Despite being 12-2, Rams have clinched little so far

ST. LOUIS -- For a 12-2 team, the St. Louis Rams are in an unusual position. They've clinched a playoff berth, but nothing more.

"It's one of those strange deals," said coach Mike Martz. "We're going to have to take the long, hard road to get this thing done."

With two games to go, the Rams are still chasing home-field advantage in the playoffs along with the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers, both at 11-3, and even the Green Bay Packers (10-4) have an outside shot.

Not only that, the NFC West remains up for grabs. If the 49ers win out and the Rams lose out, San Francisco, which was swept by St. Louis, would take the West. If the Bears and Rams both finish at 13-3, Chicago would get homefield advantage based on a better record against NFC opponents.

So, there's plenty of incentive headed into the final stretch with seemingly winnable home games against the Indianapolis Colts (5-9) and Atlanta Falcons (7-7). To this point, the Rams have clinched the fifth of six seeds.

"Nothing has come easy this year, at all," Martz said. "We've had to fight, bite and scratch for every inch, and it's not going to change. We know that, we accept that, and you know you're going to have to win these next two games."

Rams survive Panthers

The Rams were in survival mode on Sunday, after beating the New Orleans Saints in their most emotional performance of the season the previous Monday night. Playing the Carolina Panthers (1-13), whom they'd beaten 48-14 earlier in the season, there was an inevitable hangover and the Rams had to hold on for a 38-32 victory.

The task was even more difficult given that both games were on the road.

"People don't understand how hard this is," Martz said. "That Monday night game with New Orleans was like a playoff game. It was extremely intense and you could see what happened to New Orleans, I think they were suffering a little bit from it, too."

The Saints fell behind 30-0 in the first half of a 48-21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Panthers also had an extra week to prepare for the Rams because they were coming off a bye.

"To play a team that's had two weeks to prepare for you and is fresh, we were a tired team," Martz said. "We were very fortunate to come out with a win."

Martz said the Rams' somewhat lackluster showing against the Panthers had nothing to do with players getting two days off last week. St. Louis had only three days to prepare for the game.

"I think they needed two days to recover," Martz said. "I would hate to see what would have happened if we didn't have the time. They were fatigued physically and mentally."

It showed particularly on defense, with the Rams allowing the Panthers 402 yards in total offense. St. Louis dropped to third in the NFL in defense, 7 yards behind the Dallas Cowboys.

Chris Weinke passed for 312 yards against the Rams' injury-riddled secondary, with safety Adam Archuleta (shoulder) hurt yet again and cornerbacks Aeneas Williams (hamstring) and Jerametrius Butler (shoulder) also nicked.

Archuleta had 10 tackles and a sack in his first start since Nov. 18 when he sustained the first of two concussions. He left the Panthers game with a mild shoulder separation.

Butler, a backup cornerback, also has a mild separation, and Williams injured his hamstring compensating for a bruised thigh. Martz believes all three will be fine for Sunday.

"I'm concerned, but that's kind of been that way since the first week of camp," Martz said. "It's been one of those things we've dealt with all year long and we'll have to continue to deal through the playoffs, I'm sure."