The Rams answered a lot of questions last weekend with a big road win over the Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately, the happiness was short-lived, as the COVID chaos wreaking havoc across the NFL also made its way to L.A. and has impacted the Rams for this Week 15 matchup against the Seahawks.
The Rams are still favored, and there is more clarity about the list of who’s in and who’s out — along with some additions to Seattle’s list — all of which has pulled the line back up a bit, but the theme of this week in the NFL is uncertainty, and this game falls within those parameters.
Seattle Seahawks at Rams (-5.5, 45), 1:25 p.m. PST Sunday; Fox
Five starters and 25 total players were on the reserve/COVID list at time of writing for the Rams, including Odell Beckham Jr., Darrell Henderson, Rob Havenstein, Jalen Ramsey and Dont’e Deayon. There is a chance that the Rams will get some of those guys back in time for this game, as the NFL is trying to figure out what to do with the relatively mild Omicron variant and the number of vaccinated players contracting the illness.
All we can do is handicap the game with the players we know will play. Cooper Kupp will get a steady diet of targets from Matthew Stafford, much as he has all season long, including 13 catches on 15 targets in the win over Arizona. Van Jefferson is a trusted WR2 option. It’s just a matter of how the depth drops off after that point.
Defensively, the Rams clearly missed Ramsey and Deayon, as Kyler Murray threw for 383 yards. The pass rush stepped up with four sacks and flushed Murray multiple times. Tyler Lockett was placed on the Seahawks’ reserve/COVID list, so Russell Wilson will miss his top pass catcher and most reliable receiver, which should make the personnel losses easier for Los Angeles to swallow. DK Metcalf has also been hurt and limited in practice.
The Seahawks have shown a bit of life despite what seems to be a throwaway season. They’ve beaten the 49ers and Texans the last two weeks, though everybody seems capable of beating the Texans. Seattle has scored 63 points over the last two games, which makes this total of 45 interesting. COVID is having an effect on both sides of the ball for the two teams, but Stafford and Wilson have stayed above to fray to this point.
Wilson was injured in the first game between these two teams and was 11 of 16 passing for 152 yards when he got hurt. The Rams had 476 yards of offense and 7.1 yards per play but managed only 26 points by going two of 10 on third down, three of five in the red zone and an interception in the end zone.
With all the moving parts, putting a bet on the spread seems tricky, but the Over 45 looks safer, at least as long as the two quarterbacks are able to avoid the COVID list.
Pick: Over 45
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