Can we see the NFL playoff confrontation between the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams, again? NFC ran out of better ideas (Checks the playoff rank and seeds)? Yes, NFC ended up with better ideas. So Russell Wilson gets another chance at a Rams defense that did a good job of shutting him down at his regular season meetings. Particularly the first, in which Wilson threw a couple of interceptions and lost a fumble in a 23-16 defeat.
Meanwhile, Rams coach Sean McVay will decide whether to get Jared Goff out of thumb surgery or wait for another lightning performance from scramblin ‘Rando John Wolford. The Rams quarterback’s intrigue has the NFL Recap tilted to Seattle in this preview of the NFL playoff. The Seahawks, however, will not last long in the playoffs if they expect Wilson to present themselves as a one-man band.
So, how will it all end? Our preview is below and you can watch this Wild Card game on Saturday, January 9th at 4:40 PM ET on FOX.
Rams / Seahawks playoff preview: Russell Wilson will need help
Seattle Seahawks season in a nutshell
Russell Wilson cooked at the beginning of the year, but ran out of mesquite wood pellets for his smoker in the middle of the season. The Seahawks defense started off horribly, but went up towards adequacy when safety Jamal Adams came back from an early injury and edge rusher Carlos Dunlap arrived via switch.
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The 2020 Seahawks look a lot like the 2017-19 Seahawks. They are too dependent on Wilson to be John Wick in the attack and cost a little too much as the smoke from the Boom Legion weakens in defense. Seattle is good enough to make the playoffs, but not quite enough to do much after they arrive.
The Los Angeles Rams season in a nutshell
Victory, Victory, Loss, Victory, Victory, Loss, Victory, Loss, Victory, Victory, Loss, Victory, Victory, Loss, Loss, Victory.
That’s Morse code for “We are also rans with an incredibly heavy payroll that reached the playoffs sweeping the NFC East.”
Playoff preview: the biggest strength of the Los Angeles Rams
All-Pro Jalen Ramsey and rising star Darious Williams give the Rams the best NFL cornerback. As a result, the Rams defense entered Week 17 ranked first in the NFL in stopping deep passes, according to Football Outsiders. The Rams allowed only 723 yards and an efficiency rating of 66.2 to enter Week 17 on passes of over 15 air yards per Sports Information Solution, both top finishers.
Playoff prediction: Seattle Seahawks’ biggest strength
Wilson remains one of the best NFL quarterbacks under pressure. The Seahawks passer efficiency rating under pressure when entering Week 17 was 89.7, the third best in the NFL (“Under pressure” statistics are always much weaker than statistics when the quarterback has time to launch ). As you have probably noticed in the past decade, there is no difficult situation from which Wilson cannot get Batman to escape.
Seattle Seahawks’ biggest weakness
The Seahawks pass the defense ranked 31st in the NFL for stopping passes in the middle and 27th for stopping short passes entering the last week of the season, by players outside of football. The Seahawks are among the NFL’s most reluctant teams to deploy a nickel / dime defense, and Adams blitzes much more often than most security guards.
As a result, Seahawks linebackers – most notably newcomer Jordyn Brooks – often face difficult coverage tasks. This can be a major problem against McVay’s attack, which is designed to keep opponents in their base defense and to force unfavorable cover clashes.
Los Angeles Rams’ biggest weakness
Leaving Goff’s status aside for now, Rams’ special teams have been terrible throughout the season. They went through three kickers (current kicker Matt Gay is suitable at best), gave up on a punt return touchdown, yielded a blocked punt and won little in his return game.
Result
By Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, McVay seemed inclined to give Wolford another start after the former AAF standout caught the Arizona Cardinals off guard in Week 17. Perhaps McVay just wants the Seahawks to waste time preparing for a scrambler. Perhaps Goff suffered a minor setback. Or maybe McVay turned to us as a galactic galactic and thought he found his own Taysom Hill.
In any case, it is difficult to choose against Wilson when the opponent is not sure who will start as a defender. Look for a game more like Seattle’s 20-9 win over the Rams in Week 16 than Wilson’s Week 10 mini-drop. And remember, the more silly the game gets, the better Wilson gets.
Early pick: Seattle Seahawks
(All statistics via Sports Information Solutions, unless otherwise stated)