Rams vs. Seahawks: TNF betting odds, preview, and pick

The 3-1 Los Angeles Rams get a short week to regroup from their first loss of the season when they visit Lumen Field for a divisional battle against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. 

Rams tumble to second place in NFC West

A week after Los Angeles handed the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers their first defeat of the 2021 season, the Arizona Cardinals returned the favor to their NFC West mate.

For the first time in Sean McVay's tenure as Rams head coach, he fell to Arizona, who owned an eight-game losing streak against the Rams before Sunday's 37-20 victory.

Nothing seemed to work for L.A.'s high-flying offense. Quarterback Matthew Stafford went 26-of-41 passing for 280 yards, tossed two touchdown passes (one in the final two minutes, with the game out of reach), and threw an interception early in the first quarter that led to an Arizona touchdown.

His favorite target, Cooper Kupp, was mostly silenced by the Cardinals defense, who held him to five catches on 13 targets and 64 receiving yards.

Running back Darrell Henderson added 89 yards on the ground on 14 carries, but the Rams remained committed to their passing attack.

On defense, the team let Arizona running back Chase Edmonds rush for 120 yards and surrendered two rushing scores to James Conner, while dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray put up 268 passing yards, two scores, and ran for 39 yards.

To defeat Seattle, the Rams need to contain another dual threat in Russell Wilson, who combined for three scores against San Francisco in a 28-21 road win in Week 4.

Wilson overcomes slow start to beat shorthanded Niners

In the other Week 4 battle between NFC West members, Seattle halted its two-game skid by besting the 2-2 Niners.

The game started off poorly for Wilson & Co., as the offense went three-and-out on its first five drives and Seattle looked like it was headed toward the first three-loss streak of the veteran quarterback's career.

The tide turned when Wilson found star wideout D.K. Metcalf for a 12-yard touchdown pass with under two minutes to go in the first half.

Wilson then reeled off two quick scores in the third quarter on a 16-yard run and a 13-yard pass to second-year receiver Freddie Swain.

The 49ers played without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the entire second half, after he suffered a calf injury. Rookie Trey Lance finished 9-of-18 passing for 157 yards, ran for 41 yards, and scored twice.

San Francisco's punter Mitch Wishnowsky also filled in at placekicker, with Robbie Gould ruled out ahead of kickoff. Wishnowsky hit an extra point in the first quarter but missed a 41-yard field-goal try and an extra-point attempt in the second half.

With Seattle's win on Sunday, Wilson became the fastest quarterback to reach 100 regular-season wins as a starter.

Rams and Seahawks betting trends

• The Rams are 5-1 ATS in their last six games following a straight-up loss
• The Rams are 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 vs. the NFC West
• The Seahawks are 8-1-2 ATS in their last 11 Thursday games
• The Seahawks are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall
• The Over is 6-0 in the Rams' last six games overall
• The Under is 10-3 in the Seahawks' last 13 games overall
• The Rams are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against the Seahawks
• The Over is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Seattle

Rams pass rush will get after Wilson

The Rams lost the last two regular-season matchups in Seattle but topped their rival at Lumen Field in last year's Wild Card Round.

In that game, Wilson was sacked five times for a loss of 32 yards, was intercepted once, and was held to 174 passing yards.

To win Thursday, the Rams must follow that blueprint.

L.A.'s offense should also snap back into shape against Seattle's stop unit, which ranks 28th against the pass (292.5 yards per contest) and second-to-last against the run (152 yards per game).

While the defense allowed Lance, in his first significant NFL action, to cross midfield only twice in the second half, Seattle did give up a 76-yard touchdown to Deebo Samuel. That kind of meltdown on defense will be costly against the Rams' talented group of receivers.

L.A. hasn't been a whole lot better on defense, but the unit is an upgrade over Seattle's.

If the Rams can eliminate the turnovers and let Henderson do more work in the run game, they should bounce back, despite the quick turnaround, in a hostile road environment.

Score prediction: Rams 27, Seahawks 21

Week 5 NFL pick: Rams -1.5

Rams vs. Seahawks Pick powered by The Quant Edge

Our predictive engine is calling for the Rams to win outright and cover the spread, and for the game to go Under the projected total.