Massive clashes loom in the trenches as Byron Young tests Seahawks' offensive lineman Abraham Lucas in a pivotal NFC Championship showdown.
The Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams are going to face off on Sunday in the NFC Championship, by far the most important game for either team in years.
But the game is not just going to be played by the skill positions that might get more of the glory than the other guys, but it will also be played on the offensive and defensive lines where things can get a bit messy.
In a recent article by Cameron DaSilva of Rams Wire, he outlines six matchups that could be key in the NFC title game. One of them that he mentions is in the trenches between Seahawks tackle Abraham Lucas and Rams outside linebacker Byron Young.
"We don’t yet know who the Seahawks will start at left tackle with Charles Cross banged up, but it’ll be Lucas on the right side against Young," DaSilva writes. "Young played his lowest snap share of the season against the Bears due to some knee soreness but if he’s fully healthy, he could be a game-changer."
The Rams were sixth in the league in sacks with 48, just one away from being in the top five. And an absolutely massive part of that was the stellar play from Young.
He finished the 2025 season with 12 sacks, which placed him tied for eighth in the league. Young also shows his incredible ability to wrap people up at the outside linebacker position with 82 total tackles.
All of this led to him being named to his first ever Pro Bowl, and it was a very well deserved one.
As for the Seahawks, Sam Darnold was 18th in sacks taken in the league, which puts the team as one of the better offensive lines in the league. But there is always a bit of a weak spot in any o-line.
"Lucas has been good all year but he’s allowed the most pressures and sacks of any Seahawks lineman. If young can win that matchup and apply pressure on Darnold, he could force him into costly mistakes."
But just because Lucas was the weakest link on the line for the Seahawks does not mean he was a slouch. He also never took a snap off, playing a whopping 1,061 over the course of the season.
Young is a touch matchup to say the least in a game as big as this one, but Lucas will need to step up to the plate so that he can help Darnold lead the team to victory and to the team's first Super Bowl since 2014.