Seahawks at Rams: Week 13 preview and prediction
The Seattle Seahawks are in the midst of a two-game skid, having been outright bullied by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Las Vegas Raiders. Although there are no more pirate-themed teams left on the horizon for Seattle, they still face an old nemesis who have historically had their number.
The Seahawks return to SoFi Stadium for their first meeting of the year with the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Los Angeles Rams – who are in the running for the worst Super Bowl defense season in NFL history. The Rams have cratered to 3-8 and the hits keep coming, injury wise.
Los Angeles had to put Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp on injured reserve a few weeks ago, and just on Saturday they put quarterback Matthew Stafford on IR as well. Meanwhile, future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Aaron Donald has been ruled out, and will miss the first game of his career. Ironically, it was because of Aaron Donald injuring Russell Wilson last year which forced Wilson to miss the first games of his career. Now Donald’s first game missed will be against the Seahawks.
Make no mistake, the Rams may be down, but they should not be overlooked. Since Sean McVay has taken over as head coach, the Rams have made their rivalry with the Seahawks rather one-sided. Los Angeles is 8-3 against the Seahawks, and quite frankly it should probably be 10-1. In 2017, then-rookie Cooper Kupp dropped a game winning touchdown in a 16-10 loss, and in 2019 the Rams missed a game-winning field goal to lose 30-29.
The Seahawks are desperate for a win in the worst way. Not only have they fallen a game-and-a-half behind the 49ers for first in the division, they are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture as well. Currently they are the No. 8 team in the NFC, behind the Washington Commanders. Seattle will catch a break as the 7-5 Commanders will play the 7-4 New York Giants, and likely one will lose. But it puts more emphasis on the Seahawks winning outright against the Rams on Sunday.
Defensively, Seattle was absolutely gorged by Tampa and Vegas’ ground attack. The Rams are among the NFL’s worst on the ground, but so were the Bucs and the Raiders. It’s another battle between a stoppable force and a moveable object. The best chance for a Rams upset is for them to run the ball to limit Geno Smith and Seattle’s offensive possessions.
I’m still predicting a Seattle win, but don’t be surprised if it is an ugly, low scoring brawl between two desperate teams.
Seahawks over Rams 20-17.
List
Seattle Seahawks: Full list of pending free agents for 2023
