How the Seahawks can hold off the surging Rams in 3 easy steps

The Seattle Seahawks rivalry with the Los Angeles Rams rivalry just got a little bit hotter with the Los Angeles Rams going full send on the 2026 season. The Rams traded for Myles Garrett in a blockbuster move that forced them to move off their young, budding star in Jared Verse. The only reason the Rams make this move is because they feel like Garrett is the only person that can resurrect the ghosts that once haunted Sam Darnold. 

Darnold is fresh off a Super Bowl win (yes, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that as well). This season he’ll either prove he was the right choice all along or he’ll regress back to the version of himself that got passed around the NFC until he landed in Seattle. 

Seattle will have a lot to figure out between now and the end of the season to make sure they’re fully prepared for this new-look Seahawks team. Both of these are on a crash course for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and now it’s Seattle’s turn for a response in this chess match. 

Improve their cornerback room to counter pass heavy offense

The Rams were pretty content with their offense, hence why the bulk of their moves this offseason were to bolster their defense. The Seahawks have to take a page out of that book for a couple of reasons. For one, the Seahawks lost a lot from last year’s defense in Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen and Boye Mafe. The Seahawks didn’t spend crazy this offseason, but with Marshon Lattimore and Trevon Diggs out there, it might not be a bad idea to turn to them to improve their cornerback room. 

It might be overkill to get both, but each player has had a bad run with injuries so you’re essentially getting built-in insurance. Devon Witherspoon should be the top cornerback with Josh Jobe as CB2. Lattimore or Diggs have been solid corners at one point in their respective careers so getting one of them to be opposite of Witherspoon could benefit this defense. 

Turn to free agent Joey Bosa, trade for Kayvon Thibodeaux to improve defensive line

Losing Boye Mafe might not be as big of a loss as it could be, which is why the Seattle Seahawks probably haven’t been aggressive in searching for his replacement. That said, Joey Bosa is a cheap option that could produce at a good enough level. Scoring on the Rams is going to be tough, which is why focusing on defensively, scheming them out of the game. Bosa has had some injury problems as well as DeMarcus Lawrence, which would be the biggest risk here. 

There aren’t really any other free agent options worth gambling. Maybe they make a move at Kayvon Thibodeaux. The New York Giants have showed interest in trading him and that would give the Seahawks a pass rusher with some upside to replace what Mafe contributed. They don’t have to have a long term solution in place now, but trading for Thibodeaux means he could impress enough to earn an extension. 

The goal here is because the Rams didn’t focus on offense, the Seahawks can find cracks in their offensive line to beat the Rams. The Seahawks were really good at disguising and simulating pressure in 2025 and were particularly good outside of their base defense packages. This is the key to disrupting the Rams and if one of Bosa or Thibodeaux can contribute, it’s a low-risk gamble worth taking.

Upgrade their interior offensive line

Grey Zabel was a phenomenal selection by the Seahawks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now the Seahawks need to solve the puzzle, which is the other guard position. Anthony Bradford didn’t have a strong 2025 season and with the Rams’ overhaul of their defense, they need to patch up any glaring holes. The free agency market doesn’t have a lot of options so they may need to actually trade for a player here. 

Mekhi Becton and James Daniels are possible solutions, but they’re also not great ones. Becton had a rough 2025 in Los Angeles which got him released and Daniels had some mysterious injury problems in Miami. The Dolphins signed him to a three-year deal and only got three snaps from him after he tore his pectoral in Week 1. What was supposed to be a relatively quick recovery turned into a season-long saga. The Seahawks don’t need those types of problems. 

That said, they need to find some improvements on the interior of the offensive line. It’s already going to be a task containing Myles Garrett. Having to do that while also not getting exploited in your weak spot is near impossible. Any solution feels better than Bradford and waiting around for him to improve might not be worth it. 

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