Rams should benefit from Jarran Reed suspension in Week 5

Due to a suspension, it looks like the Los Angeles Rams won’t have to worry about Jarran Reed when taking on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6.

Even though the start of training camp in a few days from now is the main focus at the moment for the Los Angeles Rams, the defending NFC champions did receive some surprise news on Monday in regards to one of their opponents.

With the Rams earning back-to-back NFC West titles over the last two seasons, there was already plenty of excitement surrounding the team’s first meeting of 2019 with the Seattle Seahawks, which will take place in Week 5.

Prior to the rise of the Rams, the Seahawks were viewed as the team to beat in the division. And while Seattle did manage to earn a trip to the playoffs last season as a Wild Card team, there’s nothing they would love more than to re-take the division from Los Angeles in 2019.

Of course, that’s always easier said than done since Sean McVay has built this Rams team to be a strong contender for years to come, but also this doesn’t mean the Seahawks should be viewed as less of a threat.

If anything, the last thing Los Angeles can afford to do this upcoming season is sleep on Seattle, or it could very well result in losing one or both meetings with their division rivals.

As for the surprise news that will have an impact on Week 5, well the Seahawks found out on Monday that Jarran Reed will miss the first six games of 2019 as a result of a suspension, leaving Seattle with a huge void left on the defensive side of the football.

Most importantly for the Rams, since their first of two meetings with the Seahawks will take place in Week 5, Reed’s absence could give Los Angeles a huge advantage on offense since this will result in one less key player to worry about.

Just how much of a difference is Reed’s absence going to make? The fact that Reed is coming off a career year in 2018 by recording 10.5 sacks while starting all 16 games for the Seahawks shows how much they’re going to miss their star defender those first six games.

Taking into consideration some of the questions surrounding the offensive line of the Rams after a few adjustments this offseason, not having to worry about Reed going after Jared Goff should benefit Los Angeles in a big way.

But when these two rivals meet for a second time come December, the Rams better be prepared since Reed will most likely not only feel extra motivated, but also this Week 14 battle could have some sort of playoff implications for both teams.