Kyle Shanahan admits what Rams already fear about Seahawks defense

The NFC Championship is set. It'll be the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams against the one-seeded Seattle Seahawks after the Rams staved off the Bears and the Seahawks blew out the 49ers in the divisional round.

It always felt like the NFC was going to come down to these two teams, and now, here we are. Rams fans know this won't be an easy task, especially after seeing what the Seahawks defense did to the 49ers on Saturday. That game was never close.

The outcome forced 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to admit something that the Rams are hopefully well-aware of as they prepare for this game: The Seahawks defense is really, really good.

"Because they've got a real good defense," Shanahan said. "I liked how we came to play the first half a lot more. I thought we were much more ready. "

"I thought we were moving the ball. But when you get stopped on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1, nothing counts for it. And the next time up, we had a turnover with the fumble. And then when we got stopped on downs at the beginning of the third quarter, then it was out of hand."

Kyle Shanahan delivers warning Rams cannot afford to ignore

Rams fans know how good the Seahawks defense is, but Shanahan's warning is definitely a good reminder of what this team is up against next week. The Seahawks defense is on absolute fire right now.

Compound that with the fact that they're the home team for this matchup and, as much as it sucks to admit, Lumen Field is one of the best home-field advantages in the entire NFL.

This also won't be the first time these two have matched up in the 2025 season. It'll actually be the third time we've seen the Rams and Seahawks duke it out, with the teams splitting the difference during the regular season. Los Angeles narrowly won the matchup in November, but the second game in December was a whole other story.

The Seahawks fought and clawed their way back after the Rams had gotten off to a commanding lead and went on to win the game.

The Seahawks defense wasn't so stout in that one. The Rams scored 37 points. Still, it's hard not to be intimidated by what that unit did against the 49ers.

Sure, the Niners were dealing with some injuries, but they looked formidable against the Eagles the week prior. They certainly weren't the pushovers that they looked like in the divisional round.

The Rams offense has to play better than it did on Sunday in Chicago or this could get ugly quickly. Let's hope the Rams listen to Shanahan's warning and can find a way to take down the number-one-seeded Seahawks in their own stadium. If they can do that, the Super Bowl awaits.