MVP Duel in the NFC West 🔥 | Seahawks vs Rams Preview

How about this one in the NFC West? It’s the Seahawks and the Rams for sole possession of first place. Chris Hassel with Kyle Long. Rams are at home. Rams are favored in this game. These are the only two teams in the National Football League. Kyle, top five in scoring and points allowed. What gives? What gives is that just this past week, we saw the Eagles beat the Packers uh on Sunday Night Football. Or was that Monday Night Football? It was night time. It was night time, you know, and it opens the door for either the Rams or the Seahawks to really take a strangle hold on this NFC. And I know the I know the Lions are still looming and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are licking their wounds a little bit, but these are the two teams, bro. Matt Stafford is the MVP right now. Sam Darnold is probably number two in my opinion. And I’ll start with the Seahawks because they’ve got their work cut out for them going to Los Angeles playing against a redhot Matt Stafford le Rams football team. You know, I think about the Rams, it’s the front four. It’s the way that that Shawn McVeyy’s offense can just metriculate down the field either over a long course of time or Matt Stafer can can cut you up. But for the Seahawks, I think that they have a really really good blend of skills and physicality. So there’s a lot of toughness there with the front. It’s built into what Mike McDonald wants for his defense. Okay? They fly around. They play a violent brand of football defensively, but they are very on their P’s and Q’s. They’re a smart group. They’re disciplined and they win up front with that with those rushers and those guys who put dents in the line of scrimmage. Matt Stafford, not the most nimble guy. Okay. He was in a What kind of chamber was he in before the season? Cryogenic. Yeah. They were they were spraying him with the the the freezing water. You know what I’m saying? They were out there with the hose at the practice facility and we were like, is he even going to make it to camp? Well, this is the week where we’re really going to find out, you know, how well he’s feeling, how well he can move, how many times he can get off the mat because this front for the Seahawks, that’s what they’re aiming to do to get him off of his spot. The offense for the Seattle Seahawks. I’ll start with Clint Kubak and what his plan was coming into the season and what I anticipated this offense being all about. running the football consistently, taking the load off of Sam Darnold, and obviously on third downs, having good concepts to be able to get guys open and move the sticks to get back to the running game. Throw that out the window. The run game’s been inconsistent. It has been Sam Darnold not using autopilot, hands at 10 and two, being dominant for this offense the entirety of the season. 9.9 yards attempt for Sam Darnold. And when I think about other offenses I can remember that have had that kind of clip, it’s like uh Curt Warner, greatest show on turf, Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, uh Kansas City Chiefs, and and oh yeah, Sam Darnold for the Seattle Seahawks. You think those fans are happy right now that they’ve made the moves that they have at the quarterback position, at the head coach position? Not to say those other guys didn’t do anything for him, but this matchup will come down to protecting the quarterback because the Los Angeles Rams, oh yeah, they’ve got some pass rushers as well. They’ve got some guys that can win. So, who deals with pressure better on the road, silent count, you know, in Los Angeles, it’s going to be a rockus environment. This football team has really uh turned on that fan base in LA again. And guys like Matt Stafford are a big reason for it. But this game is two seven and2 teams. First place in the NFC West against second place in the NFC West. And obviously the Rams are still or the Niners are still hanging around. But you and I both know this is it. This feels like a playoff game, dude. I can’t wait to watch this one. What are you looking forward to in this? I can’t wait to see which quarterback has the better game. Yeah, because I mean you you said it. You think these are the top two guys in the MVP race right now. Yeah. Matthew Stafford according to the odds is tied with Drake May and Sam Darnold’s behind but the things that Sam Darnold are doing. I mean you you mentioned you know greatest show on turf and all that. 07 Patriots. So 07 Patriots. So the way that this Seahawks team starts football games and I know that there was some special team stuff and there was some uh some funny stuff that happened to get the score the way it was this past week against the Cardinals, but you look up and in a hiccup they’re up by three scores. And it’s not just last week against the Cardinals. This football team has the highest point differential in the first three quarters of any team in the National Football League. And I’ve been on some bad teams. I’ve been on some good teams. The bad teams, we didn’t start fast. The good teams, you come out like a freaking bullet out of a gun in that first quarter. And that’s what the Seahawks have done. And I think they pair the explosion of their offense with the bully mentality of their defense. and they end up with a product that is really winning football, particularly because Sam Darnold has been lights out. Best first half point differential in in the NFL since Tom Brady in 2007 with Randy Moss. Pretty good in one of the greatest. You think about all those defenses and you think about the defense for that team as well, right? Because Seattle defense, I mean Seattle defense opposing opponents points per game is fifth in the league. So that’s an elite level, top five. But their point differential is second in the league, which tells me their offense has been kicking ass. Their defense has been kicking ass. They’ve been taking care of the football. They’re not just beating teams. They’re really budgeoning teams. But there’s this but but but yeah, Pete Prrisco, if he was here right now, he’d say, “Yeah, but what happened at the end of the season last year with Minnesota?” he and some others think that Seahawks fans should be wary that he could, you know, turn back into a pumpkin at some point this season. Do you see that happening? I would say that the pumpkin talk has gone out the window for me because it’s been more than one year for Sam Darnold. He’s gone out and done this two years in a row and oh yeah, he hasn’t just been a guy, he’s been one of the guys in the National Football League where the top is very topheavy. You know, it’s Josh. So, name your top four guys, top five guys going into the season. It’s Josh Lamar, Patrick, you know, Joe. It’s a different conversation now. You mentioned Drake, you mentioned Sam, you mentioned Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield. It’s It’s wide open, buddy. It’s the Wild West right now. And what better way to describe this matchup with the Seahawks and the Rams than the Wild West. Well, Sam Darnold has one of, if not the best wide receiver in football right now. Would you take anyone at the wide receiver position over Jackson Smith and Jigba at this point in the season? The only guy I would take is in Cincinnati and his name is Jamar Chase. But right now, this guy Jackson Smith and Jigba has been out of this world. And I think it goes without saying how good he’s been. And I think the addition of Rasheed Shahed will aid Jackson Smith and Jigba and being able to get even more open for this offense. And one note I had down here, if if you have any anxiety or concern as a Seattle Seahawk going into this game is how is this offensive line going to protect on third down? Second down to passing situations. As I said, their running game hasn’t been as consistent, so they’ve relied on Sam Darnold. Well, with Shahed, you can get to that jet sweep action, the reverse action, some of this getting, you know, outflanking that front four as quickly as possible and taking the the knife out of the hands of the defense. And I think that that in combination with Jackson Smith and Jigb at the second and third level of the defense is going to be a recipe that’s really hard to stop for the Seahawks. You were on the phone with your brother Chris right before we recorded regrettably and he said he doesn’t think the Seahawks need to blitz anybody to get to Matthew Stafford. You agree with that? Yeah, I mean I do. I really do. And I think it’s part of the way that this roster was constructed. And when I compared um when I was comparing the Denver Broncos defense to earlier in our conversation to that Tampa Bay defense that got after Mahomes and the Philadelphia defense that won with four with Vic Fangio’s, you know, just drop everybody back and and kick their ass up front. And that’s the recipe. I think that’s a similar recipe that Seattle has. They may not be the guys the marquee names, but I mean Byron Murphy is that’s a manal in the middle and they’ve got a few of those guys in Seattle and that’s why they’re doing this to football teams. Good news is we get to see this match up twice before the postseason. Maybe we get a third one. They play again in five weeks and depending how things shake out. Winner of this game could be the one seed sitting here in this position next week.

Kyle Long joins CBS Sports HQ to preview the huge NFC West matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams in week 11.

🎥 WATCH
• Subscribe to this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NFLonCBS
• Watch CBS Sports HQ: https://cbssports.com/live
• Subscribe to Paramount+ to stream your local games LIVE and watch The NFL Today every Sunday! – https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/nfl-on-cbs/?ftag=PPM-06-10ccd8b

📱FOLLOW
• Twitter: https://x.com/NFLonCBS
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nfloncbs/?hl=en
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nfloncbs?lang=en

🎧 LISTEN
With the First Pick:
• Stream and follow & leave a 5⭐️ rating on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4B3tx0rmH0wjhSvXJA9SeA?si=60a57aa9f43040db
• Download and follow & leave a 5⭐️ rating on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-the-first-pick-an-nfl-draft-podcast-from-cbs-sports/id1622026887
• Other CBS Sports podcasts: https://cbssports.com/podcast

📖 READ
• More NFL and NFL DRAFT news: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/

💵BETTING
• For everything CBS Sports Betting: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/
• Find the best sportsbooks: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/best-betting-apps/
• Get the latest sportsbook promos: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/sportsbook-promos/

#nfl #seahawks #rams #gamepreview

21 comments

  4. They keep talking about Matthew Stafford against the Seahawks but the Seahawks NEED to be worrried the Rams defense. Sam knows!

    Rams Oline is Elite. I hope the same for Sammy D.'s Oline or its gonna be a long day.

    Commanders and Cardinals are NOT the Rams.

  5. You keep talking about the Seahawks, don't forget,the Rams have defense that will punish darnold, and your forgetting about puka and Adams, and the Rams run game, look for the landman to punch out two fumbles against the Seahawks, Rams win 38 to 24 bottom f-ing line 😅

  6. You are looking at the Super Bowl preview if the Seahawks were still in AFC West. This is the biggest game in 2025 and bigger than the Super Bowl 59.

  16. What Chris didn’t mention is the Rams are going to play bully ball , they’re the number one run blocking unit by far, they will have some success running the ball which opens up play action and the Rams have played against this type of defense before, it’s basically the Ravens defensive scheme 😝

  19. The Hawks run game isnt putting up high ypc its probability under league avg but they run a lot and all the backs are capable and have to be accounted for and its opening up pass game.

Leave a Reply