This is a guest article by Curtis Allen…

Now comes the true test.

This game has been marked on the calendar as a big matchup before the season started, and the anticipation has only grown since.  A close loss in Week Eleven in which the Seahawks won in every facet of the stat sheet except the most important one has only fueled the rivalry.

And now, with a clear path to both a division title and the #1 seed on the line, we once again see these two colliding.  We should expect nothing less than another memorable matchup.

The Rams are perhaps the NFL’s best team at the moment.  In the last two weeks, they have scored over 40 points and gained over 500 yards of offense in their wins.

Their Week Thirteen loss to Carolina only underscores their prowess.  Carolina needed the following to beat the Rams:

  • Three Ram turnovers, including a Matt Stafford pick-6 and two others in Carolina’s Red Zone
  • Two daring fourth-down touchdown throws by Bryce Young
  • Having possession of the football in 21 of the game’s last 30 minutes

Likely the Rams felt like the Seahawks did after Week Eleven.  We played very, very well.  A couple things go our way and we walk away with a win.

A few things have changed since that game:

The Seahawks have flipped the arrow on the turnover margin, with an excellent +6 number, while the Rams have trended the other way at -1.  Matt Stafford has thrown three interceptions, two of them the familiar variety of poor decision that he has avoided this year.

Seattle’s defense has gotten even better, conceding only 237 yards and 12.25 points per game, while the Rams defense trended down a bit, conceding 338 yards and two touchdown passes to Jared Goff and 164 yards on the ground to Carolina.

Their offense has more than made up the difference, averaging a stellar 37 points and 440 yards per game, while the Seahawks had sputtering halves against Atlanta and Minnesota and could not score a touchdown against the Colts.

On the personnel front, Jarran Reed and Julian Love are back after missing Week Eleven, while Charles Cross will miss the game after an injury Sunday.  The Rams will likely sit Davante Adams with an injury.

Blake Corum is suddenly red-hot with four touchdowns and a crazy 9.3 yards per rush, featuring nine explosive runs.  Old friend Colby Parkinson had a two-touchdown game last week along with five catches for 75 yards.

For the Seahawks, Rashid Shaheed is much more comfortable in the offense.  Byron Murphy and DeMarcus Lawrence have emerged as forces on the Defensive Line to complement Leonard Williams, and Nick Emmanwori’s confidence and role is growing by the week.

Some Game Thoughts

— The Seahawks held Matt Stafford to his worst game of the year in their last matchup.  They will need that and a bit more for this game.  Someone has to make a play that will tilt the game.  In the loss to the Panthers, that someone was Derrick Brown.  He was directly responsible for two turnovers, batting a pass that was intercepted and then strip-sacking Stafford with two minutes to play.

— We talked about the need for poise leading up to the last matchup and unfortunately, that was the key issue in the Seahawks’ loss.  It is no less important this week.  Sam Darnold has a chance to put that performance behind him.  A spectacular game would be fantastic.  But a solidly competent, smart game where he plays within himself and trusts his defense at times to get him the ball back might be just what the doctor ordered.

— The two fourth down touchdowns the Panthers scored?  Emmanuel Forbes was defending on both.  The Seahawks had four completions for 51 yards against him in Week Eleven.  We also pointed out that Nathan Landman is vulnerable in coverage and the Seahawks attacked him three times for 33 yards.  AJ Barner had career-highs in eleven targets and ten catches to log 70 yards against this defense.  Keep going to that well.

— Ken Walker had a quietly effective game on the ground and added three catches for 44 yards in the passing game.  A repeat of that performance would go a long way toward balancing their attack in this one.

— This is the kind of effort the Seahawks need on defense today.