Rams vs. Seahawks Game Preview

The St. Louis Rams (2-10) will take on the Seattle Seahawks (5-7) on Monday Night Football this week in Seattle. The Rams lost 24-7 just three weeks ago on their home turf to the Seahawks and will have a tough test on National TV.

The Rams had two interceptions, a blocked punt and an early 7-0 lead over the Seahawks in the Edward Jones Dome the last time these two met. After that is was all Seattle as they dominated shutting the Rams out over the final 54 minutes of action. Chris Clemons led the way with three of the five Seahawks sacks of Sam Bradford. Steven Jackson was also shut down as he was only able to gain 42 yards on 15 carries. Overall the Rams were held to 185 total yards.

Seattle is 5-7 on the season and 3-1 over their last four games as their play has improved. The Seahawks are coming off a dominating win over the Eagles and will have 11 days rest heading into this game. With a win the Seahawks would be only two games behind the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons for the Wild Card position in the NFC. As we all know stranger things have happened.

Its no secret that the Seahawks will try to pound the ball on the ground with Marshawn Lynch against the Rams 32nd ranked rush defense. Lynch managed 88 yards and a TD on the ground in the Week 11 contest. In addition Tavaris Jackson finally seems to be healthy and he could pose some problems moving around in the pocket, buying time and making some big plays to Doug Baldwin and Sidney Rice who both average over 15 yards per catch.

Heading into Monday it is still unclear who will even be the starting QB for the Rams as Sam Bradford is suffering from a high ankle sprain still and A.J. Feeley has a broken thumb. All recent signs point to Sam Bradford giving it a go on Monday night, however if he can not or aggravates the injury further look for newly acquired Kellen Clemens to play for the Rams.

Steven Jackson has been held under 65 yards in each of the Rams last three contests. There is hope that Mark Levoir will return at tackle which would be some needed relief from the turnstile play of Adam Goldberg. For the Rams to have any chance in this one they will need a huge game from Steven Jackson.

The Rams continue to play about as conservative as an NFL team can play. With the patch work offensive line and the beat up Sam Bradford behind center look for head coach Steve Spagnuolo to continue his conservative ways. I would love to see the Rams come out, be aggressive and throw everything they have at Seattle but there is no reason to believe that will happen. The Rams are 10-34 under Spagnuolo, are last in the league in scoring 11.7 points per game, and are -156 in point differential in 2011.

The Rams are just not playing well enough to beat teams right now and a Monday Night game on National TV against the Seattle Seahawks and the 12th man could be a recipe for disaster for this franchise. Will Sam Bradford play and will the Rams be able to protect him? Will Stan Kronke see him team embarrassed on Monday Night Football and prepare to clean house? Many questions may be answered Monday night.

Prediction Seattle Seahawks 20 - St. Louis Rams 6

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com/