STAR NFL PREVIEW Sun: Los Angeles Rams @ Seattle Seahawks

The winter air crackles with electricity as two NFC West rivals prepare to meet for the third time this season—this time with everything on the line, writes ANDY RICHMOND.

The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, who split their regular-season series with stunning precision—58 points and 830 yards for Los Angeles, 57 points and 829 yards for Seattle—now face each other with a Super Bowl berth hanging in the balance. The all-time head to head record between The Seahawks and Rams is 29 – 28 in favour of Seattle. Seattle have scored 1,223 points in those games. LA have scored 1,222. It’s been especially tight recently, with each of the last five games between them being decided by one score. That tight knit symmetry may well be repeated here as both franchises aim for a place in Super Bowl LX (or 60 if Roman numerals are not on your radar).

The Seahawks are back in the Conference Championship game for the 5th time in franchise history and 4th time at home in Seattle with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Seattle are 3-1 SU and 2-2 ATS in those four CC games, but at home in Seattle they are 3-0 SU (2-1 ATS). Seattle’s lone loss in the CC game came back in 1984 against the Raiders, then from Los Angeles. When Seattle have been listed as a favourite in the CC game, they are 3-0 SU (2-1 ATS).

The Rams, road warriors of the postseason, are chasing their third consecutive playoff victory away from home, a feat that would mark the longest such streak in franchise history and make them only the sixth team in NFL annals to accomplish it. But standing in their way is Mike Macdonald’s defensive fortress—a Seattle unit that has held six of its last seven opponents to 16 points or fewer, allowing the fewest points per game in the NFL (16.6) and the third-fewest total yards (282.8).

This isn’t just another playoff game. This is history in the making.

A whole host of the outcomes in this game could rest with either quarterback. The Rams QB Matthew Stafford, soon to turn 38, walks into this NFC Championship Game carrying the weight of experience and the burden of recent struggles. His completion percentage over his last five games sits at a troubling 56.9%, with his yards per attempt falling to 6.7 across his last four outings. The arrows, despite the calls for the MVP accolade are pointing in a downward direction at the moment.

Yet Stafford has overcome situations like this before and it should be remembered that he has under his control a potent offence and has already thrown five touchdowns in the two previous meetings with Seattle this season. The question isn’t whether Stafford can deliver. He’s proven he can. The question is whether he can do it against a defence that just held Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers offence out of the red zone entirely and against a Seattle defence where HC Mike Macdonald has constructed a unit that can suffocate the life out of opposing offences. The secondary permitting the NFL’s eighth-fewest catches (173) and second-fewest yards (1,899) to wide receivers. In his career against Mike Macdonald defences, Stafford has 10 touchdowns and just 1 interception. This is the ultimate test for a quarterback whose legacy may well be written in these coming hours.

Have we seen a shift in the Rams offensive identity since the return of RG Kevin Dotson? The running game, which had sputtered earlier in the season, suddenly found its feet via RBs Kyren Willaims and Blake Corum. Williams has maintained his status as the clear lead back, handling 63% of offensive snaps and securing 15 and 26 opportunities in the Rams first two playoff games. Corum serves as the perfect change-of-pace complement, spelling Williams with 13 and six opportunities on 37% of snaps. Rams HC Sean McVay’s trust in this tandem is evident: they have the short-area speed and contact balance to push through the second level, the vision to find creases in zone concepts and much of the work that they do on the ground sets up the aerial game for the Rams.

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But Seattle’s front presents a daunting challenge. The Seahawks held opposing running backs to just 3.54 yards per carry during the regular season, then held 49ers elite RB Christian McCaffrey to 74 scoreless yards on 16 touches in the Divisional Round.
The matchup screams of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object. Yet there may be an advantage that McVey can take advantage of with Seattle allowing the most targets (127, or 7.5 per game) and allowed the most receptions (97, or 5.7 per game) to opposing backfields this season. Williams has seen five or more targets in three of his previous five games, with a 10-target game already on his ledger this year. If the rushing lanes close, McVay may well pivot to Williams in the flat, turning Seattle’s aggressive front into a liability in the passing game.

One player whose chemistry with Stafford is undeniable is WR Puka Nacua and he enters this game on a nine-game streak with nine or more targets. This will be a tough test for Nacua though and his ability to create yards after the catch will be vital for the Rams here as will his usage in the run game where we can expect McVey to get creative and reach deep into the playbook with this being the sides third clash of the season. Alongside Nacua is Davante Adams who led the league in receiving touchdowns during the regular season. Yes, his recent efficiency has dipped, 15 catches on 34 targets (44%) for 196 yards (5.8 yards per target) and zero touchdowns over his last four appearances but he may have the answers against a Seattle defence that is built differently to those that have held him in check of late.

Beyond Williams, Corum, Nacua, and Adams the Rams have plenty of other pieces that can play a valuable part in their offence. After playing an unsuccessfully high rate of three-receiver, 11 personnel (2 wide receivers, a back, a tight end, and 6 linemen) against Chicago, the Rams are expected to resume leaning on two- and three-tight end packages, a strategic pivot that would boost Tyler Higbee and Colby Parkinson’s participation. Colby Parkinson has quietly solidified himself as Los Angeles’ No. 1 tight end, drawing seven targets in four of the Rams’ last six games and acting Parkinson is the safety valve, the outlet, the player who makes the entire scheme function. The matchup favours him dramatically with the Seahawks surrendered the NFL’s fifth-most receptions (105) and sixth-most yards (1,080) to tight ends during the regular season. Last week, backup tight end Jake Tonges paced the 49ers in receiving (5 catches, 59 yards, 0 touchdowns) against this very Seattle defence. If Stafford faces pressure, if the deep shots to Nacua and Adams are bracketed, if the running game stalls against Seattle’s ferocious front—Parkinson becomes the X-factor.

Seattle QB Sam Darnold walks into the biggest game of his professional life carrying both promise and peril. The Seahawks, under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, have deliberately designed their attack to fit Darnold into a game-manager role—particularly down the stretch as left tackle Charles Cross battles through a foot injury well shy of 100% and top pass-protection running back Zach Charbonnet sits on the sideline with a season-ending ACL tear.

It’s Darnold’s recent numbers plus an oblique injury that give Seattle fans doubts especially as Darnold threw six combined interceptions in two 2025 meetings with Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula’s unit. Pressure can cause Darnold to have problems and his decision making when faced with pressure can be questionable. Los Angeles needs to generate the same 32.9% pressure rate they achieved earlier this season to disrupt Seattle’s timing and elite ability to strike quickly. Establishing rhythm for Darnold will be important as will the ability for his offensive line to deliver him a clean pocket. When kept clean, when given time to process and deliver, Darnold can be lethal.
The Seahawks ended the regular season ranked 27th in pass rate over expectation while averaging the fourth-most rush attempts per game (30.0) and the third-fewest pass attempts per game (27.7). This wasn’t a byproduct of offensive incompetence, it was the natural result of controlling games with a dominant defence, of taking a conservative approach when leading in the second half. Don’t confuse conservative with incapable. Seattle’s 38-35 loss to Tampa Bay and 38-37 win over the Rams prove they can trade blows with anyone.
With RB Zach Charbonnet sidelined with injury, we no longer have to deal with the weekly guessing game as to who will be getting the most carries in the ground game as Kenneth Walker will be in the dominant role here and should almost have the backfield to himself. Walker enters this contest off the back of performance against the 49ers that saw him record a season-high 62% snap rate, only his second game all season exceeding 60% of offensive snaps. His record against he Rams also stands up to scrutiny across their two previous meetings this season Walker has a statistics that read well – 27 carries, 167 yards, 2 touchdowns (6.2 yards per carry) plus 108 receiving yards. The Rams, which ranked elite against the run for much of the season, have softened slightly and are now allowing 4.3 yards per carry. The name of the game for Seattle is getting Walker to the second level, where his vision and acceleration can prove devastating.

The aerial attack around what can only be described as a condensed Seattle offence is very much built around and carried by WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In the two 2025 meetings with Los Angeles, JSN posted receiving lines of 9/105/0 and 8/96/1, commanding performances that exposed vulnerabilities in the Rams secondary although a repeat of those numbers does rely on the earlier thoughts on Darnold and how he performs. If Darnold can be kept clean and avoid pressure then this is a Rams defence that has been eviscerated by opposing wide receivers in recent weeks four opposing wide receivers recording 100 yard plus receiving games against them.

Cooper Kupp, the Seahawks WR2 spent several years as the main receiver in the Rams offence before being traded to Seattle. Kupp’s intimate knowledge of the Rams defensive schemes could prove invaluable although so far this season his box-score results against his former team during the regular season were modest—3/23/0 and 3/39/0—but Kupp netted 60 yards in last week’s Divisional Round victory over San Francisco, his third-most all season.

The bigger threat could be Seattle’s starting tight end A.J. Barner who delivered two of his best games all year against Los Angeles: 10/70/0 in Week 11 and 4/49/1 in Week 16. His involvement in the red zone makes him a touchdown threat and Barner’s ability to win contested catches and create separation on option routes becomes critical in that condensed area of the field.

This is chess at the highest level—McVay’s offensive genius against Macdonald’s defensive mastery, with a Super Bowl berth as the prize. These divisional matchups in the playoffs, when two teams meet for the third time in a season carry an immensely wide ranges of outcomes. Both coaching staffs enter with intimate knowledge of their opponent and we should prepare ourselves for some out of the ordinary plays. The Seahawks will likely operate with a run-balanced approach to start. The Rams will likely operate with a pass-balanced approach to start. Beyond that, the game could evolve in countless directions. The Rams have run 72 or more offensive plays from scrimmage in five of their previous six contests, playoffs included. This isn’t a team content to grind out 55-play games. They want tempo. They want volume. They want to dictate the pace and force Seattle to respond.

For the Rams, the key is simple: get to Darnold, force him into mistakes, and capitalize when he inevitably cracks under pressure. Offensively, trust Stafford’s experience, unleash the receiving trio of Nacua, Adams, and Parkinson, and create explosive plays that shatter Seattle’s defensive composure.

For the Seahawks, the path is equally clear: establish Walker early, control the clock, keep Darnold comfortable, and let JSN work his magic in space. Defensively, contain the Rams’ play-action attack, force Stafford into difficult throws, and create the turnover that swings momentum.

Two teams. Two visions. One Super Bowl berth. Each of the past five games between the Rams and Seahawks have been decided by one score and that scenario is very much on the cards again.

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BACK Colby Parkinson OVER +26.5 receiving yards 1pt at 10/11 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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PROFIT/LOSS (JAN 2026): -2.63 points

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