Rams vs. Seahawks Predictions: Seattle a rare home underdog

An NFC West matchup kicks-off Week 5 of the NFL as the 3-1 Rams travel up to Seattle to take on the 2-2 Seahawks. Neil Monnery takes an early look at the betting ahead of Thursday Night Football...

Before the weekend, this line would have looked significantly different but after the Rams took a pasting at home and the Seahawks managed to pluck out victory over the 49ers, the best division in football has bunched up once again. Although both teams are looking up at the undefeated Cardinals with a sense of concern as Kyler Murray and company are starting to look like a real force.

Matthew Stafford and the Rams have been on a serene path through three weeks including beating Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl Champion Patriots. That all came to a juddering halt when the aforementioned Cardinals rolled into SoFi Stadium and in one afternoon became the beat to beat in the division. 

Stafford had a good game but struggled to stay on the same page with star receiver Cooper Kupp. The two of them had been well and truly in sync but they seemed a step-off on Sunday afternoon as they connected five times for 64 yards and no scores.

Darrell Henderson returned to take the starting job and was able to rumble for 6.4 yards a carry and 89 yards in total but when your defense gives us 37 points you need something special to walk away with the victory. This is something the Rams will have to sort in the short-term but they face a very different attack on Thursday night in Seattle.

In Russell Wilson and the Seahawks, don’t expect the QB run to be plan A or B. I’m not saying the Seattle QB can’t scramble but it is his arm that is his biggest weapon. In Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, he has two outstanding receivers to hit down the field. The lack of running game though is still an issue that they haven’t resolved as Alex Collins nor Chris Carson look like players who are going to churn out the yards on the ground.

They won on Sunday and whilst on paper it looks like a good result, the fact the 49ers had to go to their backup QB at the half makes me downgrade it a little. One problem they really had was 3rd down conversion percentage. Six incomplete passes, three sacks, one successful pass and two rushing attempts, one making the line to gain and one not. So overall they went two for 12 converting on 3rd down. That is not getting the job done.

Spread:

The Rams are the one-point favorite despite going on the road. That seems slightly surprisingly considering Seattle has long been seen as a good home-field advantage. Looking at the two teams however you can see that the Rams look like the better side. A short-week does factor into my thinking though so I am leaning towards taking the home side.

Straight-up/Moneyline:

PointsBet are offering +110 on Seattle winning the game straight up at home. Decent value for me that. 

Over/Under Points Totals:

The most common number I can find is 53.5pts and I think this might be one of those rare Thursday night games where points are commonplace. I think Stafford has a big night and Wilson goes toe-to-toe with him.