Prediction: Hard to make argument this will be Rams' week

Prediction: Hard to make argument this will be Rams' week
By Alden Gonzalez

[www.espn.com]

LOS ANGELES -- Maybe this is the game the Rams are meant to have.

It's their celebrated debut at Los Angeles Coliseum, a lavish homecoming party to commemorate their return to the West Coast. It's against the Seattle Seahawks, the class of the Rams' division, but also a team they found a way to beat twice last year. And it would be the perfect way to wash away the sting of a demoralizing 28-0 loss in the Monday Night Football opener against the hapless San Francisco 49ers.

It's so easy to let emotions sway you here.

But strip that away, analyze this game in a vacuum, and it's hard to find tangible reasons to think the Rams will actually win.

Let's start offensively, because, well, if you witnessed their opening performance at Levi's Stadium, it's hard to focus anywhere else. The Rams had the worst passing attack in the NFL last season, and the players they added in hopes of upgrading that unit are currently unavailable (No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff is merely the backup, and rookie receivers Pharoh Cooper and Nelson Spruce are hurt).

Incumbent starter Case Keenum struggled mightily against a 49ers defense that isn't supposed to be anything special, completing 17-of-35 passes, averaging 3.7 yards per attempt and throwing two interceptions. The game plan went mostly went sideline to sideline, with very little threat of Keenum stretching the field vertically. That allowed the 49ers to stack the box and limit star running back Todd Gurley, who averaged an NFL-worst 0.24 yards before first contact.

The Rams won't win if this area doesn't greatly improve, but how can it possibly improve against a secondary that has allowed the fewest yards per dropback since 2012?

Now let's go to the defense. The Rams tightened up in this department after giving up 123 first-half rushing yards in Week 1. But they inexplicably allowed opposing quarterback Blaine Gabbert to rush for 43 yards, most of them after he went through all of his progressions and found the middle of the field wide open. Russell Wilson -- with the second-most rushing yards by a quarterback since his rookie season in 2012 -- is far more a threat to run despite a sprained ankle that wasn't serious enough to keep him out of practice this week.

Just as concerning, though, is that Wilson has steadily improved as a pocket passer throughout his career. And that the Rams' biggest deficiencies on defense come in their secondary, with Rodney McLeod and Janoris Jenkins leaving over the offseason and E.J. Gaines out for Week 2 with a thigh injury.

Prediction: Seahawks 17, Rams 7.