3 bold predictions for the Seattle Seahawks versus Los Angeles Rams Week 1
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks are just days away from Week 1 of the 2023 regular season! Rejoice, young 12s! OK, all 12s...rejoice! This is a good time of year when hope abounds.
Seattle has, well...not an easy stretch to begin the season but one they should definitely start 2-2 (at worst!) before the Week 5 bye week. The key players are all relatively healthy, at least the guys who have played NFL games before. The Los Angeles Rams have lost more talent than many teams have, however.
So what might happen in Week 1 for Seattle? I have some guesses. In fact, here are three.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III runs for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns
The Rams were 16th in expected points against the run in 2022. They were 13th in the league in yards-per-rush. Those aren't bad numbers, but Los Angeles also isn't anywhere as talented on defense in 2023 as they were last year. Yes, Aaron Donald is back, but teams might be blocking him with 10 players and taking their chances that the one other guy can block the rest of the Rams' defense.
Los Angeles lost a ton - and I mean, a ton - of talent off their team this offseason. Safety Taylor Rapp was solid against the run. He's gone. Greg Gaines was a very good nose tackle, and he is also gone. Bobby Wagner? Oh, that's right. He's back where he belongs with the Seahawks.
Actually, Los Angeles might be decent against the pass still, but they should strugle a lot more against the run. I think Kenneth Walker gets stuffed some, but he is going to break off about three to four runs of 15-plus yards. In the end, he will just outrun the Rams in the second half on his way to a second-straight 1,000-yard rushing season for Seattle.