
The final touches hadn't been put on Sunday's thrashing of the Arizona Cardinals, and already the 12s were turning their attention to next week. Why?
Because after a dominating run and impressive four-game winning streak, the Seattle Seahawks will finally see how they really stack up in the NFL and, in particular, the NFC West. Week 11 on the schedule means a trip south to play the conference's other hottest team: the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 42-26, Sunday to win their fourth in a row and improve to 7-2. The Seahawks trounced the Arizona Cardinals, 44-22, to win their fourth in a row and improve to 7-2. When they meet next week at SoFi Stadium at 1 p.m. on FOX, something's gotta give.
Despite Seattle's recent dominance and flawless play away from Lumen Field, surprisingly the oddsmakers are making the Rams an early 2.5-point favorite.
The Seahawks are underdogs on the road despite winning their last 11 away from home, including four this season. They sport the NFL's leading receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and an MVP-candidate quarterback in Sam Darnold who in his last two first halfs has completed 25 of 26 passes for 449 yards and five touchdowns.
Seattle has led its last two games at halftime by scores of 31-7 and 38-7, and has won consecutive games by 20+ points for the first time since 2015.
The problem for the Seahawks will be the opponent. Next Sunday they won't be playing the Cardinals or the Washington Commanders or New Orleans Saints.
Rams' quarterback Matthew Stafford, believe it or not, is playing even better football than Darnold. In torching the Niners, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 4+ touchdowns and 0 interceptions in three consecutive games.
The Seahawks (+103) and Rams (+98) have the NFC's two best point differentials and trail only the Indianapolis Colts' +115.
The Seahawks won at SoFi last season, but that was engineered on a late touchdown from Geno Smith to Noah Fant. These are not your 2024 Seahawks.
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