The battle for the NFC West crown was a tough one this season, although the Seattle Seahawks ultimately came out on top after beating the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16.
Despite losing out on their third division title in the last four seasons, the Rams are still heading to the postseason after beating the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC at 10-6.
Ironically, the way the seeding worked out, the Rams will actually be traveling to take on the Seahawks on Saturday night of Wild Card weekend. This will mark the third meeting between the division rivals, with each team winning one to this point.
In an interview with ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry after the win against the Cardinals, Rams star Aaron Donald was asked about facing the Seahawks again and he had an interesting answer:
“That’s who we wanted. That’s exactly who we wanted.”
Even in the Week 16 loss to the Seahawks, Donald and the Rams defense did a solid job of slowing down Russell Wilson and their high-powered offense, so it is easy to see why they are so confident going into the third matchup.
It is currently unclear who will be playing quarterback for the Rams though as Jared Goff is still dealing with his broken thumb. If he is unable to go then John Wolford would be making his second career start looking to build off a solid outing against the Cardinals in Week 17.
As far as Donald goes, he is heading into the postseason playing some of the best football of his career. After recording 13.5 sacks with four forced fumbles and also leading the league with 98 total pressures, Donald is likely on his way to winning the third NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in the last four years.
With a tough matchup against Wilson coming up though, Donald and the Rams defense will certainly have to keep up their high level of play to advance to the next round.
