NFL Football: Los Angeles Rams VS Seattle Seahawks Prediction, Odds and Preview - 01/08/2023

 

Game Time: 4:25 PM ET,  Sunday, January 8th, 2023

Venue:  Lumen Field, Seattle Seahawks

Where to Watch:  FOX

FanDuel:  Seahawks -6.5, O/U 41.5

BetMGM:  Seahawks -7, O/U 41.5

PointsBet:  Seahawks -6.5, O/U 41.5

Rams: 5-11, 3rd place NFC West

Seahawks: 8-8, 2nd place NFC West

An NFC battle between the hopeless and the desperately hopeful.  The Los Angeles Rams won last season’s Super bowl!  They had a great time… they collected hardware.  And then they had to make hard decisions over who to give raises to and who to let walk for more money elsewhere.  They got a few of those decisions right… and a few wrong.  The biggest mistake they made was signing WR Allen Robinson III to a multi-year 30 million dollar deal… instead of spending that money to repair the offensive line specifically Left Tackle… so now they are GUARANTEED to not win this season’s Super Bowl.  The Rams are mathematically eliminated from the postseason.  Everything they do now is just whipped cream on a horrible sundae.  The Seattle Seahawks were in a bleak place last season… they had bottomed out.  Fortunately they still had a Super Bowl winning quarterback that was worth plenty on the trade market (are you listening Rams?)... so they traded him for player and picks.  Back-up QB Geno Smith had the best year of his career and made the Seahawks contenders early in the season… plus they have all those picks and young players!!  But then reality set in and they dropped to .500… Now any chance they have for the playoffs involves multiple other teams losing on the same day they get a win… not likely but still a chance. The Seahawks will need this win AND a Packers loss.  The great betting opportunity here is how you feel about Baker Mayfield as a spoiler.

The Los Angeles Rams have found their rainbow at the end of a rain shower. QB Baker Mayfiled has joined the team late and led them to 2 wins in their last 4 games. That doesn’t sound amazing but it is much better than they did all year long.  They lost their last game to the Los Angeles Chargers.  A game where Baker Mayfield completed only 11 of 19 passes for 132 yards 0 TD and 0 INT.  Rb Cam Akers had 19 carries for 123 yards with 0 TD.  The lone TD came from Malcolm Brown who had 1 carry for 23 yards and 1 TD.  They also got a field goal.  The Chargers simply overpowered them.

The Seattle Seahawks snapped a 3-game losing streak with a win over the New York Jets last game 23-6.  The Jets have completely fallen apart so this was not a great surprise.  The Seahawks had a rough road when they had to face San Francisco and Kansas City back to back before the Jets game.  In the win QB Geno Smith had 183 passing yards and 2 TDs on 18 completions.  No rushing TDs but plenty of rushing yards from RB Kenneth Walker III (133).  The Seahawks grabbed 2 interceptions in the game and kicked plenty of field goals to secure the easy win. 

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LAR: 5-11, 6-9-1 ATS, 6-10 O/U, 1-6 on the road.

SEA: 8-8, 7-9 ATS, 8-8 O/U, 4-4 in home games.

The Rams are 26th in scoring with 18.2 points per game, 31st in total yards with 281.2 per game, 27th in passing yards with 186.6 per game, and 29th in rushing yards with 94.7 per game.

The Seahawks are 9th in scoring with 24.2 points per game, 14th in total yards with 348.4 per game, 12th in passing yards with 233.1 per game, and 18th in rushing yards with 115.3 per game.

The Rams are 17th in defense of yards with 337.3 per game allowed, 22nd in defense of passing yards with 227.3 per game allowed, 10th in defense of rushing yards with 109.9 per game allowed, and 21st in defense of points with 22.8 per game allowed.

Our prediction for Sunday, January 8th is…  Rams 27 - Seahawks 21

 

Bet on the Rams.  The Rams have returned to a middling form with Baker Mayfield installed at Quarterback while the Seahawks have been tanking late in the season… In the last 4 games the Seahawks only managed one win and that was against the Jets? More importantly the Seahawks win or lose have only covered 1 spread in their last 7 games and that was against the Jets?... The Seahawks have nothing left this season.  Plus you get 6.5 to 7 points to hold on to as you cheer for the Rams.

 

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The Rams are 2-1 ATS versus Seattle at Seattle the last 3 seasons.

The Rams are 1-5 ATS in road games this season.

Seattle is 1-4 ATS as a favorite this season.

Rams: QB Baker Mayfield, RB Cam Akers, WR Van Jefferson, WR Brandon Powell, TE Bryce Hopkins, TE Tyler Higbee, LT Ty Nsekhe, LG Matt Skura, C Coleman Shelton, RG Chandler Brewer, RT Rob Havestein

Seahawks: QB Geno Smith, RB Kenneth Walker III, WR DK Metcalf, WR Tyer Lockett, TE Colby Parkinson, TE Noah Fant, LT Charles Cross, LG Damien Lewis, C Austin Blythe, RG Gabe Jackson, RT Stone Forsythe

Showers, Humidity 85%, Wind 6 mph, Rain, Rain, Rain.  The field has a partial roof that only protects part of the crowd and not the field… so expect Cam Akers to be the star of the show.