The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 9 matchup between the Seahawks and Rams.

Find a breakdown of every Week 9 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

LA RamsRank@SeattleRank
-1.0 Spread1.0
24.75 Implied Total23.75
20.623Points/Gm23.813
24.922Points All./Gm24.419
61.917Plays/Gm62.315
60.714Opp. Plays/Gm64.125
5.218Off. Yards/Play5.614
5.826Def. Yards/Play5.620
42.26%20Rush%33.73%32
57.74%13Pass%66.27%1
50.35%30Opp. Rush %46.78%19
49.65%3Opp. Pass %53.22%14

  • The Seahawks had a 51.1% success rate defending passing plays in October (29th) after a 64.2% rate in September (4th).
  • The Rams had a 58.8% success rate defending passing plays in October (9th) after a 45.9% rate in September (31st).
  • Seattle averages 1.5 fewer yards per play on first down than their opponent, 30th in the league.
  • Seattle has a 32.1% success rate on rushing plays, ahead of only the Raiders (27.5%).
  • The Rams average 6.9 yards per touchdown play, 31st in the league.

Trust = spike production for that player

Quarterback

Geno Smith: I was concerned about this offense last weekend without DK Metcalf, and that proved to be warranted.

Smith ended last week as QB31 (8.1 points), his lowest-scoring week on the season.

He failed to throw a touchdown for the first time this season, passing for 212 yards and an interception.

Without Metcalf available, Smith averaged only 2.9 air yards per throw, the fewest for him in a game this season.

Not only that, but it was also the lowest depth of target for any quarterback in a game this season.

Metcalf is tracking to play this weekend, but there is concern that he is still not 100% or could be limited.

With that possibility, Smith is a QB2 this week.

The Rams also present a few issues for this offense.

They have ramped up their ability to get to the quarterback and are now fifth in the NFL in terms of pressure rate (39.1% of dropbacks).

Jared Verse is now up to a 20.8% pressure rate on his pass rush snaps, which is second among all players with 100 or more snaps as a rusher.

Byron Young is at 15.3%, which is 17th on that same list.

When the Rams have pressured the quarterback over the past four weeks, they have allowed a 43.9% completion rate (7th) and 6.0 Y/A (14th).

Smith has been sensitive to pressure.

He is 29th in the league in rating under pressure (54.1), completing 50.9% of his passes for 5.8 Y/A with 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

When kept clean, Smith is 10th in rating (106.0), completing 78.5% of his passes for 7.8 Y/A with 4 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The Rams have not allowed a QB1 since Week 3, a span that includes games against Jordan Love and Sam Darnold.

Matthew Stafford: We have been talking about Stafford being due for touchdown regression for weeks.

That finally started last week as he got back both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.

Getting both back on the field, Stafford completed a season-high 73.4% (25-of-34) of his passes against Minnesota for 8.2 Y/A and 4 touchdowns.

Stafford had 3 passing touchdowns over his first six games.

Dating back to last season, Stafford has thrown for 8.1Y/A and a 6.5% touchdown rate with both Nacua and Kupp on the field.

With both off the field, he has thrown for 7.0 Y/A and a 2.0% touchdown rate.

We may not have Nacua this week.

Stafford does not have any rushing ability, so he is still on the fringe QB1 range and best used as a floor-based QB2 with added upside when he runs hot with passing touchdowns.

That said, this is a spot where he can find success, even without Nacua.

Stafford is using play action on 26.3% of his dropbacks, his highest rate under Sean McVay.

Seattle is 29th against play action passes in terms of rating, allowing a 72.4% completion rate (27th), 9.9 yards per attempt (29th), and a 7.9% touchdown rate (26th) defending play action.

Seattle has gotten leaky as the season has progressed.

They have allowed 20.0 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks over their past five games, allowing Jared Goff (27.2 points), Daniel Jones (22.1 points), Brock Purdy (24.1 points), and Josh Allen (19.8 points) to have strong weeks.

Running Back

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More Week 9 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:

MatchupTime
Texans @ Jets -- FREEThursday Night Football
Cowboys @ FalconsSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Dolphins @ BillsSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Raiders @ BengalsSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Chargers @ BrownsSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Patriots @ TitansSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Commanders @ GiantsSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Saints @ PanthersSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Broncos @ RavensSunday -- 1 p.m. ET
Jaguars @ EaglesSunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET
Bears @ CardinalsSunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET
Lions @ PackersSunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET
Rams @ SeahawksSunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET
Colts @ VikingsSunday Night Football
Bucs @ Chiefs -- FREEMonday Night Football