The Seahawks are 3-1 and so are the Rams. If Seattle can do these three things correctly, they will pull out the win at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle doesn’t always win pretty, but thankfully for 12s the Seahawks win a vast majority of their football games. Seattle could easily be 4-0 in 2019. (Although, just as easily they could be 1-3 but I digress.) A win is a win in the NFL and Seattle gets them more than most teams.
Most likely, if Seattle can beat NFC West rival the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, it won’t be because they blow Los Angeles out or make it look easy. Seattle would win a game the way they normally do: Strange things happen early, Seattle looks good then not so good then looks like they will win going away and then it is suddenly very close and just when it looks like they could lose, they seal the victory and win by 8.
On paper, the Rams still have the bigger talent than Seattle. The Seahawks don’t have anyone on their defensive line as good as the Rams’ Aaron Donald is, for instance. Los Angeles has the better receiving group too. Seattle has the better quarterback and better linebackers, but overall Los Angeles is a little better.
That isn’t to say Seattle can’t win but never say never with Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson. Like I said, this is the Seahawks and strange things will occur during the game. So how can Seattle beat the Rams and move to 4-1? Here are three quick ways.
Let Russell be Russell
Seattle’s best offensive player – Heck, player in general – is Russell Wilson. Since Brian Schottenheimer took over as offensive coordinator in 2018, he might have made Wilson a more efficient quarterback but he also at times seems to forget how good Wilson is (see: Wildcard game versus Dallas in 2018).
So far in 2019, Wilson is having a career season. Likely, Seattle will try to use the same formula they used last season to almost beat the Rams twice. That is, running the ball a lot. But they shouldn’t. Use Wilson often and early and let him run and pass and be the physical freak he is, I say.
Shaquill Griffin is having a good season
Griffin is the sixth highest rated cornerback through four games, according to Pro Football Focus. last year he was near last in the NFL. He promised to be better and he has. Los Angeles will test him on this. Should Griffin cover well, and hopefully even get a pick, Seattle can win this game.
Shaquill Griffin has a coverage grade of 82.9 this season, ranking 6th out of 114 qualifying CBs. #Seahawks
— PFF SEA Seahawks (@PFF_Seahawks) October 3, 2019
Seattle is pretty good against the run
The Seahawks are much better in stopping the run than they were in 2018. Last year, Seattle gave up 4.9 yards per rush which was 27th in the league. This season so far Seattle is giving up 4.2 yards per carry which is 15th in the league. And this is without defensive tackle Jarran Reed.
The Rams can beat teams by passing or running, but if the Seahawks can make Los Angeles a little more one dimensional then they can control the game. Let’s hope the recent success of Seattle being decent against the run continues on Thursday as well.