Why the Seahawks will put the Rams in their place

The  Seahawks and Rams square off in a game that will go a long way to determining the division champ. Here’s why Seattle will beat Los Angeles tonight.

The Seahawks face their biggest test of the season tonight as they take on the visiting Rams. In case you weren’t sure this is a big game, the Hawks are breaking out the Action Green unis for this one. That along virtually guarantees a Seattle win; after all, they’re undefeated in neon. Okay, it’s only three games, but it’s still true. Besides, I have a few more reasons the home team will take this one.

In the first place, I already predicted Seattle would take this one in my season preview. So far my prognostications have proven infallible, as I correctly called all three wins and the sole loss. Kindly ignore just how far off I was on the score. But so far, so good. The Seahawks hung 31 points on the Rams in both contests last year. The Seattle offense is just beginning to click with the resurgence of Chris Carson last week.

I wrote in that preview the key would be to keep the Rams from scoring more. So far both the Saints and the Browns have held Los Angeles under 30. Yes, last week the Buccaneers gave up 40, but they also allowed 32 by the Giants. The Rams offense isn’t in sync yet, and I don’t see that happening tonight. Not when the Hawks field the linebacking corps of Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, and Mychal Kendricks. They rank first, second and fourth in tackles for Seattle.

Compare that to the Rams, whose leading tackler is safety John Johnson, with his counterpart Eric Weddle tied for second. When the safeties have to bring down more ballcarriers than anyone else, your defense has problems. And the Los Angeles defense is going to have two very big problems tonight in Chris Carson and Will Dissly.

I already mentioned Carson’s stellar game last week. You certainly can’t overlook the Seahawks stealth receiver, Uncle Will. For three straight weeks, Dissly has caught at least five passes and a touchdown. He may start drawing a crowd – except defense can’t afford to do that, because that would mean trying to stop Tyler Lockett with single coverage. That is a recipe for disaster.

Naturally, pulling the trigger on this is Russell Wilson. He’s only off to the best start of his career. I agree with my cohort Lee Vowell in this: tonight is the night for Schotty to give Wilson the reins and let him truly be DangeRuss. The Rams are a bit weaker on both defense and offense, while the Seahawks have stepped up their game in both areas. That’s why I see the Hawks taking this one. And Niners fans, I know you’ll still be in first place. It won’t last.