It all comes down to this: the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks will square off at Lumen Field on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game that will determine who represents the conference in the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks had a wildly-successful regular season that saw Seattle win the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference with a 14-3 record.
After coming out of their first-round bye, the Seahawks absolutely crushed the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round last week, 41-6.
Meanwhile, the Rams posted an impressive 12-5 record, but that was only worthy of a second-place finish in the division thanks to Seattle’s dominant season.
The Rams have had a tough road to get here after two hard-fought wins over the Carolina Panthers in the wild-card round and Chicago Bears in the divisional round.
This will be the third meeting between these divisional foes this season. The Rams won the first matchup at home in Week 11, 21-19, while the Seahawks emerged victorious in the rematch at Lumen Field in Week 16, 38-37, in overtime.
Let’s find out who the majority of NFL experts are predicting will win this game.
Seahawks vs. Rams predictions
Vinnie Iyer, The Sporting News: Seahawks 27, Rams 23
Iyer: “Darnold’s focus will be on protecting the ball, knowing that even with stout, sound defense, it will be difficult to force turnovers from Matthew Stafford and the Rams. McVay has their offense humming and will rely a lot on Nacua, Adams and the tight ends winning tough matchups with accurate downfield passing from Stafford. In the end, Stafford’s job is tougher in the hostile road environment, facing the better all-around defense in the game. Seattle’s 12th Man crowd was a huge emotional factor to spark the 49ers rout and will be in play again to take down the Rams.”
Bill Bender, The Sporting News: Rams 26, Seahawks 23
Bender: “It’s shaping up to be another instant classic between these rivals, but the Rams had a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter in that last meeting and they have survived two tough road games. Does Stafford have one more road victory in him? It’s hard not to trust the MVP-caliber quarterback in this matchup.”
- Stephania Bell: Seahawks
- Matt Bowen: Rams
- Mike Clay: Seahawks
- Jeremy Fowler: Rams
- Dan Graziano: Seahawks
- Kalyn Kahler: Seahawks
- Pamela Maldonado: Seahawks
- Eric Moody: Seahawks
- Jason Reid: Rams
- Lindsey Thiry: Seahawks
- Clare Brennan: Rams
- Mitch Goldich: Seahawks
- Gilberto Manzano: Rams
- Conor Orr: Seahawks
- John Pluym: Seahawks
- Matt Verderame: Rams
- Pete Prisco: Seahawks
- Jared Dubin: Rams
- Ryan Wilson: Seahawks
- John Breech: Rams
- Tyler Sullivan: Seahawks
- Dave Richard: Seahawks
- Jamey Eisenberg: Rams
Number of experts picking Seahawks: 15
Number of experts picking Rams: 10
