Seahawks open with a Rams team thinned by turnover
SEATTLE – When last season began, the Los Angeles Rams were the defending Super Bowl champions with aspirations of getting back there again.
The Rams begin this season on Sunday against division foe Seattle in a far different place. They’re coming off the worst season of Sean McVay’s coaching career, a 5-12 campaign where just about everything went wrong. And their roster has been gutted due to salary cap constraints, leaving the Rams with a serious talent gap at many positions.
They still have quarterback Matthew Stafford and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, but overall, the Rams are a shell of the team that won the title two seasons ago.
“Every team is new. We happen to have a lot of young guys on our team, a lot of rookies that have come in and done a heck of a job and earned roles on our football team,” Stafford said. “They are going to be big parts of our season and that’s exciting.”
The story of where Seattle was at the start of last year to where it is now is similar to the Rams’ narrative, just with opposite results. The Seahawks started last season expected to be among the worst teams in the league, with evaluators having zero confidence in Geno Smith’s ability to be a successful starting quarterback.
By the end of the year, Smith had set career highs in every passing category, led Seattle to nine wins in the regular season and a playoff berth and earned NFL comeback player of the year honors.
The Seahawks enter this year hoping they have closed the gap with San Francisco in the NFC West.
“I believe we have a tremendous opportunity this season with the players that we have and the coaches that we have,” Smith said. “So I expect to go out there and play well. And obviously like I said, we got to prove it. It’s not going to be given to us. And that’s what I’m looking forward to is the opportunity to prove myself again.”
Bobby’s back
A familiar face for both teams will be on the field Sunday with linebacker Bobby Wagner beginning his second stint with the Seahawks. Wagner spent the first 10 seasons of his career with Seattle before becoming a salary