Sportsnaut
The stage is set for the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night, a rubber match between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks. At stake is a trip to the Super Bowl, a potential opportunity for one of the NFC West powers to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Let us dive into our NFC Championship Game predictions, with the stats and analysis serving as a form of a Rams vs. Seahawks preview.
We’ve gotten two very different matchups in the last two Rams vs Seahawks meeting. Most recently, Seattle and Los Angeles combined for 996 total yards and 75 points back on Dec. 18, an overtime shootout that will go down as one of the best NFL games in 2025. One month earlier, the Rams and Seahawks totaled 40 points and went a combined 9-for-27 (33.3% conversion rate) on third down.
Expect something much closer to the latter in the NFC Championship Game. While Sam Darnold played well in the second half of that Week 16 contest against the Rams defense, he’s just been pedestrian for the later half of the season. From Weeks 11-18, he had an 83.2 QB rating and 8-8 TD-INT line with 17 sacks taken and he ranked 20th among qualified quarterbacks in EPA per Play (0.038).
Stafford hasn’t exactly been playing like an MVP-caliber quarteback either as of late. He was abysmal in Week 17 versus the Atlanta Falcons (3 interceptions and 64.5 QB rating), struggled after suffering a finger injury in the Wild Card Round win over the Carolina Panthers and he wasn’t all that effective against Chicago. Now facing the league’s best defense, we’re expecting a low-scoring NFC title game.
Related: NFL Defense Rankings 2026, Ranking Defenses on Conference Championship Weekend
It is not a given that Zach Charbonnet (knee) plays in the NFC Championship Game. Fortunately for this Seahawks offense, Kenneth Walker III is on an absolute tear as of late. Across his last four games, including the Divisional Round, Walker has put up 499 scrimmage yards on 73 touches and he has averaged 6.0 yards per carry on 61 touches. In a contract year, he has the fourth-highest Explosive Rating (122.1), the third-most breakaway runs (18) and he ranks first in juke rate (31.7 percent).
All of that will pose a problem for Los Angeles. Opponents averaged 126.5 rushing yards per game and 4.8 yards per carry against the Rams in the final eight regular-season games. While Chris Shula’s unit had more success on a down-to-down basis, it allowed a lot of explosive runs. Walker is going to be a central part of the Seahawks game plan in the NFC title game and he will deliver another excellent performance.
Related: Projecting Landing Spots for Top RBs in NFL Free Agency, including Kenneth Walker
Is it possible...
