If we look at the prior meetings this season between the NFC's top two teams, one trend suggests a slight edge to the Seattle Seahawks.
It was Rashid Shaheed's 95-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff of the NFC Divisional round that opened the floodgates for the Seattle Seahawks to blow by the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field.
Now in an NFC Championship Game lined up against the Los Angeles Rams, top-seeded Seattle will lean on special teams and home-field advantage to get a slight edge in pursuing a Super Bowl.
Those were the main factors in the Seahawks' two regular-season meetings with division rival LA, as well.
Back in November, the Rams got a Week 11 victory over the Seahawks at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, 21-19. Seattle kicker Jason Myers posted four field goals to keep the visitors in it, but quarterback Sam Darnold plagued the offense with a career-high four interceptions in the loss.
The story flipped, however, in Week 16 as the Seahawks were the ones to defend home turf.
Seattle mounted a 16-point second-half comeback ignited by a 58-yard punt return by Shaheed, who was picked up in a trade with the New Orleans Saints at the deadline. The Seahawks took the win 38-37 in overtime.
The home team won both contests, but special teams proved to be a deciding factor, which led the Rams to fire special teams coordinator Chris Blackburn two days after the loss at Lumen Field.
Now in the penultimate game from Super Bowl LX in the Bay Area, special teams will remain a crucial facet of this matchup.
That's especially because of the experience margin between Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and the rest of the field. Stafford, the AP Second-Team All-Pro quarterback and MVP candidate, has 251 career starts while the remaining four signal-callers - Darnold, Drake Maye of the Patriots and fill-in Jarrett Stidham of the Broncos - have 127 career starts combined.
This one between the Seahawks and Rams shapes up to be an old-fashioned slugfest, with the Rams bringing the NFL's best scoring offense (30.5 points per game) to the Pacific Northwest to face the NFL's best scoring defense in the Seahawks (17.2 points per game allowed).
The matchup between these two rivals can't get any tighter, either, with the season series split between two margins of victory that add up to just three points.
Something's gotta give.
That something just might be the special teams factor Shaheed has brought to the Seattle ... and the Rams' lack of leadership possibly unable to guard it.
