3 crucial matchups that could decide Seattle Seahawks vs. Rams in Week 1

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford vs. Seahawks corner Tre Brown

I could go with Matthew Stafford against the entire Seattle Seahawks secondary, of course, but my assumption with Cooper Kupp out for Los Angeles is that Stafford is going to exploit what he thinks is the weakness in the Seattle secondary instead of forcing a ball to a certain receiver. I don't think Brown is a weakness, but where do you think Stafford would throw more? Toward Riq Woolen or toward Tre Brown?

Brown either took the starting outside corner spot opposite Woolen away from Michael Jackson or Jackson lost the job due to playing pretty poorly in the last two preseason games. My hope is that the Seattle coaching staff liked more what they saw from Brown than Jackson instead of they liked less what they saw from Jackson. Basically, it's better that Brown would have won the starting job than Jackson lost it.

Tre Brown isn't a bad cornerback, and he was really good in extremely limited snaps in 2021. Then he got hurt and missed the latter part of 2021 and most of 2022. He wasn't as good in 2022, though he might have still been trying to find himself after overcoming being injured. Jackson was solid through last year. But if Brown can be great against the Rams and into the beginning of the season, Jackson will be relegated to a backup corner for good.

So let's assume that Stafford is going to pick on Tre Brown a bit. Brown will need to quickly contain any catches with immediate tackles, while also playing sticky coverage. He's not the tallest of corners so one thing to look for is how he defends Stafford's 50/50 throws trying to get over the top of Brown. Maybe Brown will get 2 interceptions in Week 1. Or he will get beat for two touchdowns.

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