RENTON, Wash. — To some extent, defensive lineman Leonard Williams anticipated the NFC championship game would shake out this way, with his Seattle Seahawks facing the Los Angeles Rams for a third time after the division rivals split a pair of regular-season matchups won by the home team.
Williams, a key contributor for the league’s top-ranked scoring defense, has seen up close how talented the Rams’ top-ranked offense is. They racked up 581 yards at Seattle’s Lumen Field in December during a game the Seahawks ultimately won 38-37 in overtime.
He is confident in the players around him, too, though — and Williams feels good about how they will respond Sunday in Seattle. Last weekend, the top-seeded Seahawks routed the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers — another NFC West rival Seattle split a regular-season series with — to set up a rematch with the fifth-seeded Rams.
“I was just expecting it to happen this way,” Williams said. “I think it’s interesting that the only two teams we played in what feels like over a month is the Niners and the Rams. But I think it’s a testament to how good this division has been this year. A lot of respect for both of those teams, but I have even more respect for my team and confidence in my team, and just the way we make it about us is special to me.”
Just more than a month after that OT epic, the Rams have a shot at redemption against the Seahawks and the opportunity for a big reward. The winner of the NFC title game, which is set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern and will be televised by Fox and streamed by Fox One, advances to Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“We’re not immune to understanding the circumstances, and what the game means to the outside world, and whether or not we get to continue to keep playing football or not, (but) from a daily standpoint, we operate as normal and get ready to play,” said Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, a 17th-year pro and a finalist for NFL MVP this season.
The Rams edged the Seahawks in their first meeting of the season in November, led by a defense that intercepted quarterback Sam Darnold four times in the 21-19 victory at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Seattle got the better of Los Angeles in the second game in December with a fourth-quarter comeback in a “Thursday Night Football” matchup and became the first NFL team to win on an overtime 2-point conversion.
“I think every week obviously, no matter how many times we’ve played them, we’re trying to find new ways to attack them and ways to get after them,” Williams said. “At the same time, I think our team does a great job making it about us every day.”
Stafford’s statistical performances in the Rams’ first two playoff games didn’t measure up to his regular season, which led to his first-ever All-Pro selection, yet he led the fourth and fifth game-winning drives of his playoff career under extraordinary road pressure as Los Angeles beat the fourth-seeded Carolina Panthers, 34-31, and the second-seeded Bears, 20-17 in overtime.
Even though Darnold has demonstrated his skills and moxie during strong seasons the past two years — first with the Minnesota Vikings before joining the Seahawks — the Rams could have a decided advantage Sunday in experience and poise behind center: Stafford’s seven postseason victories are more than twice as many as the three other quarterbacks starting in this weekend’s conference title games.
“I feel like I’m getting pretty repetitive about just how cool, calm and poised he is, and that’s what it takes to win games over time,” said Rams receiver Davante Adams, who will attempt to win an NFC title game for the first time in five tries.
The Rams will be facing the receiver who was MVP of their Super Bowl victory to cap the 2021 season when Cooper Kupp squares off against his former team again Sunday. Kupp was the NFL offensive player of the year that season, when he led the league in catches, receiving yards and touchdown receptions.
Kupp, who spent his first eight NFL seasons with the Rams before joining the Seahawks in the offseason, had the second-fewest receiving yards of his career during the regular season, yet he stayed healthy nearly all year after injury struggles contributed to his release by the Rams. He also led Seattle with five catches for 60 yards in its playoff win against San Francisco in last weekend’s divisional round after a first-round bye.
“It’s crazy to think (of) all of the things he’s accomplished, and the way he comes to work and the way he leads,” said Seahawks practice squad running back Cam Akers, who was Kupp’s teammate in Los Angeles for three-plus seasons.
And one day after his 40th birthday, coach Sean McVay will attempt to win the NFC title for the third time with the Rams. The youngest coach to win a Super Bowl was profoundly frustrated after his team blew that late 16-point lead in Seattle last month, but he doesn’t want his players thinking too much about these teams’ two recent thrillers during their preparations for the rubber match.
“You want to be careful not to chase ghosts,” McVay said. “It is about good execution and good fundamentals. They’re a great team, and they’re great in all three phases. We’d like to think when we’re humming and we’re at our best, we’re pretty good too.”
The offensive wizard reached the Super Bowl in his second season with the Rams. Mike Macdonald would match that achievement Sunday if the defensive guru can lead the Seahawks to the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl in his second year as Seattle’s head coach.