The Seahawks have fallen to 6-5 and need a victory against the Rams in Week 13 to keep their playoff hopes alive. Well, they have received a gift from the NFL gods with how injured the Rams are entering the game. But make no mistake, Los Angeles is always a dangerous team for Seattle.
Los Angeles will be without Aaron Donald, Matthew Stafford, Allen Robinson and Cooper Kupp. But the Rams still have Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner, and Leonard Floyd. Seattle isn’t going to simply walk into the Rams stadium and win the game by showing up.
In fact, Seattle has a bunch of things they need to fix no matter who they are playing. The Rams are 3-8 but the Seahawks have also lost to teams with losing records in the last two games Seattle has played. The Buccaneers were 4-5 and then defeated the Seahawks in Germany before losing to the lowly Browns.
In Week 12, Seattle lost to the Raiders who entered the game 3-7 and not having beaten a team with a winning record (and two of their wins were against the Broncos). But the Raiders outplayed Seattle at the end of the game and won in overtime 40-34. Are the Rams, even with a depleted roster, that much worse than the Raiders? No.
Three bold guesses for the Seahawks versus the Rams in Week 13
Bold guess 1: Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith will throw for 400 yards
There is no reason to expect any quarterback to throw for 400 yards against the Rams, even if they don’t have Donald. The Rams are well-coached defensively and have high-end talent all over their defense. The issue that Los Angeles has had this year is that they are struggling to pressure opposing QBs. Los Angeles is 31st in pressure percentage (14.7 percent) and 24th in sacks (22) and that’s with a healthy Donald.
Of course, Seattle gave up 3 sacks to the Raiders and Geno seemed to be under constant pressure from a Las Vegas team that had not pressured anyone. Geno will get hit a bunch in Week 13 but the game will be on his shoulders (or arm) to lead Seattle to a win. Los Angeles will stop Ken Walker from running but that should leave Geno more room to throw. In Week 13, Geno will get over 400 yards passing and have his best game of the year.
Bold guess 2: Rams QB Bryce Perkins runs for 100 yards, Seahawks get 2 picks
John Wolford was named Rams QB for Week 13. He won’t make it through the first two series. Bryce Perkins can run. In fact, he may be able to do that better than throw the ball. That isn’t meant to be a slight against Perkins either; He just happens to run so well. And he isn’t small either. He is 6’3″ and 215 pounds.
In Perkins’ extremely short career of three games, the former undrafted QB out of Virginia in 2020 has 161 passing yards on 34 attempts (he has completed 55.9 percent of his throws) with 1 touchdown pass and 2 interceptions. But he has run 17 times for 87 yards – 5.1 yards per carry – and has picked up 5 first downs. Basically, if the Seahawks aren’t careful, Perkins can scamper the game away from them.
We’ve all seen the last two games just how much Seattle still has issues stopping the running game of opposing teams. The Rams don’t have a back the quality of Josh Jacobs of the Raiders who just went off in Week 12 against Seattle and accounted for 303 total yards. That’s embarrassing for the Seahawks defense but also shows how limited Seattle is when faced with a dynamic player.
Perkins isn’t Jacobs and he plays a different position, but Perkins also doesn’t have an extremely talented running back playing with him which means he will likely run more. He will get a bunch of yards rushing. But Seattle will also intercept him twice (one by Tariq Woolen and one by Michael Jackson) and this might tip the game Seattle’s way.
Bold guess 3: Seahawks win an ugly game because of Tyler Lockett
It’s easy for most of the nation to probably overlook just how good Tyler Lockett is. He is overshadowed by the larger and more outspoken DK Metcalf. Metcalf is great as well, but Lockett is the more sure-handed receiver and is able to get himself more open than Metcalf, especially on quick-out passes. We can assume Rams CB Jalen Ramsey will mirror Metcalf a bunch which should allow Lockett to be targeted more.
I already (probably incorrectly) predicted that Geno Smith will have 400 yards passing in Week 13. Some of that will go towards Metcalf and the tight ends, of course, but I think Lockett has a 100-yard receiving day for the second time in his career against the Rams. (He also has games of 98 yards receiving and 99 yards receiving against the Rams.) Lockett will also have 2 touchdown receptions.
This game probably won’t be pretty. Seattle isn’t really known for that anyway and if Los Angeles is going to stay in the game while being so injured, they are probably going to try to control the clock, run the ball a lot and just make it an ugly game. Nothing wrong with that game plan.
But in the end, Geno Smith and Tyler Lockett will help create enough points for Seattle’s offense. Seattle’s defense will still give up way too many rushing yards, though. Seattle will be victorious 24-14 (with a late touchdown) and move to 7-5 while the Rams will fall to 3-9.