Seattle @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 3, 2019 ) L.A. Rams 29, Seattle 30

The Seattle Seahawks look to win their sixth straight game when they visit the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Seattle will clinch an NFC playoff berth with a victory or tie, while Los Angeles badly needs a win to keep its playoff aspirations alive.

The Seahawks are tied for first place in the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers as the Rams - a Super Bowl participant last season - sit third, and coach Pete Carroll is expecting a ferocious effort from Los Angeles. “We know we have another terrific opponent,” Carroll said of the Rams. “It just seems like one after another after another. We just keep getting challenged by it. The teams keep bringing special players and schemes and histories of winning and all that stuff that just makes this a great run and a great challenge." Los Angeles is one game behind the Minnesota Vikings for the second NFC wild-card berth but had lost five of eight games prior to a 34-7 rout of the Arizona Cardinals last week. "I would be lying to say that this season hasn't been more challenging," Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters. "But that's also why there's a motivation to make sure to do right and to use this as an opportunity to try to respond in the way that you challenge your players and everybody else."

TV: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: Even. O/U: 47.5

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS (10-2): Quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-30 victory over the Vikings on Monday night and is a leading MVP candidate with an NFL-best 26 touchdown passes along with 3,177 yards, and only four interceptions. Chris Carson has been productive out of the backfield with a team-best 981 rushing yards, while second-stringer Rashaad Penny has picked up the pace with 203 of his 370 rushing yards coming over the last two games. Star middle linebacker Bobby Wagner has six double-digit tackle outings this season and is tied for second in the NFL with 115 stops.

ABOUT THE RAMS (7-5): Quarterback Jared Goff's level of play has been below his level of the previous two seasons but he stood out with 424 yards and two touchdowns in the rout of the Cardinals. Goff has 13 touchdowns against 12 interceptions this season after having 60 passing strikes against 19 picks over the previous two seasons. Los Angeles has been wildly inconsistent and has allowed 13 or fewer points in each of its past six victories but has yielded 55, 45 and 30 points in three of its setbacks.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Wilson threw four touchdown passes as the Seahawks recorded a 30-29 home victory over the Rams on Oct. 3.

2. Los Angeles WR Robert Woods matched his career high of 13 receptions and established a personal best of 172 yards in the win over Arizona.

3. Carson has five 100-yard rushing outings this season, including a 118-yard effort against the Rams.

PREDICTION: Seahawks 31, Rams 24