18. St. Louis Rams (LW: 20)
The only remorse that the St. Louis Rams should feel about their season is that they dug themselves too deep a hole from which to escape. Winners of three of their last four games, the Rams have now shut out back-to-back opponents — granted, the Raiders and Redskins — and erased a 1-4 start via a 5-3 record since mid-October. In all likelihood, the Rams probably picked the right year to hover around .500, as the NFC West has proved to be too strong for even a 9-4 team to lead the division, but St. Louis will put its surging team to the test when it tries to knock off the division-leading Cardinals on Thursday night.
