Final weather forecast pits Rams against Seahawks and Mother Nature's worst

When the 11-3 Los Angeles Rams suit up to face the 11-3 Seattle Seahawks for their Thursday Night Football showdown, the two teams will not be the only forces vying to alter the outcome. After all, weather becomes active as the season winds down. While this is not the blizzard that Los Angeles faced in Philadelphia a year ago, this could be far worse.

The entire NFL is about to see why Seattle, Washington, is also known as the Emerald City. The nearby Pacific Ocean bathes the city in plenty of warmer-than-expected moisture that is blown ashore in the form of steady rain. Right now, Mother Nature is bathing the city in rain.

So, what can fans expect? At kickoff, the current forecast at Lumen Field is:

• 46 degrees Fahrenheit
• Steady to hard rain
• Steady winds out of the SouthWest at 14 miles per hour
• Wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour

The wind will make passing erratic and unreliable. The rain with make the field slick in places. It's the kind of weather conditions that create havoc with well-formulated game plans. And it's all we've got for Thursday Night Football.

Rams may end up with the advantage in windy conditions

While the wind and rain will impact both teams, it was the Seahawks offense that relied more heavily upon quarterback Sam Darnold's throwing to compete. And yet, if the wind is gusting up to 35 miles per hour, can any game plan involve a heavy reliance upon the passing game?

LA's run defense absolutely shut down Detroit Lions star running back Jahmyr Gibbs. But right now, nobody is shutting down the Rams running back duo of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. With wild, windy, and wet conditions, it's nearly impossible to envision the Seahawks doing so. They averaged better than 5.0 yards per carry in the first showdown.

But can fans expect head coach Sean McVay to stick with the running game even in these conditions? The only time this offense seemed to value running over passing was the lone game when the plays were called by offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.

This has been an eventful week. Perhaps too eventful. LA has a mini-bye of 10 days before playing their next game. Win or lose, the best fans can hope for is for players to emerge healthy.

As always, thanks for reading