Benjamin Hoffman at The New York Times is picking the Rams to beat the Seahawks on Sunday. He’s not alone. The Rams are a popular upset pick in part because the Rams have defeated the Seahawks in two of last three games played in St. Louis.
Hoffman gives a number of reasons for this pick, most particularly associated with apparent rouble handling their success in the offseason. Russell Wilson was front and center with his odd behaviour and his relationship with a pop singer. And, of course, there’s the Kam Chancellor‘s holdout.
But there’s one thing that Hoffman didn’t mention that is the major reason to doubt the Seahawks here. Their offensive line was absolutely putrid in the offseason, starting with trouble replacing center Max Unger, who was traded away in the offseason in a deal for Jimmy Graham. Football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage. Combine bad offensive line play with one of the best front sevens in the league and you have a recipe for a Seattle loss.
As all of the matchups in the NFC West typically are, this is going to be a rough, physical game that fans aren’t going to want to miss no matter who wins.