The Seattle Seahawks' biggest games of the 2026 season will be against the LA Rams. The two teams played down to the wire in each of their regular-season matchups and in their NFC Championship showdown this past year.
With the Rams reloading with the defensive additions of Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie, the Seahawks' offense will have its hands full come December.
Garrett led the NFL in sacks for the 2025 season and set a single-season record with 23 for the year. McDuffie was no slouch either, grading out as the 18th-best corner out of 114 qualified NFL cornerbacks in pass coverage, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). With the Rams upgrading their pass defense, Seattle will need to run the ball to beat LA.
Seattle Seahawks' Zach Charbonnet should be ready to play late in the season against the Rams
The Seahawks lost a crucial piece of their running back room this offseason as Kenneth Walker left in free agency. In Seattle's three games against the Rams last year, Walker combined for 229 rushing yards and ran for a touchdown in each game.
Without Walker in 2026, the Seahawks will need running backs Zach Charbonnet, George Holani, Emanuel Wilson, and rookie Jadarian Price to step up against the Rams. The good news for the Seahawks running backs is that time will be their friend, as LA has to wait until the final weeks of the season to face Seattle.
Charbonnet suffered a significant ACL injury against the 49ers in the 2025 divisional playoff round. The injury caused him to miss the NFC Championship against LA. Without Charbonnet in the NFC Championship Game, Seattle struggled to run the ball against the Rams.
Even though the Seahawks won the NFC Conference Championship 31-27 over LA, they rushed for just 75 yards. Luckily for Seattle, Sam Darnold had an incredible performance in the NFC Title Game. He was 25/36 passing, threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.
In the Seahawks' previous two games against the Rams, Darnold completed 51/80 passes for 549 yards, had two touchdowns, and six interceptions. While Darnold struggled, the Seahawks relied more on running the football.
Seattle ran for an average of 153 yards in its other two games against LA, as Charbonnet chipped in with 69 yards rushing. Charbonnet also scored eight critical points for the Seahawks in their 38-37 Thursday night win. He had a four-yard rushing touchdown for the game's first score, as well as a crucial two-point conversion fumble recovery to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
When the Seahawks play the Rams this season, having Charbonnet healthy will be huge. Fortunately, because Seattle does not play LA until the last three weeks of the season, their veteran RB is going to have time to recover from his ACL injury.
Charbonnet is expected to return between September and December of this year. The Seahawks' first game against the Rams is not until December 25th. That later date of play will allow Charbonnet plenty of time to recover from his injury, so he will be ready to face LA.
Another benefit to playing the Rams at the end of the season is that Seattle's inexperienced running backs will get more playing time in low-leverage games. Going into the season, running backs Jadarian Price, Emanuel Wilson, and George Holani have just two NFL starts between them.
Wilson has the most attempts with 242 carries in his career, while Holani has 25. The beginning of the season will provide Wilson and Holani, two RBs who are typically backups, with crucial starting reps. Additionally, Price, the Seahawks' rookie running back, is going to have the opportunity to get his first NFL carries.
Also, these running backs will have more time to learn Brian Fleury's offense. Hopefully, the learning curve is not as steep for Seattle's running backs in 2026 as it was in 2025. Last year, the Seahawks struggled early in the season under Klint Kubiak running the football in their first three games. Seattle averaged just 96 rushing yards per game against the 49ers, Steelers, and Cardinals.
Thankfully, the Seahawks face the Patriots, Cardinals, and Commanders in their first three games this year, not the Rams. With a friendlier early schedule, Seattle will be afforded the chance to break in Fleury's offense and find out what works and what doesn't before facing LA.
Clearly, the Seahawks appear to have caught a scheduling break by not having to face the Rams until Christmas Day, specifically, with their running back situation. By then, Charbonnet should be healthy, and Seattle will know what it has with its other running backs. Giving the Seahawks an edge before they clashed with LA.
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