It feels as if Week 5 of the NFL season has decided to show up early, unannounced, and they\u2019ve brought a bottle of cheap tequila with them to the party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No team could be less prepared to play Thursday night than the Los Angeles Rams, who stumbled off to a 3-1 start, but just had their asses handed to them on a platter with a side salad and loaded baked potato by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll have to get over it as they travel to CenturyLink Field to take on their primary NFC West rivals, the equally 3-1 Seattle Seahawks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This rivalry, since 2014, hasn\u2019t been especially kind to the Seahawks and that\u2019s even more shocking when you realize that from 2014-2016, Los Angeles\/St. Louis was coached by Jeff Fisher, the (and the science backs this up) losingest regular season head coach in the history of the NFL. You have to use that \u201cregular season\u201d caveat because Fisher (173-165-1) is actual tied in overall losses with former Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves (190-165-2), but nine of Reeve\u2019s defeats came in the postseason and four of those in the Super Bowl. It hardly seems fair to see the guys as equals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, astonishingly, the one good team Fisher could beat was the Seahawks. Sean McVay has kept up the trend and the Rams are 7-3 against Seattle since 2014 and have won the last three straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of McVay\u2019s four goes against Pete Carroll and Seattle, only one game was a blowout, a 42-7 Rams win in 2017. The other three have all been one-score affairs, with the Rams winning 36-31 and 33-31 last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s hard to complain about not looking \u201cgreat\u201d when you\u2019re winning and L.A. started out 3-0. But after a 54-40 Shawshanking by the Bucs, there\u2019s complaints a-plenty. Quarterback Jared Goff\u2019s 82.9 quarterback rating currently sits at No. 26 in the NFL and I\u2019m no math expert, but there are only 32 NFL teams. That means plenty of backups and replacements have a better rating a month into the season that the guy making more guaranteed money than any other QB in history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, honestly, I think that\u2019s Goff\u2019s problem. He\u2019s in his head about his contract. Thinks he has something to prove. It looked like the blocks came down last Sunday in the second half, so hopefully for Goff and the Rams\u2019 sake, that\u2019s in the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for the defense, the Rams might just want to burn that tape and maybe bring in a priest. I would say that they\u2019d want to figure out how to cover Chris Godwin, but, let\u2019s be honest. The Buccaneers aren\u2019t making the playoffs so they\u2019ve got at least a year to worry about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russell Wilson is on pace to have the best season of his life. Unlike Goff, he\u2019s not rated in the mid-20s, but is currently the No. 2 rated QB in the league (118.7), behind only Patrick Mahomes (120.4). He\u2019s completed a career-high 72.9 percent of his passes for 1,141 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He\u2019s also rushed for a couple of scores. If there\u2019s early MVP talk, Wilson\u2019s name has to be in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does that mean that offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has finally figured out how to call plays for one of the best players in the NFL? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Seahawks have been in some close games that have come down to the wire. When that happens, the Schottenheimer restrictor plate gets removed and Wilson is turned loose to do what he needs to in order for the team to win. Three of Seattle\u2019s four games this season ended with just a one-score difference between the teams. The Seahawks had one cakewalk, a 27-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals last week, but everything else has been a struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the spanking the Rams took Sunday was a good thing for the team and, for the first time in 2019, we\u2019ll probably see what L.A. really looks like. I feel that McVay will keep his good luck rolling against Seattle and Schottenheimer\u2019s playcalling problems stifle his own team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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