Seattle Seahawks: Week 5 Opponent Preview – Los Angeles Rams

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Oct 6, 2021
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Rams helmet.

Another NFC West division matchup. This week it’s against the Los Angeles Rams, who just came off their first loss on the year. The Seattle Seahawks look to move to 2-0 in the division with another victory on Thursday Night Football.

The Seattle Seahawks ended their two-game losing streak after beating San Francisco. It certainly wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but it still counts all the same. The Seahawks’ Week 5 opponent is intradivision rivals the Los Angeles Rams, coming off their first loss of the year.

They lost to undefeated and NFC West-leading Arizona last week 37-20. The Seattle Seahawks won’t face Arizona until Week 10. For now, let’s look at Thursday Night Football’s opponent. All 12’s should expect to see an angry and focused Los Angeles team.

Seattle Seahawks defense vs. Los Angeles offense.

Fully expect a Los Angeles offense to come out in attack mode. L.As’ offense looked really bad against Arizona. Los Angeles averages 28.8 points a game, but they scored only 20 against Arizona. The score would have been more lopsided if not for a late Rams touchdown with under two minutes left in the game.

Can the Seattle Seahawks duplicate that same kind of performance against Los Angeles? Not likely, and most Seahawks fans aren’t betting on even getting a repeat of Week 4’s defensive performance. So far, the Seattle Seahawks have faced teams who also excel at similar offensive aspects as Los Angeles. A key difference is this week, Seattle faces their toughest quarterback, Matthew Stafford.

Stafford is in the best offensive system fit of his career. Wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods are arguably the best duo of wide receivers that he’s had the pleasure to play with. Kupp is on a tear to start the year. The fifth-year pro is averaging 107.75-yards a game on 7.5 catches and scoring just over one touchdown a game.

Thursday, Seattle needs to work on limiting Kupp without forgetting about Woods. Can D.J. Reed, Sidney Jones IV, and the rest of the Seahawks secondary have a better performance this week than last week’s? That will be a big key in determining the game’s winner.

Seattle Seahawks Offense vs. Los Angeles Defense

The Seattle Seahawks can’t have a repeat performance of last week’s first-half offense ineptitude. If they do, they most likely lose the game. Los Angeles has a very strong defense.

In 2020, a pair of Los Angeles players wrecked the Seahawks offense. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey dominated. Ramsey did what very few could; he effectively covered D.K. Metcalf single handily. Subsequently, leaving double coverage on Tyler Lockett. That gave Donald enough time to destroy the middle of Seattle’s offensive line.

The Seattle Seahawks make moves to strengthen the offensive line in the offseason. The results so far are negligible. Sunday, San Francisco’s defensive line made Russell Wilson miserable throughout the entire first half, allowing him less than two seconds to get rid of the ball. The O-Line needs to do much better this week.

Seattle’s big free-agent acquisition, tight end Gerald Everett missed last week’s game while on the COVID-19 list. Subsequently, he’s halfway through being cleared to play for this week. Everett already has one negative COVID test and needs one more negative test to be eligible. Wilson can really use him and/or Freddie Swain to step up this week and give him more receiving options than Metcalf and Lockett.

Bottom Line

Everett and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron have a nice “revenge game” Thursday against their former employer. I’ll boldly say that Chris Carson and Alex Collins repeat another running back by committee (RBC) performance. Only this week Carson hits pay dirt. I also think the Seattle Seahawks secondary will have a similar performance from Week 4 to Week 5. Bottom line, Seahawks and 12’s leave Lumen Field happy with a 23-20 victory.

Related Story: Dud and Stud from Seahawks Week 4 win over San Francisco

What are your thoughts on the Seattle Seahawks opponent this week? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.

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