Stafford faces two new rivals in a five-day span
SEATTLE — Even before making the move to the NFC West, Matthew Stafford could get a sense for the intensity of when Seattle and Los Angeles get together.
His first taste of the Rams-Seahawks rivalry will come in a place he’s never won before.
“I could feel it from afar when I wasn’t here,” Stafford said. “You just know that there are two teams that have a bunch of pride. They both play at a high level. Really well-coached teams with a bunch of recent success. So, I’m excited to be a part of it.”
After seeing their unbeaten start to the season halted last Sunday, the Rams (3-1) face a quick turnaround for another division showdown against the Seahawks (2-2) tonight.
For Stafford, it’s his first visit to Seattle since January 2017 when Detroit lost to the Seahawks 26-6 in the wild-card round of the playoffs. He’s 0-3 all-time in Seattle and 1-3 overall in his career against the Seahawks.
Stafford is off to a flying start with the Rams, racking up 1,222 yards and 11 TD passes with two interceptions and 9.1 yards per completion. But he is coming off his least impressive performance of the four in the Rams’ 37-20 loss to Arizona on Sunday.
“I think you can tell that the coaches are really trusting Matthew and giving him a lot of latitude to throw the ball a lot and spread the field,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “It’s obvious that they are really excited about what he contributes.”
The Seahawks snapped a two-game losing slide by winning at San Francisco last Sunday, removing a bit of the urgency from this latest chapter against the Rams. It’s not a must win for Seattle, but with a favorable schedule in the coming weeks the Seahawks can go from teetering in the division to back in the NFC West race in a matter of five days.
There’s also the bitter memory of last January, when the Rams handed Seattle its first home playoff loss in 16 years.
“The playoff game, we didn’t play clean across the board,” Seattle QB Russell Wilson said. “My biggest thing is just finding a way to win the game. That’s always my thing. We had a chance there, they ended up scoring late and then the game got away from us. It’s all about this year, this opportunity and what we can do.”
Pressure cooker
One of the early positives for Los Angeles has been its ability to protect Stafford and give him time to find options in the pass game. Stafford has been sacked only three times through four games. And pass rush is one of Seattle’s big concerns due to injuries. The Seahawks are hopeful Benson Mayowa (neck), Carlos Dunlap (toe) and Darrell Taylor (ankle) will all be able to play.