Week 5 Preview: Seahawks face divisional foe Rams

Should the Seahawks be worried about the Rams and their evolving offense?

There’s no question that new head coach Sean McVay is utilizing Todd Gurley correctly both in the running and passing game. He’s being moved around like a chess piece and it’s working. Just look at the 53 yard passing play to him last week versus the Cowboys for proof. He’s gained nearly 600 yards of total offense (234 rushing, 362 receiving) in the first quarter of the season, that’s impressive. Especially given his mediocre 2016.

So how can the Seahawks get back to their record setting run defense? It’s simple. Load the box. I believe Seattle has the defensive backs to be able to beat the Rams receivers one on one (with a little help from our star free safety when needed). It has worked for Denver, after all. Force Jared Goff into passing the ball. Eventually he will have to throw it to Sherman’s side (who hasn’t recorded an interception yet) and we all know how the will go with enough opportunities!

Seattle is no doubt the better team top to bottom, with that said they match up pretty well given Seattle’s struggling offense and elite Defense versus LA’s thriving offense and struggling defense. It’ll be a good matchup, no doubt.

Can Seattle continue their hot streak on offense against a struggling LA defense? My inclination is yes, provided they scheme correctly and don’t call long developing plays that will get Russell Wilson killed against the Rams ferocious D-Line. Aaron Donald can (and does) literally take over games by himself, that alone could win the matchup for LA this coming Sunday.

I read an interesting perspective on a Rams forum today, if Seattle loses the Rams will be atop of the division at 4-1 with the Seahawks at 2-3. I’d be lying if I said I’d be comfortable with the Rams have a two game lead and a home win over us moving into the bye week. Although the season is still young so it would be silly to write the season off as ruined.

Seattle will be playing without some key players on Sunday, let’s look a litttle deeper into the depth and how it changes things.

On the offensive side of the ball they will be playing without rookie RB Chris Carson, the 7th round pick (5 picks away from ‘Mr Irrelevant’, which, for the record, I can’t stand) so who will step up? We’ve got Thomas Rawls, Eddie Lacy, J.D. McKissic and also Mike Davis who may well be activated from the practice squad. That’s a pretty lineup on it’s own so although disappointed, I'm not too concerned about what happens to our run game.

Next up we have Cliff Avril who suffered loss of feeling in both hands last Sunday due to a boot to the chin, right behind him on the depth chart is Frank Clark (10 sacks in ‘16!). It’s safe to say our D-Line can and will be a dominant force moving forwards without the skill of Avril. Having Clark on the field more can only be a good thing for Seattle, he can wreck offensive lineman down after down.

Lastly I’d imagine Jeremy Lane will sit out this week with a hip/groin injury meaning we get to see more of Justin Coleman and Shaq Griffin, these two are in my top five most enjoyable players to watch this season, they’re both still very much learning the system (Griffin is a rookie and Coleman is typically a man coverage guy) so given Seattle’s one high safety cover 3 base defense, he’s playing at a very high standard given his unfamiliarity with the system. Something that can only get better.

I’m expecting a tough game in LA, Seattle need to show up big time and I believe they will and take home the win heading into the bye.

Score: Seattle Seahawks 24 LA Rams 20