St. Louis Rams Week 17 Predictions Roundup: Seattle Seahawks

Oct 19, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Tre Mason (27) carries the ball during the second half against the Seattle Seahawks at the Edward Jones Dome. St. Louis defeated Seattle 28-26. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Seems like just yesterday that the St. Louis Rams were taking the field for the first time after a long offseason. Sam Bradford was still upright, Gregg Williams was a mystery at defensive coordinator, Aaron Donald wasn’t listed as a starter, and EJ Gaines was an afterthought in the secondary. This Sunday, the Rams will suit up for the final game of the 2014 regular season; one that’s been filled with ups and downs, but has the potential to end on a promising note. However, standing in their way is an on-the-rise Seattle Seahawks squad, fighting with the Arizona Cardinals and the rest of the NFC for homefield advantage. Per usual, the ‘Hawks have been gifted the final game on their home turf, still one of the most difficult places to play in the NFL. Will anyone take St. Louis to sour the Seahawks season after their horrendous showing against the New York Giants?

Pro Football Talk: 30-13, Seahawks; 23-10, Seahawks

"MDS’s take: I wouldn’t pick anyone to win at Seattle right now. Which means I’ll be picking Seattle to get to the Super Bowl, because this win over the Rams will give the Seahawks home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.Florio’s take:  A home win to end the season guarantees the Seahawks home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  While the Rams have already beaten the Seahawks once this year, the Seahawks are simply too much for anyone to handle right now."

CBS Sports (Prisco Picks): 23-20, Seahawks

"Seattle is riding high after blowing out Arizona. They can lock up the No. 1 seed here if they beat the Rams. But St. Louis seems to always play them tough, and beat them earlier this season. That won’t happen here. But the Rams will put up a good fight."

NFL.com: 20-10, Seahawks

"This game will be 17-10 until the final minutes, with St. Louis giving Pete Carroll’s group all it can handle. Did you know that four of the last five games between these two teams have been one-score contests, and that the Rams have won two of them? In order for St. Louis to win this game on the road, they have to play physical without getting undisciplined. Play aggressive, but don’t lose contain on the edges. Most of all, let the Seahawks commit the dumb penalties. (They have them every game, yet somehow still win.) If the Rams have some stupid flags of the Alec Ogletree variety (like last weekend), they will make this easy peasy for Seattle. St. Louis simply isn’t good enough to mitigate such errors. By the way, Beast Mode should be able to rack up well over 100 yards — if he gets the touches. Seattle is playing for home-field, so he will. #STLvsSEA"

Some sites prefer to merely throw out their picks, instead of outlining boldly predicted scores. In a nearly unanimous vote, all of the seven experts in USA Today went with the Seahawks to pull out the victory on Sunday. In the Week 17 “expert picks” for ESPN, a not-so-surprising majority went with Seattle over St. Louis. In CBS Sports’ “Against the Spread” predictions the Rams got some love, with four of eight going with the “underdog” Rams, which is understandable given the Seahawks being +12.5 point favorites. However, with their “Straight Up” picks, the votes went back in favor of Seattle, with all eight experts picking Russell Wilson and Co. to win.