Week 15 - Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks

The 4-9 Los Angeles Rams travel to Seattle to take on the 8-4-1 Seahawks in this week’s Thursday night matchup with both teams coming off bad losses. The Rams suffered their 4th defeat in a row in a 42-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The loss prompted the team to fire head coach Jeff Fisher and have promoted John Fassell, the special teams coordinator to be the new head coach. Seattle played poorly on both sides of the football as they lost to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 38-10. A victory would have clinched the NFC west for the Seahawks.

Last week, Russell Wilson finished with a quarterback rating of 23.3 as he threw 5 interceptions and was sacked 2 times for a loss of 22 yards. He completed 22 of his 39 pass attempts for 240 yards and 1 touchdown. His favorite target was Doug Baldwin who had 6 receptions for 46 yards. Tanner McEvoy had 3 catches for 41 yards and the team’s only touchdown. They had a lot of success running the ball gaining 136 yards on 26 carries, which is an average of 5.2 yards per rush. Thomas Rawls led the team with 67 yards on 12 carries. Defensively, they did not force a turnover and were able to sack Aaron Rodgers just once for a loss of 9yards. They did a decent job against the run allowing 93 yards on 30 carries. In their last 5 games the Seahawks defense has allowed an average of 19 points per game.

Jared Goff finished with a quarterback rating of 10.6 as he completed 24 of 41 passes for 235 yards 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He was also sacked three times for a loss of 27 yards. His favorite target was Kenny Britt who had 7 receptions for 82 yards. Tavon Austin also had 7 receptions for 62 yards. They had success running the ball as they gained 104 yards on 23 carries. Todd Gurley led the team with 61 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. In their last 5 games, the Rams have averaged 15 points per game. Defensively, they were not able to force a turnover and sacked Matt Ryan twice for a loss of 17 yards. They did a great job against the run allowing the Falcons to gain just 66 yards on 25 carries, which is an average of 2.6 yards per carry. Over the last 5 games the Rams defense has allowed and average of 27 points per game.

Seattle has gone 6-7 against the spread this season including 4-7 as the favorite. The Rams are 4-9 against the spread this season including 4-6 as the underdog. Seattle will have home field advantage in this matchup and is favored by more than 2 touchdowns. The Rams will not be headed to the playoffs this year as the Seahawks are in first place in the NFC West.