LOS ANGELES — It’s been a few years since Davante Adams was in this situation: two playoff contenders in mid-November, ready to square off and see what they’re really made of.
“That’s what you play for, for the meaningful games that happen after Halloween or around Thanksgiving time,” Adams said. “These are the games that add up and mean the most for playoff implications. All we can do is focus on where we’re at right now, but excited to see a big game.”
In his first year with the Rams, Adams has just such an opportunity. On Sunday, the Rams will square off with the Seattle Seahawks, both teams 7-2 and looking to wrest control of the NFC West away from the other. Seattle hoped to have such an opportunity in Week 18 a year ago, but the Rams had clinched the division tiebreaker before that meeting could occur.
Good things come to those who wait, though, as this matchup is a battle between one of the hottest offenses in the NFL and one of the league’s best defenses, with two of the most respected play-callers on either side of the field dueling with control of their postseason destiny on the line.
Under Sean McVay, the Rams have the league’s best success rate on offense at 52.6% with 0.157 estimated points added per play. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing like an MVP candidate. Adams and Puka Nacua have proven to be the perfect complementary receiver duo. Kyren Williams and the run game do just enough to get the Rams ahead of the sticks into high-success rate situations. A quartet of tight ends is giving the offense flexibility in the types of personnel it can play with.
Under head coach Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks don’t vary their personnel much. Instead, they stick to a base nickel defense and drop seven into coverage at one of the highest rates in the NFL. The play of former Ram Ernest Jones IV and Tyrice Knight at linebacker allows the Seahawks to be effective in run defense despite the light personnel. A four-man pass rush that’s second in the NFL with 32 sacks allows the Seahawks to blitz at one of the lowest rates in the NFL.
“Going against Mike for a number of years now, you name the coverage, he has it. You name the pressure, he has it,” Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “It just seems that their players have such command of what’s being asked of them. I always attribute that to great coaching and then obviously having the right players in those spots.”
Stafford and center Coleman Shelton have developed a rapport over the years when it comes to pre-snap collaboration, getting the pass protection keyed up before a play. The homework required for that level of understanding was heightened this week as the Rams prepared for the unique challenge that Seattle presents.
Because the Seahawks blitz at such a low rate, Macdonald has to find different ways to get his pass rushers home. He does this by calling twists and stunts at one of the highest rates, putting a different kind of pressure on an offensive line.
“You just gotta trust in your reads, go through your progressions as a center and as a quarterback, seeing the defense that we’re having and then never trusting a straight rush,” Shelton said. “Knowing you’re going to get something so you gotta be protecting, you gotta trust guys next to you to be able to keep it clean and to pass stuff off.”
These exact kinds of challenges are why Rams brought Shelton back after he spent a year in Chicago.
“You talk about like just being a general on the field,” left guard Steve Avila said of Shelton. “When you have a center that just knows things – and again that’s such a broad statement but I can’t even explain it. I know for me, my rookie year is when it helped me out the most. It was so nice having someone there that just knew everything.”
The Seahawks then put a similar strain on the receiving corps with a defense that is just as good in zone coverage as it is in man.
“It’s going to put our fundamentals to the test,” Nacua said. “Some of the things that we pride ourselves on in the run game and in the pass game is the detail that we have in some of these play calls in pre-snap and post-snap will be put to the test this week.”
These are the two sides that will collide Sunday, looking to seize control of the NFC West with seven games left.
It’s just the next game, as McVay often says, but it’s also a little bit more than that.
“Everybody’s pumped, but at the end of the day it’s about us,” Shelton said. “Going out and practicing and doing our thing and focusing on getting better every day.”
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (7-2) at RAMS (7-2)
When: 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 233, 388