The Seattle Seahawks are staring down a massive test as they prepare to host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. Matthew Stafford, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback with a cannon arm and years of experience, leads a Rams team that knows what it takes to win in January. But as dangerous as Stafford can be, he’s not invincible-and the Seahawks’ defense might just have the right formula to throw him off his game.
Let’s talk pressure. Because when Stafford is under it, things tend to unravel-and the numbers back that up in a big way.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Stafford has struggled more than any other quarterback in these playoffs when facing pressure. His passer rating under duress?
A staggering 24.8. For comparison, a quarterback who completes zero passes still posts a 39.6 rating.
That’s how rough it’s been.
Stafford has completed just 9 of 23 passes for 119 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception when pressured in the postseason. And this isn’t just a small-sample anomaly-it’s a continuation of a trend the Seahawks already exposed earlier this season.
In their regular-season overtime win over the Rams, Seattle forced Stafford into a 9-of-21 showing for 137 yards and one touchdown when under pressure. But when he had time?
He carved them up-20-of-28 for 320 yards and two scores.
That’s the split. That’s the game plan.
Seattle’s defense doesn’t just flirt with pressure-they live in it. They finished the regular season with the sixth-highest pressure rate in the league at 26.1 percent.
They were third in total pressures (180), second in hurries (73), and third in hurry percentage (10.6). This is a front seven that doesn’t just disrupt-they dictate.
And they’re coming off a performance that should have the Rams’ offensive line losing sleep. In their Divisional Round win over the 49ers, Seattle generated a franchise-record 19 pressures on Brock Purdy.
Nineteen. That shattered their previous postseason mark of 15, set back in 2016.
They turned that pressure into two sacks, a forced fumble, and a pick-game-changing plays from a defense that’s peaking at the right time.
They posted a 47.4 percent pressure rate in that game. That’s not just elite-that’s suffocating.
Now, no one’s saying they’ll hit those same numbers against a Rams offense that, despite its hiccups, still has plenty of firepower. But if the Seahawks can consistently get in Stafford’s face-speed up his clock, force him off his spot, make him uncomfortable-they’ll be attacking what might be the one remaining soft spot in his game.
Stafford’s got the resume. He’s got the arm.
But when the pocket collapses, his efficiency drops off a cliff. And with a Seahawks defense that’s built to collapse pockets, that mismatch could be the key to punching a ticket to the Super Bowl.