from Rams or Seahawks? The Athletic’s beat writers break down the NFC Championship Game
By Nate Atkins and Michael-Shawn Dugar
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6994610/2026/01/24/rams-seahawks-nfc-championship-game-preview/?source=emp_shared_article
Score predictions
Dugar: Seahawks 21, Rams 20. Seattle is at home with a top-three offense, the No. 1 defense and a legitimately game-changing collection of special teams units. This should come down to the wire. Every phase of the game will be impactful, down to the final seconds, just like the previous meeting in Seattle. I predict that in one of those three phases, the home team makes one more play than the opposition.
Atkins: Rams 27, Seahawks 24. It feels like the destiny of these teams is for a game to be decided by three points or less on a final drive. The Seahawks are rolling, but the Rams have found a clutch gene in the playoffs and improved in three key areas that caused the Week 16 collapse: The run defense with Poona Ford and Lake healthy, the playmaking of the secondary, and the special teams play with Harrison Mevis at kicker and Kotwica at coordinator. In a game that should blend these teams’ inverse styles, those improvements should create a razor-tight game in the fourth. I’ll give the edge to Stafford and his 55 career game-winning drives over Darnold. This just feels like Stafford’s year.
