The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks will face off in their respective regular season finales. Before Week 17 started, this matchup had the chance to decide who would win the NFC West and go to the playoffs.
That will not be the case as the Rams are officially NFC West champions and headed to the playoffs. However, the Rams still have plenty of room for improvement before the playoffs start.
Ben Rolfe of Pro Football Network released his predictions for every upcoming Week 18 game. Rolfe believes the winner of the game will largely depend on whether or not the Rams play their starters.
"The Los Angeles Rams clinched the division from their sofa on Sunday thanks to the strength of victory tiebreaker being confirmed in their direction," Rolfe said. "That means the motivation here should be a little lower, but not much. The difference between being a third and fourth seed is significant. As the No. 3 seed, not only would they avoid either the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions on Wild Card Weekend, but they would also have a chance of hosting in the Divisional Round if the Eagles are upset in the first round.
"Thus, I expect the Rams to at least try to put up a fight initially. It wouldn’t be a total surprise if they rested all their key players and tried to win with backups, but it might be one they regret later. Under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald, the Seattle Seahawks will be playing for pride and proving a point. Barring a couple of sloppy losses, this could have been a playoff team, and they’ll want to end the year with a statement win. The uncertainty over the Rams’ approach is likely why the Seahawks have been made favorites here. I think Los Angeles should play its starters, but I question if that’s the case. I lean toward Seattle laying the points, but I’m not willing to risk much capital on a game with this many unknowns.
"Rams 23, Seahawks 20 (if Rams play starters); Seahawks 27, Rams 14 (if Rams bench starters)"
The Rams aim to enter the postseason with momentum.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as REPORT: Will the Rams End the Regular Season on a High?.