The Los Angeles Rams are 11-4. They have clinched both a playoff spot and the NFC West title. They will be either the No. 3 seed or the No. 4 seed in the NFC, based on the results of this coming Sunday's games. 

If they win or the Saints lose, the Rams will get the No. 3 based on their head-to-head matchup; but if the Saints win and the Rams lose or tie, they'll drop to No. 4. Either way, the Rams get a home game in the first round of the playoffs and will go on the road for the second round, so there is not too much at stake for their matchup against the 49ers. 

And so coach Sean McVay is considering resting some of his starters for the game. 

"Being locked into that third or fourth seed -- every single game is important -- but I think it will provide an opportunity for us to potentially get some guys healthier, rest them, give some other guys a chance to step up," McVay said, per the team's official website. "How that affects the guys that are healthy that we want to be smart with is going to be determined as the week progresses. But it is one of those deals where I think you might see us rest some guys and use this week where, you don't ever take anything for granted, but knowing that you do have a home playoff game regardless of how things play out, this might provide an opportunity for us to get some guys healthy."

Determining which guys to play and which guys to sit is a bit more complicated, McVay said, because certain guys sitting out the game may affect the performance and/or susceptibility to injury of other player. 

"You've still got 53 guys on your active roster, how do you get to those 46? Now, fortunately for us, we are fairly healthy. But how we determine, as far as getting to that 46, and then if you do go with a [Andrew] Whitworth and [John] Sullivan, how does that affect a Jared [Goff] and a Todd [Gurley]? But those things are all definitely connected. And those are things that we're going to discuss as the week progresses."

The 49ers are hot right now and could potentially upset the Rams, but a loss wouldn't be too damaging to L.A.'s playoff prospects. McVay and his staff have to figure out how to balance the playoff health of their young team with the desire to make sure everyone is in rhythm and ready to go for their first playoff battle.