LA Rams @ Seahawks Game Preview

Sheriff Joe Bags | @SheriffJoeBags

The Los Angeles Rams head up the West Coast to take on the Seattle Seahawks in week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. This game kicks off at 1:25p PST from Lumen Field. The game is televised on FOX with Kevin Kuglar and Mark Sanchez in the booth while Laura Okmin will give the updates from the sideline.

Sunday not only marks the first game for the Rams new season, but also the teams 86th anniversary of their first ever game. On this day 86 years ago, the Rams played the Detroit Lions at home in Cleveland although unfortunately lost the game 28-0.

This Rams team enters the 2023 season coming off a 5 win season and an offseason full of difficult decisions. After falling to the Seahawks in week 18 last season, the front office needed to decide whether they were going to go after it again and take a swing at putting a championship level team on the field again, or to play the more long term game and dump some salaries of some aging players. The Rams chose the latter and enter the season with one of the youngest teams in the league. While the Rams do have plenty of questions throughout the roster, the Rams now have an opportunity to see young guys in critical situations. Youth and inexperience is not inherently a bad thing, however, and while young, the Rams do have plenty of talent in all position groups.

While the Rams on paper may not have the most explosive team, they also play in the NFC which is wide open this year. A few games of luck could be all it takes to get into the postseason and we know that once the postseason starts, absolutely anything can happen! With a team as young as the Rams also, it stands to reason that the team will get better as the season goes on and guys get more reps under their belts. On Sunday, the Rams have their first opportunity to showcase what this young talented roster can do. Which brings us back to the first game of the season. Let’s take a close look.

HISTORY:

The Rams and Seahawks are meeting for the 52nd time. The Seahawks lead the all-time series 27-24 and have won the last two meetings.

The most recent game between these two teams was week 18 of last season where the Rams fell in OT 19-16. If the Rams would have been able to pull off the win, the Detroit Lions would have made it to the postseason.

The first game between these teams was on Halloween of 1976 in Los Angeles that saw the Rams win by a score of 45-6. The Rams would go on to win the first four meetings against the Seahawks with the closest game in that window being an 11 point win for the Rams.

CONNECTIONS:

Seattle Seahawks:

OC Shane Waldron - With Rams 2017-2020

OL Coach Andy Dickerson - With Rams 2012-2020

Defensive Assistant Damione Lewis - With Rams 2001-2005 (as player)

LB Bobby Wagner - With Rams 2022

Los Angeles Rams:

Secondary Coach Chris Beake - With Seahawks 2008-2009

QB Coach Zac Robinson - 2010 (as player)

WR Coach Eric Yarber - With Seahawks as OQC 1998

WHO TO WATCH:

With no averages to dive into quite yet, we will look at three players on each side of the football to keep an eye on.

OFFENSE:

QB Matthew Stafford: Stafford missed a good chunk of time last year and did not face off against the Seahawks in either meeting and Wolford took the first game and Mayfield the second. Stafford says that he is feeling better at this point of the season than he has in years. If that is indeed true, we should see a very strong Matthew Stafford in week 1 against a team that, while the Rams lost twice to last year, it was by a combined 7 points. The change in QB could be enough to push the Rams over the top.

RB Cam Akers: Akers has a very up and down 2022 season. The way he ended the season is exactly why fans should be excited for him this year. Akers ended the season very strong and with the team down their number one wide receiver in Cooper Kupp, the run game is now even more important. Akers and Kyren Williams will need to be able to move the chains if the Rams want to leave Seattle with a win.

WR Puka Nacua: Rookie WR Puka Nacua enters the season without a lot of pressure to perform from fans which is really good to see, but he also has been hyped up as a player who is “perfect for Sean McVay’s offense” and that means that we should see that impact pretty early. With Kupp down, Nacua has a perfect opportunity to showcase that he is indeed a guy that Stafford can rely on and has the chance to have a big impact early.

DEFENSE:

DT Aaron Donald: Another player who missed time last season, we are under the impression that Aaron Donald has new found motivation which should terrify any offensive lineman who is asked to stop him from absolutely murdering your quarterback. Donald’s missed time last season was the first time he’s experienced that in his career and Geno Smith is the first on the list to feel that built up wrath of one of the best defensive players the league has ever seen.

LB Ernest Jones: Not only is Jones rocking the captain patch for the first time in his career, but he is officially the defensive leader with the green dot on his helmet meaning he receives the coach communications from the sideline. Jones will be responsible for making sure guys are in the correct spots and is in position to have a break out season. Week 18 against the Seahawks saw Jones notch his career high in tackles and will look to build on that as the season goes on. With Bobby Wagner on the other sideline, maybe there’s a little extra motivation for Jones to absolutely crush some souls on Sunday.

CB Cobie Durant/Derion Kendrick: I’m going with a two pack here as the Rams look to replace CB Jalen Ramsey whose impact on the defense was abundant. Filling those shoes is more difficult than some fans will give it credit for, but the good news is that the Rams have two young studs who are ready to give it a shot. Cobie Durant is being penciled in as a break out candidate and is expected to take on the ‘star’ role for the Rams that Ramsey has held for the past few seasons. Kendrick may not get the same amount of media attention, but I think he should. While nerves of the Rams defense are felt throughout the fanbase, these two have the talent and opportunity to calm those nerves. With strong performances this season from Durant and Kendrick, the entire narrative of the Rams defense changes. Again.. youth and inexperience does not straight across equal not good at football.

Check out the full preview on YouTube or Facebook on the Rams Showcase page. The Rams Showcase podcast is available everywhere you find your favorite podcasts!

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rams-showcase/id1131024338

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