3 reasons Rams should be glad Seahawks are eliminated from playoffs

2. Rivalries always bring more pressure

Are the Rams and Seahawks one of the top rivalries in the NFL? These two teams may not rank near the top of the list as some of the other teams in the NFL from a rivalry perspective, but they’re certainly close to it.

As much as football fans in general would have loved to see Los Angeles take on Seattle for a third time, this isn’t the kind of pressure the Rams need to be dealing with for their first official playoff game of 2019.

Keep in mind that Los Angeles is already facing the extra pressure of making sure they don’t see an early exit like last season when expectations were high for them to make a run at the Super Bowl, so avoiding the extra pressure of facing a rival in Seattle works to their advantage.

At this point, the Rams just need to focus on making sure they earn that first playoff win under McVay, no matter what it takes. Now that Seattle is officially out of the playoff hunt following Saturday’s loss to Dallas this may have a better chance of happening for Los Angeles in the Divisional Round, even if they have to face Chicago or Dallas.