Keys to Victory: How Seahawks Can Beat Rams in Week 15

With their playoff lives hanging in the balance, what must the Seahawks do to turn back the Rams in the first Tuesday night game in franchise history?

After a chaotic past week in which both teams were hit hard by COVID-19 outbreaks and their Week 15 rematch received a two-day postponement, the Seahawks and Rams will finally square off at SoFi Stadium in a rare Tuesday night game.

Sitting at 5-8, Seattle desperately needs a win to keep its dwindling playoff hopes alive. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has a chance to jump into first place in the NFC West after Arizona slipped up in a loss to Detroit on Sunday.

What must the Seahawks accomplish to snag their sixth win and stay in the wild card hunt for another week? Here are four quick keys to victory:

1. To help protect Russell Wilson, Seahawks could use another big game from Rashaad Penny and offensive line.

If Wilson ever has nightmares - his slogan #NoTimeToSleep suggests he does - it would not be a surprise if Aaron Donald plays the role of the boogeyman. Unblockable most of the time, No. 99 has single-handedly destroyed game plans against Seattle for nearly a decade, sacking Wilson 16 times and producing 38 quarterback pressures in 16 games. He's lived in the backfield regardless of what the team has tried to neutralize him as a pass rusher.

So what can the Seahawks do to try to mitigate his damage on Tuesday? It will be easier said than done, but they need to get their ground game going early to avoid being one-dimensional and limit second/third and long situations. Coming off a breakout game in Houston, Penny has enjoyed success against the Rams in the past, as he eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time against them during his rookie season in 2018. While he doesn't necessarily need to hit 100 yards again for the Seahawks to win, another strong outing would dramatically increase their chances of pulling the upset and limit Donald's chances to tee off on Wilson.

2. Potentially without Tyler Lockett, Wilson must establish the tight ends in passing game and unload the ball quickly.

When healthy, Wilson remains one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But his desire to hold onto the football too long seeking big plays downfield has doomed him at times, especially against a talented Rams pass rush that has frequently feasted on him in the pocket. In last year's wild card loss, he wasn't able to get tight ends involved at all in the short-to-intermediate passing game, completing one pass for one yard to Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister. While the line deserves some of the blame, he also took five sacks in the game, destroying numerous drives in the process.

Facing the possibility Lockett won't be available after testing positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, Wilson can't force the issue trying to get the football to DK Metcalf going one-on-one against Jalen Ramsey. Opportunities for downfield shot plays may present themselves, but the game plan can't be built around such passes given the presence of Donald, Leonard Floyd, and Von Miller. Instead, Wilson has to get the football out of his hands in a timely manner and should lean on Gerald Everett and Dissly as security blankets to keep the offense on schedule and move the chains to sustain drives.

3. Somehow, someway, Seattle needs to manufacture a more consistent, effective pass rush getting to Matthew Stafford.

As the Seahawks try to find ways to prevent the Rams from obliterating Wilson, they have their own pass rush-related struggles to attend to defensively as well. Even after re-signing Carlos Dunlap and bringing a healthy Darrell Taylor back into the fold, they rank 31st in the league in sacks and when these two teams met in October, they generated two combined quarterback hits on Stafford for the entire game. Enjoying a comfortable pocket all night long, he finished with over 360 yards passing and carved Seattle's defense up hitting deep crossing patterns behind linebackers Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks throughout the second half.

To avoid a repeat performance on Tuesday, Seattle can't allow Stafford and his receivers to have the time for those longer developing routes to come open. If there's a reason for optimism on this front, Los Angeles could with without starting right tackle Rob Havenstein as well as his primary backup Joseph Noteboom, who remain on the COVID-19/reserve list. If neither is available, rookie Alaric Jackson or guard Bobby Evans could be thrown into the lineup at that spot, creating a mismatch Dunlap, Taylor, and Alton Robinson must be able to exploit rushing off the edge and turning up the heat on Stafford.

4. A banged-up secondary needs to find a way to create at least one turnover.

Whether fair or not, the decision to postpone this game to Tuesday didn't do the Seahawks any favors. Since then, seven players have landed on their COVID-19/reserve list, including starting right cornerback D.J. Reed. While not having Lockett would be a major loss on offense, a strong argument can be made Reed's absence may be an even bigger deal given the opponent. Reserve Bless Austin will likely be replacing him in the starting lineup and have to square off with Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham Jr., and Van Jefferson. That's not an ideal situation.

Without Reed and Jamal Adams, who recently underwent season-ending shoulder surgery, Seattle will be sending out a secondary with three players who weren't starters as recently as four weeks ago. While the group has played well despite injuries as of late, Stafford may be licking his lips with his top three receivers available and Los Angeles should have no problem moving the football through the air. With that said, Stafford has always had a bit of a gunslinger mentality and leads the league with three pick sixes thrown. If the Seahawks can make him pay for his aggressive nature and pick off a pass for a quick change of possession - maybe Quandre Diggs wants to pick off his friend for the second time this season? - that could make a world of difference in a tight game between two short-handed teams.