Not surprisingly, the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams will take different approaches into Sunday’s regular-season finale in Inglewood, Calif.
The Rams (10-6), who already have clinched the NFC West title, plan to start backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to rest 16-year veteran Matthew Stafford for the postseason. Coach Sean McVay announced that move Wednesday, though he said the Rams haven’t decided which additional starters will get a break.
For the Seahawks (9-7), who even with a win Sunday would lose the tiebreaker against the Rams, first-year coach Mike Macdonald said it will be business as usual.
Macdonald deflected questions about why the Seahawks fell short of the playoffs at his weekly news conference.
“Right now is not the time to diagnose all that type of stuff,” he said. “Right now is the time to, let’s go to work this week, let’s make the best of this opportunity. We’ve got one more opportunity to keep taking the field as a team. Put our best foot forward, get to 10 wins. Let’s focus on that. And then once the season’s over, which is going to happen earlier than we want, we’ll digest all that stuff and make the proper conclusions and all that type of thing.”
Macdonald said he had no plans to rest any veteran players.
“We are going to go play to win the game,” he said.
After finishing 9-8 each of the past two seasons, the Seahawks would like to get to 10 wins.
“There’s a standard here of what we’re trying to establish and show off our football character of what type of team we are, what type of people we are, and how we’re going to play,” Macdonald said.
Second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba needs five catches to surpass Tyler Lockett’s franchise record of 100 receptions set in 2020 and defensive lineman Leonard Williams needs one sack to become the first Seahawk with double-digits since Frank Clark in 2018. Quarterback Geno Smith can still earn three $2 million escalators in his contract with 10 wins, 4,282 passing yards (he’s 185 away) and a completion percentage better than the 2022 season’s 69.75 (he’s at 70.23 percent).
The Rams would get the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs with a victory or could drop to No. 4 with a loss.
After a 1-4 start, they have won nine of 11 games to claim the division title. They did so with a 13-9 victory against Arizona last Saturday that was clinched by Ahkello Witherspoon’s last-minute interception.
“We didn’t do a whole lot great, to be honest with you,” said Stafford, who passed for 189 yards. “Didn’t run it great. Didn’t throw it great. But found a way to get a win and get enough points.”
The Rams have scored more than 21 points just once during their five-game winning streak. But the defense, under first-year coordinator Chris Shula, has held its past three opponents to fewer than 10 points, the first time the franchise has accomplished that feat since 1975.
“I want to make more plays to make sure they don’t have to do as much as they did (against Arizona), but I’m proud of them,” Stafford said of the Rams’ defense. “It’s awesome to watch where they were in training camp to where they are now. Shula is doing a hell of a job. We all knew he would. Those guys are playing hard for him.”
The Rams had just one player miss practice to start the week, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein (shoulder). The Seahawks were a bit more banged up Wednesday with offensive tackle Abraham Lucas (abdomen/knee), tight end Brady Russell (foot) and cornerback Josh Jobe (knee) sitting out.
–Field Level Media
