Seahawks Looking to Solve Matthew Stafford, Rams' Potent Offense

The Seahawks have yet to beat the Rams with Matthew Stafford under center, but they will get another chance to snap that streak on Sunday.

Sep 10, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) passes the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - Since Sean McVay first arrived on the scene as head coach in 2017, the Los Angeles Rams have had the Seattle Seahawks number, leading his team to victory in the NFC West rivalry series in 10 out of 15 games.

All of those games, including a wild card battle in 2020, pitted McVay's wits against legendary coach Pete Carroll. While the Seahawks did win both games against the Rams as recently as 2022, those victories came against teams quarterbacked by John Wolford and Baker Mayfield, who replaced an injured Matthew Stafford for a banged up squad that finished with a dreadful 5-12 record just one year after winning the Super Bowl.

When Stafford has been in the lineup in his three seasons in Los Angeles, Seattle has yet to find a way to consistently slow him or McVay's offense down. In four starts against Carroll's defense, he posted a perfect 4-0 record, throwing for 1,133 yards while averaging 8.4 yards per attempt as the Rams hit at least 20 points in three of those contests.

Now at the helm for the Seahawks as Carroll's successor, coach Mike Macdonald will get his first crack at trying to break the Stafford curse when his team hosts the Rams at Lumen Field in a critical Week 9 matchup on Sunday. Having faced the gunslinger orchestrating McVay's offense before, he knows it won't be easy sledding, especially with receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back healthy after missing extended time with injuries.

"He's tough as crap. I know that," Macdonald gushed. "This guy, he's as tough as they come, the arm talent from all the angles and stuff. I mean everybody sees kind of the wow throws, but there's a lot of them. So we respect him on that and just the savviness and control of their system, what they're asking him to do on a down-in-down-out basis I think is pretty cool. He's a heck of a player."

As defensive coordinator for the Ravens, Macdonald received a front row seat to Stafford's greatness last December, watching him slice and dice a normally stingy secondary and nearly pull off a road upset. Though Baltimore wound up outgunning Los Angeles in a high scoring 37-31 track meet, the veteran quarterback threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns, the only game all season where Macdonald's top-ranked defense allowed that many touchdown passes.

Spreading the ball around, despite absorbing 10 quarterback hits along the way, Stafford completed at least three passes to five different receivers in that game, including linking up with Kupp eight times for 105 yards and a touchdown. Nacua also gave the Ravens fits, posting 84 receiving yards on just five receptions, while Demarcus Robinson added a score against his former team.

So far this season, Stafford's overall numbers aren't on par with his production from a year ago, as he has thrown only seven touchdowns and five interceptions in seven games. But much of that has had to do with injuries around him, including starting center Steve Avila and right guard Jonah Jackson landing on injured reserve along with Kupp and Nacua missing nine combined games.

With Avila and Jackson each sidelined since at least Week 3, Stafford took a beating during the first five weeks, as opponents sacked him 16 times amid a frustrating 1-4 start. But over the past two weeks, the offensive line has made significant improvements as the group has gelled with rookie Beaux Limmer and the duo of Logan Bruss and Justin Dedich filling in at center and right guard, allowing just one sack and four combined quarterback hits in victories over the Raiders and Vikings.

Enjoying better protection and the happy returns of Kupp and Nacua, Stafford not surprisingly turned in his best game of the season against the Vikings last Thursday night, throwing for 279 yards with a season-best four touchdown passes while completing north of 73 percent of his attempts. 12 of his 25 passes were caught by Kupp and Nacua, who combined for 157 yards and a touchdown, and Macdonald expects to see even more of them on Sunday after they were on pitch counts in their respective returns.

"Because of the type of players they are, you could tell they did a great job of trying to fill in for the best they could," Macdonald said. "Even last week there wasn't a full complement of Cooper Kupp and Puka (Nacua) throughout the game, so we expect that to get expanded on this game."

Having studied McVay's offense closely over the years and how he likes to "attack structure," Macdonald believes the biggest key for the Seahawks defensively this weekend will be winning on first and second down to prevent the Rams from staying on schedule. That task that will be easier said than done, however, especially with a quality ground game featuring Kyren Williams and rookie Blake Corum in place to complement Stafford, who ranks sixth in average time to throw and gets rid of the ball quickly.

But if Seattle can consistently set up third and long opportunities by limiting damage on early downs, a pass rush anchored by Boye Mafe and Derick Hall should have a better shot at getting after Stafford, who took at least eight quarterback hits in three of the first five games this year. Macdonald's defense could have a significant advantage in the interior as well with Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, and Byron Murphy II matched up against a backup center and guard.

Given the weaponry around Stafford, regardless of how they generate pressure, turning up such heat on the veteran signal caller will be crucial if Macdonald and the Seahawks want to have a realistic shot at finally beating him on Sunday and staying atop the NFC West.

"They do a great job of staying ahead of the sticks and then Matthew [Stafford] does a great job of getting the ball out on time, so disrupting timing is not as easy as one might say it is. And then they're really efficient on early downs. So again, it's trying to stop them on those situations to create them or to force those situations where they have to drop back and he's got to hold onto to the ball."

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