Photo Credit: NFL.com

The Seattle Seahawks are in the NFC Championship Game, and they’re facing off against a familiar foe, the Los Angeles Rams. After their thrilling victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round, the Rams will make another trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seahawks for the third time this season.

The Seahawks and Rams battled all year as two of the top teams in the NFC, and these were the two teams many people predicted would meet in the NFC Championship Game. Seattle earned a first-round bye and the NFC West title, and dismantled the San Francisco 49ers 41–6 last week in the divisional round.

Both games between these two teams this season were decided by a combined three points and came down to the final play. The NFC West has been the most competitive division in the NFL all season, sending three teams to the playoffs, all with 12 plus wins, so it’s only fitting that the NFC Championship comes down to these two rivals.

While this matchup looked like the obvious pick a few weeks ago, it didn’t feel that way at the start of the season, especially for Seattle. Coming into the year with a brand-new quarterback, a new receiving core, and plenty of question marks, nobody expected the Seahawks to be here. That changed early in the season when they showed everyone they were for real.

For the Rams, they were coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons, but after some key offseason additions, many people labeled them as legitimate contenders.

The last time these two teams met was a thrilling overtime game that the Seahawks won 38–37. Davante Adams missed that game for the Rams, and Charles Cross missed it for Seattle. Last week, in their win against San Francisco, Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL. The Seahawks had been running a tandem between Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker all season. Seattle moved George Holani off IR this week, but he’s mainly been a special teams player. Velus Jones Jr. took Charbonnet’s place last game, and Cam Akers is on the practice squad, I expect him to be elevated on game day. What a story that would be, an Akers revenge game.

Without Charbonnet, it’ll be interesting to see how the Seahawks handle the running back workload. Kenneth Walker had a stellar game against the 49ers, tallying 116 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Walker also hit the century mark in the last game against the Rams and scored a touchdown. I expect him to get most of the carries. He’s proven he can handle the workload, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the other guys sprinkled in.

Sam Darnold’s favorite target all season has been Jaxon Smith-Njigba,  that’s obvious, as JSN led the NFL in receiving yards, but last week against the 49ers, it was Cooper Kupp. Kupp wasn’t heavily involved in the offense for much of the year, but he had five catches for 60 yards in the divisional round. This isn’t a huge talking point this week, but it’s another chance for Kupp to show the Rams it was a mistake to let him go. Even though he hasn’t put up huge numbers for the Seahawks, he’s still been effective when needed in his limited role.

As always, here are my three keys to a Seahawks win this week.

Clean and effective offense

The Seahawks’ offense is at its best when they can run the ball, move it down the field, and avoid turnovers. For some reason, that hasn’t happened consistently against the Rams this season. Against San Francisco, they moved the ball extremely well, and it set the offense up for success. Klint Kubiak needs to continue calling a balanced offense to keep Seattle on the field and give them their best chance to win.

Force turnovers

The Seahawks and Rams are very evenly matched, but if there’s one area where the Rams have an edge, it’s turnovers. The Rams have forced four turnovers in the playoffs, tied for first, and they don’t turn the ball over themselves, something they’ve avoided all year. The Seahawks’ defense is one of the best in the league and has forced turnovers against everyone except Matthew Stafford. In their last meeting, Seattle had its worst defensive outing of the season, giving Stafford too much time to throw and find his receivers. The Seahawks need to make Stafford uncomfortable in the pocket, create pressure, and force him into mistakes. This will be  huge this week.

Stop Puka Nacua

In their Week 16 matchup, Puka Nacua had 12 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns. I know that was without Davante Adams, and Stafford was looking Nacua’s way more than usual. Still, Nacua led the NFL in receptions and has been Stafford’s top target in nearly every situation. The Seahawks’ defense must focus on slowing him down, they can’t afford another 225-yard performance.

Score prediction

Seattle Seahawks 28, Los Angeles Rams 17

I think the Seahawks’ defense contains Stafford and the Rams’ offense, while the Seahawks’ offense remains efficient and manages the game from there.

Kickoff: Sunday, 3:30 PM in Seattle