Pro Football Doc: Thursday Night NFC West Showdown: LA Rams vs. Seattle

The Rams and the Seahawks are both chasing the Cardinals at the top of the NFC West and neither can afford to fall further behind. The Rams are only a game back but lost head-to-head vs. Arizona last week. The Seahawks can ill afford to fall three games back this early on.

Looking at injury analysis, the Sunday 5 picks have us at 12-8. There is often no actionable advantage for the single games, but in tonight's game, there may be.

LA RAMS -2.5 vs SEATTLE



The Rams have a subtle injury advantage of 7.3 SIC score points over the Seahawks, with an edge on both sides of the ball. The biggest difference is the Los Angeles defense is 10.3 points healthier than the Seattle offense, which may be without RB Chris Carson and TE Gerald Everett as well as two offensive linemen.

The Rams defense featuring a stout defensive line is essentially all healthy. Of course on offense, the Rams are without Cam Akers, who tore his Achilles. However, Darrell Henderson is a capable replacement and is poised to play well again coming off rib injury, even if he needs an intercostal nerve block to do so. 

Go to www.profootballdoc.com to see all of the details on this game and others to make your fantasy/DFS/wagering decisions. 



Sports Injury Center (SIC) Score is our proprietary numerical injury grading system that incorporates the health of every NFL team and individual players to give sports bettors, DFS players and fantasy owners an edge each week during the season. While it purposely doesn't take into account coaching, schemes or matchups, SIC Scores give an accurate assessment of team/player overall health heading into a game.

Written by
David Chao, MD -- known digitally as Pro Football Doc -- is an expert contributor for Outkick. Chao spent 17 seasons as the team doctor for the San Diego Chargers (1997-2013) and is part of the medical team at OASIS in San Diego where he treats and specializes in orthopedic sports injuries, working with high-profile professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, and MLB.