It may be their third match-up of the year, but we have a feeling that fans will never get tired of seeing the Seattle Seahawks locking horns with Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua’s Los Angeles Rams. This weekend’s NFC Championship game has steadily become the most anticipated game of the entire playoffs, completely overshadowing the New England Patriots’ return to the conference championship stage.
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The Rams are the proud owners of the highest-scoring offense in all of football, and much of that has been a direct result of Stafford, who now finds himself closing in on the 50 passing touchdown milestone. When accounting for the playoffs, the future NFL Hall of Famer currently has 46 passing scores on the year. And when you account for the fact that he was able to find the end zone on three separate occasions during his last trip to Seattle on December 18th, it’s safe to say that he’s more than capable of hitting that total on Sunday night.
On the other side of the coin, however, is Sam Darnold, a career journeyman who will be looking to exorcise some personal demons. The 28-year-old has undoubtedly enjoyed a resurgence in his career throughout the past two seasons, but as the lights continue to grow brighter, so too do the concerns surrounding his turnovers.
Darnold’s 14 interceptions from the regular season were the third most of any quarterback in the league. Only Geno Smith and Tua Tagovailoa threw more than he did. And when you add in the fact that Los Angeles’ defense was able to snag 16 interceptions throughout the regular season, which was the sixth-highest total in the NFL this season, it’s safe to say that the Rams have the potential to give him flashbacks to January of 2025.
Ironically enough, it was this same team that embarrassed Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round of last year’s playoffs. That lopsided loss ultimately resulted in him making his way to Seattle, and as fate would have it, he now has something that doesn’t come around very often in the National Football League, and that’s a shot at revenge.
Unfortunately, for both Darnold and Seattle, he won’t be at full health for the event, as his previously reported oblique injury continues to linger. It limited him to just 17 passing attempts against the San Francisco 49ers, and suffice to say, the Seahawks will need much more than that to match the Rams’ firepower.
Nevertheless, oddsmakers are continuing to book them as the odds-on favorites to take home the Lombardi Trophy. So whether it’s deserved or not, they’ll at least have the honor of walking into Lumen Field for the final time this season as the expected winners in front of their hometown crowd.
