If Seahawks have to face Rams again, sooner may be better

After splitting a pair of nail-biting matchups in the regular season, it feels like the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams could be on a collision course in the playoffs.

Seattle and Los Angeles are widely considered the two favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. And the advanced metrics certainly back that up, as the two NFC West juggernauts finished among the top 10 teams in DVOA history dating back to 1978, according to FTN Fantasy.

A look at Seahawks’ potential divisional round opponents

In some ways, it might just be a question of whether a Seahawks-Rams rubber match happens in the Divisional Round or the NFC Championship Game.

From a Seahawks perspective, the prevailing line of thought is that Seattle would want to avoid facing the Rams for as long as possible. That’d give another team a chance to knock off the Rams before the Seahawks ever have to face them.

However, Mike Salk presented an interesting counterpoint Friday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

Salk argued that if a Seahawks-Rams playoff showdown is inevitable, it’d be better for the Seahawks if it occurred in next weekend’s Divisional Round, rather than the following weekend’s NFC Championship Game.

That’s because the top-seeded Seahawks (14-3) have a first-round bye for this weekend’s wild-card round, which would give them a rest advantage over the fifth-seeded Rams (12-5), who will be in action Saturday against the fourth-seeded Panthers (8-9).

“You’re probably going to play (the Rams) at some point anyway, because the consensus and prevailing opinion is that they’re the other best team in the NFC, and the team that is the toughest matchup for you,” Salk said. “… If you play them next weekend, that’s when you would have the absolute best advantage. You are going to be as healthy as you could possibly be next weekend.

“Who knows what happens in the Divisional Round leading up to the NFC championship game. You could be tired, you could be hurt, you just don’t know. But you’ve got (this) full week off. The Rams would be coming off of a game where who knows what happens to them and how beat up maybe they get in a win in Carolina.

“So, the idea is that (the Divisional Round) is your best time to play them. … I’d rather see them when you have full rest and you are coming off the bye and they’re not.”

Assuming the Rams get past the Panthers, the Seahawks and Rams would square off in the Divisional Round if both the No. 2 seed Chicago Bears beat the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers and the No. 3 seed Philadelphia Eagles beat the No. 6 seed San Francisco 49ers in the NFC’s other two wild-card games.

Otherwise, a potential Seahawks-Rams showdown would be put off until the NFC Championship Game.

“This isn’t about rooting for the Rams, because obviously if the Rams lose, you don’t play them at all,” Salk said. “It’s about whether or not you’re rooting for Green Bay and rooting for Philadelphia. … If you’re gonna have to play the Rams either way, wouldn’t you rather play them when your advantage is the best?”

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the audio player near the bottom of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Stacy Rost: Seahawks may be rare top seed actually being disrespected
• Why PFF’s Trevor Sikkema says Seattle Seahawks can win it all
• A pair of lesser-known Seattle Seahawks emerged as major surprises
• What makes Seahawks OC Kubiak a strong head coach candidate
• Brock: How Seattle Seahawks made a ‘program-changing evolution’

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