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Nov 3, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) stiff arms Los Angeles Rams cornerback Cobie Durant (14) after making a catch during the second half at Lumen Field. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Game Predictions: Seahawks Week 18 vs. Rams

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI | Last updated Jan 5, 2025 10:53 AM ET

With one game remaining in the regular season, the Seattle Seahawks can no longer earn a playoff berth. But they can make the road to a Super Bowl appearance harder for their NFC West rivals.

The Los Angeles Rams (10-6) host Seattle (9-7) on Sunday in the regular season finale for both teams. A win for the Seahawks would drop the Rams from the No. 3 to the No. 4 seed in the NFC, and it would award Seattle a 10-win season for the first time in four seasons.

LA will be sitting most of its offensive starters the entire game, and it will likely pull the starting defense early. Seattle is playing to win, thus adding some intrigue in an otherwise meaningless game in the lense of postseason contention.

Can Seattle get to double-digit wins? Our writing staff has a few predictions and players to watch in Sunday's Week 18 game against the Rams.

Predictions For Week 18

While the Rams won't be playing most of their starters on offense, coach Sean McVay still has a quarterback with Super Bowl pedigree to throw into the ring in Jimmy Garoppolo as well as a pair of capable running backs in Blake Corum and Ronnie Rivers. Defensively, at least for the start of the game, most of their starters will be suiting up as well, so the Seahawks can't take the opposition lightly in a finale that unfortunately now carries little meaning.

With that said, there's no reason why the Seahawks shouldn't be able to seize control of this contest from the outset. All of their starters with the exception of tackle Abraham Lucas will be dressing and with players such as Geno Smith, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Zach Charbonnet all having opportunities to set personal or franchise records, the offense should be coming out of the gate with a sense of purpose even if there isn't a playoff spot up for grabs anymore.

Meanwhile, Seattle's defensive line should be salivating at the thought of hunting Garoppolo behind an offensive line missing both starting tackles as well as guard Kevin Dotson, Los Angeles' best offensive lineman. Leonard Williams will have extra incentive to ball out after being snubbed from the Pro Bowl and the trio of Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Derick Hall will have a chance to feast on backups Joe Noteboom and Warren McClendon off the edge against a quarterback with limited mobility at this stage of his career.

This won't be the exciting NFC West title game many hoped for, but the Rams can still make this one interesting playing at home and the starters who do suit up will want to help their team maintain a hold on the three seed. The Seahawks can, to an extent, play spoilers in that regard if they can take advantage of the talent gap with all of their starters playing, but execution will remain key against a well-coached opponent. -

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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