A return trip to the Super Bowl suddenly seems further in the distance for the Los Angeles Rams, who will try to erase the stench of a blowout defeat when they head to the Pacific Northwest for an NFC West matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night. While the Rams are eager to atone for a beating by Tampa Bay, one of their star players bristled at the quick turnaround.
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"You know how I feel about Thursday night games," running back Todd Gurley said after Los Angeles was bludgeoned 55-40 for its first loss of the season. "I feel like they are the dumbest thing ever." While the Rams will be playing in one of the league's toughest venues at CenturyLink Field, they are 2-0 on the road this season and have won each of the past three in the season series. While Seattle is off to a fast start, its three victories have come against opponents with a combined 1-10-1 record, including a pair of wins by a combined three points. "I like where we are at this point," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said after Sunday's 27-10 win at Arizona. "I like this matchup as we're kicking into the second quarter of the season and here we go. We'll see what happens."
TV: 8:20 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Seahawks -2. O/U: 49
ABOUT THE RAMS (3-1): Jared Goff set a career high with 517 yards passing, but his two scoring passes were offset by three interceptions and his NFL record-tying 45 completions were a telling sign of Los Angeles' one-dimensional offense. "We never really got back into our normal down-and-distance operation, where we could be underneath the center and have some run-pass balance," coach Sean McVay said after Gurley and Malcolm Brown split 10 carries and combined for 30 yards. "I think that puts a lot of stress on the quarterback, on the offensive line." Wideout Cooper Kupp has 32 catches and an NFC-best 388 yards in four games, while the Rams are yielding 238.5 yards through the air.
ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS (3-1): Russell Wilson did not put up eye-popping stats against Arizona with 240 yards and a score, but he registered his fourth consecutive game with at least a 102.6 quarterback rating to give him eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. "I think he's off to his best start ever," Carroll said. "I don't care how big the numbers are, I'm not talking about how many yards or whatever, just his play has been really, really sharp." Running back Chris Carson had lost a fumble in each of his first three games but rebounded to rush for a season-high 104 yards on 22 carries last week. Seattle's defense has been solid against the run, ranking No. 6 by allowing an average of 79.5 yards.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Gurley has seven touchdowns and 293 yards from scrimmage in his past two games in Seattle.
2. Seahawks TE Will Dissly is the first player at his position with four TDs in the first four games since Rob Gronkowski (2015).
3. Rams NT Aaron Donald has recorded 6.5 sacks in the last three meetings versus the Seahawks.
Prediction