Matthew Stafford knows he has his work cut out for him against Mike Macdonald’s defense in Seattle on Sunday.
Joining Jim Gray on Let’s Go! Podcast earlier this week, Stafford was asked about facing the Seahawks for the third time this season.
“As good a defense as we’ve faced all year,” he said. “They’ve got four guys that they rotate on the outside, on the edge rushers. They’ve got guys in the middle that are really, really talented players. The second basemen are great. Ernest (Jones IV) is having a hell of a year. And then in the secondary, they’re long and fast and aggressive. It’s a great group.”
Sagan meets Stafford this week.
Sunday marks the first time the No. 1 scoring offense (Rams) has faced the No. 1 defense (Seahawks) in a conference championship game since 2014, when Seattle’s No. 1 D knocked off Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers’ No. 1 O.
Since 1990, the no. 1 was 0-4 against goal defense no. 1 when they have met in the conference or the Super Bowl (three of the four offenses had an NFL MVP). Two of those four wins by the top defense came from the Legion of Boom Seahawks — 2014 vs. Green Bay; Super Bowl XLVIII blowout of the Denver Broncos.
Not only does Stafford have to contend with a defense that has no discernible weakness, comes in waves and is led by a champion in Macdonald; there is also the famous crowd noise.
“Oh, man, it’s tough,” he said of the road to Seattle. “It’s as good an atmosphere as there is in football. I can’t imagine the NFC Championship game not just exceeding those expectations. They do a great job of creating that home field advantage. And you have to go play in the wild there with the crowd and everything that comes with that, but really you’re playing against the guys on the grass and that’s as talented a football team as they’re going to see at the top of the NFL. They’re very well coached. They play fast and physical.”