The St. Louis Rams take on the defending two-time NFC Champions Seattle Seahawks this Sunday at noon central time in St. Louis. The game is on FOX. When the two met in the Edward Jones Dome last season, the Rams upended the Seahawks, in part to some special teams trickery, and won the game 28-26.
Headlines
Nick Foles Debut
All the talk this offseason for the Rams is surrounding their new quarterback, Nick Foles. In four preseason games Foles was 16/23 for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception. That’s roughly 13 yards every completion. That’s not too bad for the preseason, but Foles will truly be tested on Sunday against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Rams Running Back Situation
Todd Gurley won’t be ready to go until week four at the possible earliest. Tre Mason has been battling a hamstring injury this preseason and his status for Sunday is questionable. The running back duties will likely be on the shoulders of Benny Cunningham and Isaiah Pead. Cunningham has plenty of experience in the Rams' offense, but Pead hasn’t seen playing time at the running back position hardly at all in his three NFL seasons due to injuries and also just poor playing performance. From 2012-2013, he only had 17 carries in the regular season and then didn’t play at all in 2014 because of a torn ACL. Pead was a second-round pick for the Rams in 2012.
Roughed Up Seahawk Secondary
The Rams have a chance to expose the Seahawks secondary on Sunday. Safety Kam Chancellor’s holdout continues and he will not be on the field. Dion Bailey will start in Chancellor’s spot and Bailey has never started an NFL game before. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and spent most of the season on the practice squad. Highly touted DB’s Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman are coming off of injuries sustained during the playoffs last season and there is the chance that they could be a little timid from those injuries, and the Rams offense has a chance to take advantage of it. The Seahawks are also without former CB Byron Maxwell as he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason.
Rams Front Seven Against Seahawks Offensive Line
It’s obvious that the Rams have one of the best front sevens in the league.
D-Line: Robert Quinn-Aaron Donald-Michael Brockers-Chris Long
LBs: Alec Ogletree-James Laurinaitis-Akeem Ayers
Not to mention the depth of the defensive line with Nick Fairley, William Hayes, Ethan Westbrooks and Eugene Sims.
The Seahawks lost their starting center Max Unger in a trade in order to acquire TE Jimmy Graham. That could disrupt some chemistry among the offensive line. Seattle’s offensive line is good, but along with Jimmy Graham, the Rams have a great opportunity to get to Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch. Graham is known more for his pass catching rather than blocking. He struggled with blocking big, fast, and physical defensive ends in the preseason, and the Rams will give him everything they’ve got on Sunday.
Fan Turnout
The last few months, relocation has been a hot topic between the St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers and one (or more) of those teams moving to Los Angeles. The fan turnout for the two home preseason games for the Rams was not good. Granted, it is the preseason, but the fan showing still wasn’t good. This should change, as the Rams have a playoff potential team which has plenty of Rams fans excited. The start of the regular season should draw plenty of more fans into a stadium that seats 66,000.
Prediction:
The Rams will come out and rough up the Seahawks and come out on top at home on opening day. The Rams defense will have a hay day and Nick Foles dazzles in his debut.
Score: Rams 23 Seahawks 17