need to do a better job all across the board. … It's stuff that's so fixable."

Easy to say. Now the Rams have to do it.