Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks

A rivalry that was heated, lost and then renewed has come back to life as two members of the NFC West are both competitive as of late. The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks are geographical rivals with both residing on the West Coast.

History of Rams vs. Seahawks Rivalry

The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks played beginning in 1976 when the Seahawks joined the NFL as an expansion team, but there wasn’t much of a rivalry until 2002. Seattle was a part of the NFC West for their inaugural season but left for the AFC West until 2002, when they rejoined the NFC and ended up back in the same division as the Rams once again. Over the course of this rivalry, the Seahawks have stayed put in Seattle, but the Rams spent 1946-1994 in Los Angeles, 1995-2015 in St. Louis, and returned to LA since 2016. Their first four games against each other from ‘76 to ‘88 were all wins for the Rams until the Hawks got straight two wins in the only games they played in the ‘90s. Things really heated up at the start of the new millenium, as they’ve played all but one game in the same division since then.

Head to Head Analysis of Rams vs. Seahawks

The overall 42-game series between these two franchises is 23-19 in favor of the Seahawks. Currently, the Rams are on a 3-game win streak, but the Seahawks own the longest streak of this matchup with 10 in a row from 2005 to 2009. The Seahawks also won 6 of 8 directly after that impressive run. They have met each other once in the postseason in the 2004 NFC Wild Card Game that was played in Seattle, where the Rams won 27-20 led by Marc Bulger and Marshall Faulk.

A Glance at Postseason Success in Rams vs. Seahawks

The Rams have been around nearly twice as long as the Seahawks, so it is no surprise that they own more hardware in this rivalry. They do happen to be tied in one category: Super Bowls. Both of their championships have been pretty recent, as the Rams won theirs when they were in St. Louis in 1999 and the Seattle Seahawks won theirs in 2013. The LA Rams did win two NFL Championships in 1945 and 1951 prior to the AFL-NFL merger. The Rams have been to the playoffs a total of 29 times versus 17 times for the Seahawks. Seattle has won all three of their Conference Championships since 2005, and they have a total of ten Division Championships, with eight of those being since 2004. The Rams have not had as much postseason success post-2000s like the Seahawks, but they did have a lot more before that with 20 Division Championships and 7 Conference Championships. One of those came this year, though they ended up losing the Super Bowl 13-3.

Rams vs. Seahawks Rivalry Outlook

Both of these teams are set to continue this rivalry in a tremendous way with a ton of young talent on both sides of the ball. The Seattle Seahawks have some young offensive players such as RB’s Rashaad Penny, Chris Carson, and Mike Davis. They also have WR David Moore, who finished with a nice season and has become a key target for Russell Wilson. For the Rams offense, they now have Super Bowl experience along with young studs like RB Todd Gurley, QB Jared Goff, and WR’s Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp, and Josh Reynolds. Los Angeles’ defense was highly touted this year and has some young playmakers like S John Johnson, LB Cory Littleton, CB Marcus Peters, LB Samson Ebukam, and LB Dante Fowler who are looking to keep this defense at an elite level. Seattle’s defense is no longer the Legion of Boom, but they do have a new wave of young guys such as CB Tre Flowers, CB Shaquill Griffin, and DE Frank Clark. If there is one new rivalry to watch, this might be it. It’s truly shaping up to be a classic.