Tougher competition.

The Rams (4-4) fattened up on the Cardinals, Lions and Packers -- who are a combined 6-18 -- before faltering against the Seahawks, Chargers and Chiefs -- a combined 16-8.

The end result: The Rams are squarely in the middle of the pack in Scott Linehan's first year as coach. They're a team with holes, especially on the defensive line and at linebacker as long as Pisa Tinoisamoa is sidelined with a broken left hand, but with a productive offense that can score enough to make things interesting.

"We're struggling now, but I've been on a couple of bad teams around here that have had multiple injuries and collapsed on itself," quarterback Marc Bulger said. "We're nowhere near that."

They're still in the hunt in the NFC West, though, thanks to parity. And veteran players can remember a lot worse situations. Last year's team also was 4-4, but won only twice the rest of the way.

The Rams will get an immediate opportunity to regain ground on Sunday at Seattle.

"Let's get ourselves ready to play probably the most important division game of the year so far, based on where our division is at," Linehan said. "Let's take care of business, and by performing well and winning this game we can certainly put ourselves back in very good position."