LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Rams lost a game that they easily could have won, but that was part of what preserved their optimism. Their 43-35 setback on Sunday was beset by avoidable penalties and ill-timed turnovers, not deficient talent. Over the past four weeks, they have faced off against three of their conference's best teams -- the Minnesota Vikings, the New Orleans Saints and, now, the Philadelphia Eagles -- and easily could have beaten all three of them.

"Any time you get a chance to play the top teams, you get a chance to see where you're at," Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. "We've had the Vikings and this one that were both close that we'd like to pull out. But we did beat the Saints at home a couple of weeks ago and we've had a number of other good wins on the road and all over the place. I think we're in a great spot."

Goff's next sentence was a reference to the Rams' next game, which has taken on even more importance. They'll travel to face the Seattle Seahawks, who lost on Sunday and thus still trail the Rams by one game in the NFC West. The Rams are now 9-4 overall while sitting as the No. 3 seed in their conference. They're one game behind the Vikings, who also lost on Sunday, and two games behind the Eagles, who might have lost Carson Wentz for the season because of a potential torn ACL.

Jared Goff shakes hands with Eagles quarterback Nick Foles after the Rams' loss, which did little to hurt the team's confidence. AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo

"We're fine, man," Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. "There's nothing to worry about. We're still in a good position. We're going to keep working, keep grinding. We're still in it."

The Rams scored the game's first touchdown after only two minutes. They gave up 21 unanswered points, but they had a four-point lead by the first minute of the fourth quarter. They led by one with eight minutes left, but Goff fumbled deep in his own territory. They had the ball down two with nearly four minutes remaining, but they went three-and-out. They generally held the Eagles' high-powered offense in check, but they gave up 102 yards on penalties.

"Look, it’s a game we would’ve loved to have won," Rams center John Sullivan said. "It would’ve given us a little more distance in the division. But at the same time, it’s two really good teams going out there playing really hard up until the end of the game. We just didn’t win. It is what it is. We’ll go back to work. We’re not going to panic; we’re not going to do anything like that. We’ve been process-oriented this whole year, and we’ll focus on what got us to this point, being in a competitive game at this point in the season."

The Rams must play the rest of their season without Kayvon Webster, their No. 2 cornerback, who ruptured his right Achilles tendon on a non-contact play. Trumaine Johnson, the Rams' primary corner, finished the game in concussion protocol. Rob Havenstein, their starting right tackle, exited early with an ankle injury. Andrew Whitworth, their supremely valuable left tackle, injured his ankle in the first half but came out for the second. Alec Ogletree, a captain and an inside linebacker, played the entire game with his tender left elbow heavily wrapped.

The Rams are battered, but not broken.

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Not like the Eagles, who may have to play the rest of the season without their franchise quarterback.

"Terrible," Goff said of Wentz's knee injury, which came on a touchdown run that was nullified by a holding call. "I shot him a quick text, hoping for the best for him. It's tough, especially a guy I'm close with."

Rams coach Sean McVay spent most of his postgame media session blaming himself, after a game that saw Todd Gurley get only 13 rushing attempts -- half the amount of Goff's passing attempts -- despite averaging 7.4 yards per carry. McVay specifically lamented the call that resulted in Goff's fumble, a play-action deep shot immediately after Havenstein exited the game. But McVay also griped about the penalties that extended drives against a team that usually will take advantage of additional opportunities.

Sunday's game came down to "who was able to execute at those big moments," left guard Rodger Saffold said. The Rams still are relatively young and inexperienced, a description that certainly doesn't exclude their head coach. They're still learning how to win games like Sunday's, and as Sullivan said, "At least it's still the regular season."

The Rams still like where they are, who they are.

"Unfortunately you do have to learn some lessons the hard way, myself included," McVay said. "I can't wait to watch the resolve of this team as we move forward into a great week for Seattle."