The Rams and Seahawks will play for the third time this season in the NFC Championship Game, and Rams coach Sean McVay says that raises some interesting challenges.
On the one hand, he’s already called many of his favorite plays against the Seahawks, and he doesn’t want them to know what to expect. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to get too cute and get away from what his team does best just because the Seahawks have seen it before.
“You want to be careful not to chase ghosts,” McVay said. “It is about good execution, good fundamentals. They’re a great team. They’re great in all three phases. We’d like to think when we’re humming and we’re at our best we’re pretty good too. You are aware of those things, but you don’t want to do it at the detriment of allowing guys to be able to go execute and play the way they’re capable of. We’ve been in this situation a couple times. In the ’21 season we played the Niners in the NFC Championship, and then we played Seattle a third time in the covid year. So it’s been similar when we played two divisional teams in the playoffs, but it’s going to be a great opportunity for us.”
In 2021, the Rams lost to the 49ers twice in the regular season but beat them in the NFC Championship Game. In 2020, the Rams split with the Seahawks in the regular season, with both teams winning at home, but then the Rams won at Seattle in the playoffs. McVay hopes that his team can beat a divisional opponent in the third meeting, for a third time, on Sunday.
Davante Adams has been here before. Several times, in fact.
The Rams wide receiver will play in his fifth NFC Championship Game on Sunday. He has never played in a Super Bowl.
“Just having been here so many times and understanding exactly what it takes to get where we’re ultimately trying to go,” Adams said, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “It’s obviously exciting to achieve the minor goals along the way that you ultimately need to do to get where you want to be, but yeah, [getting to a Super Bowl] just feels like almost like a mythical thing to me at this point.
“You do everything you can to get there. It’s been so hard, and [I’ve] been working so hard at it. So we’re close. We just got to finish it off.”
Adams played for the Packers for eight seasons, making it to the conference championship game in the 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020 seasons. The closest he has come to the Super Bowl was his rookie season when the Packers lost in overtime to the Seahawks. Seattle rallied from a 19-7 deficit in the fourth quarter with 15 points in the final 2:09, which included recovering an onside kick, before Green Bay sent it to overtime on a field goal with 14 seconds left.
“It’s tough not to think about that one,” Adams said. “A loss like that will last a long time. And we’ve got an opportunity to change that now.”
The Rams face the Seahawks at Lumen Field on Sunday.
Adams said he has a “greater appreciation” for being back in the championship game after two-plus seasons with the Raiders and 11 games with the Jets last season.
The Rams began their practice week with a walk-through on Wednesday.
They estimated outside linebacker Byron Young (knee) and safety Quentin Lake (illness) as non-participants.
Coach Sean McVay said he expects Young to play, but the question is how much Young’s knee soreness will limit him. He played only 35 of 81 snaps against the Bears, making five tackles and a quarterback hit.
Josiah Stewart and Desjuan Johnson saw more playing time in the divisional round.
Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (shoulder) was limited.
He played only four snaps in last week’s game.
The Rams listed outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart (knee) as a full participant.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said before Wednesday’s practice that quarterback Sam Darnold won’t be “full-go” for all of this week’s practices and the team dialed back his work on Wednesday.
Darnold was listed as a limited participant due to the oblique injury that landed him a questionable designation in the divisional round. Darnold played against the 49ers and indicated on Wednesday that he’ll be ready to go against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game as well.
Left tackle Charles Cross returned to the lineup last Sunday after missing the final three games of the regular season with a foot injury, but was out of practice on Wednesday. Tackles Josh Jones (knee, ankle) and Amari Kight (knee) were also out of practice.
Guard Bryce Cabeldue (knee), edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (rest), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (hamstring), fullback Robbie Ouzts (neck), wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (rest), and defensive lineman Leonard Williams (rest) were the team’s other limited participants. Tight end Elijah Arroyo (knee), running back George Holani (hamstring), linebacker Tyrice Knight (shoulder), and linebacker Chazz Surratt (ankle) were full participants.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold landed on the injury report at the end of last week because of an oblique issue and he was listed as questionable to face the 49ers in the divisional round, but he played without any apparent signs of difficulty in Seattle’s 41-6 win.
The Seahawks are still going to take a measured approach toward getting him ready for the NFC Championship Game against the Rams, however. Head coach Mike Macdonald said at a Wednesday press conference that Darnold “continues to get better” and that the team has a plan they think will keep him in good shape for Sunday.
Macdonald said Darnold will not be “full-go” in every practice this week and the quarterback signed on to the approach during his own press conference.
“Feeling really good, just attacking rehab these last couple days. Will be throughout the week. Just got to continue to prepare and get my body right for Sunday,” Darnold said.
Darnold’s play last weekend did little to suggest that he’ll be at risk of missing Sunday’s game. Should something change, Drew Lock would join Jarrett Stidham as unlikely starters this weekend.
