Are the Seahawks Real Contenders? Thursday Night vs. Rams Will Tell

Are the Seattle Seahawks contenders or pretenders?

That might well be determined Thursday night, when they play host to the Los Angeles Rams in a game for first place in the NFC West – and perhaps the conference’s No. 1 seed for the postseason.

The Seahawks (10-3) have won four straight games since a 21-19 loss to Los Angeles on Nov. 16 at SoFi Stadium.

The Seahawks probably should have won that game. They outgained the Rams 414-249 but couldn’t overcome Sam Darnold’s four interceptions – though he got Seattle into field-goal range at the end, with Jason Myers’ 61-yard field-goal attempt narrowly missing wide right.

But save for a second-half explosion a week and a half ago in a 37-9 victory at Atlanta, the Seahawks have looked pedestrian, especially offensively.

They needed a franchise-record six field goals from Myers to edge Indianapolis and recently unretired quarterback Philip Rivers, a 44-year-old grandfather, 18-16 at home Sunday.

They beat Minnesota 26-0 at Lumen Field on Nov. 30, but that came against a rookie quarterback, Max Brosmer, who was overmatched and included just one offensive touchdown.

That was proceeded by a 30-24 victory at Tennessee and another rookie QB in Cam Ward.

Even the victory in Atlanta came against backup Kirk Cousins, so Seattle has faced only rookies or long-in-the-tooth veterans during its run.

No wonder the Seahawks’ defense is second in the league with 17.3 points allowed.

But Seattle’s problems are on offense.

That Nov. 23 game in Nashville was the last time the Seahawks scored a touchdown in the first half. They haven’t found the end zone in the first quarter since Nov. 9 against Arizona.

Seattle has scored just six points in the first half in each of its past three games.

"We've got to improve, be better, start faster," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "We'll look at our openers here. Couple games where our openers weren't hitting as well as we want. We'll look at it. But, we want to start fast."

Part of that falls on Macdonald, a defensive-minded coach.

The Seahawks have moved the ball well in their two-minute offense and actually went up-tempo for one drive in the second quarter Sunday, which resulted in a field goal. But that was one of the only times they’ve done so all season.

They might need to take some risks against MVP candidate Matthew Stafford and the Rams, who have put up more than 40 points in each of their past two victories. It’s probably unrealistic to expect Seattle’s defense to limit them to just 21 again.

The Seahawks’ running game, which was supposed to be a point of emphasis this year, gained a season-low 50 yards against the Colts. Kenneth Walker III had 17 yards on nine attempts.

"We didn't run it the way we wanted to," Macdonald said. "It's kind of a little bit of everything right now. A little bit late in the year to be saying that. So, I mean, we got to pick it up, really, on all fronts.”

Without wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has a league-leading 1,541 yards receiving, who knows where the Seahawks might be.

“We just need to get together and understand the game plan and execute at the end of the day,” Smith-Njigba said. “And I'll leave it at that.”

That won’t be an easy task on a short week against the Rams, but it might answer whether the Seahawks are indeed ready for prime time.