Russell Wilson and the Seahawks are hosting the Rams on Thursday night. If form holds, that probably will mean lots of sacks – but not many turnovers.
Wilson takes some sacks. He’s playing behind a modest line, and he has a tendency to hold the ball, scrambling around in hopes of creating big plays. He’s been sacked over 40 times a record eight seasons in a row. Four weeks in, it’s looking like #9 is on its way (he’s sitting at 11 sacks in four games).
Wilson’s playing style gets tougher against the Rams, because they tend to have one of the league’s stronger pass rushers, with things breaking down quicker. In his 19 career starts against them, he’s taken 77 sacks – an average of over 4 per game.
Wilson has taken at least 5 sacks in each of his last four games against this opponent.
But Wilson doesn’t tend to turn it over. He’s not a fumbler, and he’s got good accuracy and decision-making ability with his arm. Even in these 19 games against the Rams, when he’s often been under duress, he’s thrown only 12 interceptions, and with only 4 lost fumbles.
The Rams got the better of Wilson last year. They forced him into a rare game with 3 turnovers down in LA, and they got a Pick Six off him in the playoff win in Seattle in January. More commonly, though, he’s hanging onto the ball.
When these teams met in a Thursday night game at about this time two years ago, Wilson had his best game against them, with 268 yards and 4 TDs – that one wasn’t decided until Greg Zuerlein missed a field goal at the end.
More commonly in recent meetings, however, Wilson has struggled against this opponent. Since Sean McVay showed up, Wilson is 3-6 against the Rams, and he’s averaged only 208 passing yards in those nine games, with 15 TDs and 5 interceptions.
| RUSSELL WILSON AGAINST RAMS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Site | Result | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Sack | F-L |
| 2012 | St.L. | L 13-19 | 17 | 25 | 160 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0-0 |
| 2012 | Sea. | W 20-13 | 15 | 19 | 250 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1-0 |
| 2013 | St.L. | W 14-9 | 10 | 18 | 139 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0-0 |
| 2013 | Sea. | W 27-9 | 15 | 23 | 172 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0-0 |
| 2014 | St.L. | L 26-28 | 23 | 36 | 313 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0-0 |
| 2014 | Sea. | W 20-6 | 17 | 25 | 239 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2-0 |
| 2015 | St.L. | L 31-34 | 32 | 41 | 251 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0-0 |
| 2015 | Sea. | L 17-23 | 25 | 41 | 289 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1-1 |
| 2016 | L.A. | L 3-9 | 22 | 35 | 254 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1-0 |
| 2016 | Sea. | W 24-3 | 19 | 26 | 229 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0-0 |
| 2017 | L.A. | W 16-10 | 24 | 37 | 198 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0-0 |
| 2017 | Sea. | L 7-42 | 14 | 30 | 142 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2-1 |
| 2018 | Sea. | L 31-33 | 13 | 21 | 198 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0-0 |
| 2018 | L.A. | L 31-36 | 17 | 26 | 176 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1-1 |
| 2019 | Sea. | W 30-29 | 17 | 23 | 268 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0-0 |
| 2019 | L.A. | L 12-28 | 22 | 36 | 245 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1-0 |
| 2020 | L.A. | L 16-23 | 22 | 37 | 248 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1-1 |
| 2020 | Sea. | W 20-9 | 20 | 32 | 225 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | Sea. | L 20-30 | 11 | 27 | 174 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0-0 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan