Three bold predictions for Seahawks Week 9 game versus the LA Rams
By Jonathan Eig
I was away last week. That’s probably the best thing I can say about the Seattle Seahawks-Buffalo Bills game. I didn’t watch it live. I was permitted the luxury of watching later, at quadruple speed, so the misery was mitigated. It’s like seeing a horror movie for a second time. You know when to look away.
Since I was away, I also did not write a bold predictions piece. I consider myself lucky. I didn’t think the Hawks would beat the Bills, but I dare say I would not have gotten much of the game script right. I thought, at the very least, that they would show up.
Enough said about the past. The NFL is a week-to-week league. As pathetic as things look right now, Seattle remains tied for first place with a winnable game against the Rams on Sunday. So will they be the team that has lost four of their last five games and looked progressively worse in doing so? Or will they be the team that went on the road a couple of weeks back and thoroughly defeated a pretty good Atlanta Falcons team?
Three bold predictions for the Seattle Seahawks versus the Los Angeles Rams Week 9
I have no effin’ clue. But I do have three bold predictions that I am pretty sure will happen in the game.
A big day for the double-K
Kyren Williams will run for more than 100 yards against a Hawks defense, still trying to figure out how to stop opposing backs. Maybe that isn’t so bold. James Cook topped 100 last week. Bijan Robinson did it two weeks ago. Isaac Guerendo didn’t get there in the San Fran game, but he made it to 99, and, be honest, you thought Isaac Guerendo was a reggaeton star going into that game.
Ernest Jones may eventually help the run defense, but opposing teams smell blood, and they will not stop running until the Hawks prove they have some defense. Besides, the Rams were going to run Williams all day anyway. He has been up around the 100-yard mark in every game since week 3.
But never fear because his counterpart, Kenneth Walker III, will match his output. That’s what makes this bold. Walker hasn’t reached 100 since week one, and aside from the final game of his rookie season, he has generally been a non-factor against the Rams. But those were the Rams of Aaron Donald. The 2024 Rams still put up a solid run defense, but it’s not quite the same.
This year, they are surrendering almost a half-yard more per rushing attempt. Besides, the Hawks can’t simply continue subjecting Geno Smith to 60 minutes of pressure. With DK Metcalf still iffy, with an offensive line that continues to be shaky, and going up against an emergent edge rushing star in Jared Verse, Seattle has to lean on Walker early and often. He may not even break the four-yards-per-carry threshold but Walker gets to 100.
A big day for the TFLs
Speaking of Ernest Jones and Jared Verse... Since both teams will be doing a lot of running, there will be ample opportunity for big plays behind the line. Jones and Verse will record at least three tackles-for-loss between them. Again, this may not be that bold a prediction for the Rams. Verse has only gone two games this year without a TFL, and he is getting better week by week. If you want a bonus, I think he also gets a sack and multiple QB hits.
But Jones has not recorded a TFL since Week 4. Last season, he averaged about one per game, and things line up well for him this week. He will have had a full week of practice to acclimate himself to his new team, and the game script calls for the Rams to run the ball a lot. Then, of course, there is the revenge factor. If you are ever going to come up big, it might as well be against the team that traded you this past offseason and whose offense you should know inside out.
A big day for someone named ‘Spoon
How often do you get two corners named Witherspoon in the same game? OK – so it happened the last time these two teams met in the middle of 2023. But that’s been it, as far as I can tell. Devon missed the first Rams game last year. For the Rams, veteran Ahkello Witherspoon has been taking on an increased role over the past month. Sean McVay signaled this week that fellow vet Tre’Davious White is not really in the team’s plans moving forward, which should increase Ahkello’s snaps on defense.
As a starter last season, he picked off three passes and seems about due for another sometime soon. Despite making an effort to run the ball more, you know Geno will be throwing, especially if the Hawks fall behind, and that when he does, he will be facing pressure. The odds of a pick or two are distressingly high.
As for Devon, he has been struggling to fit into Mike Macdonald’s defense, and the injuries to his fellow corners have not helped things. Spoon is the only Hawks secondary defender capable of filling the role that Kyle Hamilton played for Macdonald last year with the Ravens, and quite frankly, that’s a very hard role to play.
But Spoon is way too good to struggle for much longer. He is going to figure it all out. Devon still has just one interception in his NFL career, but Matthew Stafford has thrown one in five of the Rams seven games this season, including one in each of the last four.
I admit I am just playing percentages here, but someone named Witherspoon is getting a pick this Sunday.