Field Gulls
NFL action in Week 16 starts off with the most anticipated game of the week.
For those who have grown accustomed to Thursday Night Football in December bringing meaningless matchups between the likes of the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars or the like, this week the game features the only two teams in the NFC with 11 wins in the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.
Joining Field Gulls to preview the game is Evan Craig of Turf Show Times, and since readers didn’t click on this post to read the pre-question fluff, here are the five questions posed and the answers provided.
1. The Rams offense has been very potent for much of 2025, but struggled mightily in the first matchup against the Seattle defense. Should we expect the Rams to do anything different offensively in Week 16 as they look for better offensive production in the rematch?
The first meeting was strange because it happened during a stretch when the Rams had gotten off to multiple double-digit leads against their opponents. L.A. had a 14-3 lead versus Seattle in the first quarter and proceeded to score a single touchdown the rest of the way. It was the opposite of the problem they had at the beginning of the season, when they would start slowly and then pick up as the game progressed. The Rams started hot against the Seahawks and cooled off considerably after.
What the team might do to have better production this time around would be to run the ball more. Kyren Williams nearly had a 100-yard performance, and that was around the time when the offense was still figuring out how to get second-year back Blake Corum involved. My thinking is the offense will run more early and often. Williams and Corum have each amassed 70+ rushing yards in the last three games, with the Michigan product having scored 4 touchdowns in that span. The running game has evolved into more of a two-headed monster, so expect to see a lot of that dynamic duo on Thursday to help L.A. move the chains.
2. Most of the talk about the Rams has been the performance of the offense so far this season, but L.A. is third in the league in points allowed. What has been the driving force behind that?
The run defense has been a significant contributor to the unit’s overall success this season. It was a focal point during the offseason, hence why they brought in defensive tackle Poona Ford from the Chargers this offseason. L.A. has only allowed one 100-yard rusher this season, and that was the Ravens’ Derrick Henry. It’s been really impressive to see the Rams hold star rushers like Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey (2x), Jonathan Taylor and Jahmyr Gibbs in check and then some. The turnaround in that department was very much needed, considering how badly Barkley gashed them in two meetings last year. Outside of the Panthers game from a few weeks ago, the Rams have been...
