ATLANTA — The leather football left Matthew Stafford’s grip and floated so long in the air, it nearly ran out of green turf. But then came Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, ready to make the play that would define his and his quarterback’s illustrious season together. The ball reached Nacua’s left hand and bounced to his right as his toes dragged into the white of the sideline.

Nacua thought he had the catch. The Rams all prayed he did. But when the review was over, the verdict was sharp.

Inches short.

“It takes every inch,” Nacua said. “It requires every ounce of effort you have.”

“I saw the first replay, and I was like, ‘Man, he caught the ball,'” Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said. “‘C’mon. Please, Lord, not today.’ Then we saw that A.J. (Terrell) pulled his wrist and we were like, ‘Game over.’”

The Rams were inches away from a chance to tie the score, go to overtime for a second straight game and try to pull an improbable victory from the vice grip of defeat. But they lost 27-24 to the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

That they were a giant leap from who they expected to be with one game left until the playoffs is what has to change immediately.

“We didn’t do any of the things that we tried to do to start off that game,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “Here we are again in a disappointing situation. This is a humbling league, and we got humbled tonight.”

Added safety Kam Curl, “We weren’t making no plays and they were. That’s what happened, honestly. We didn’t make no plays.”

Just six quarters ago, this looked like the best team in the NFL. The Rams were 11-3, and Kobie Turner had just intercepted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold to protect a 30-14 lead on the road with an NFC West title and a No. 1 seed in sight. They were laughing in the faces of their rivals and believing in every ounce of their potential.

But so much has changed in the 10 days since. Key players have dropped like flies, and an offensive identity has sagged. It took a furious fourth-quarter comeback in a race against the clock to have a chance against the Falcons. The Rams were out of everything that had made them Super Bowl favorites by most major oddsmakers.

In two games, the Rams have lost the NFC West race and the No. 1 seed race, as well as a potential top-10 pick due from the Falcons and a possible MVP award for Stafford.

Now, it’s on the Rams to make sure they haven’t lost themselves. That explains why, even though they say they don’t care about seeding (“I don’t care where we go. I don’t care who we have to play,” Turner said), they’re going to play their starters in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals.

It isn’t about fighting for the difference between the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds, even if a wild-card trip to Carolina or Tampa Bay is more favorable than one to Chicago or Philadelphia.