Bills Fire McDermott, Hire Brady and Add DJ Moore After Divisional OT Loss

Q: Will Seattle's reigning championship core and elite defense prove too much for the heavily favored Rams in a playoff showdown?

Yes, Seattle is one of the few teams built to do it, but the Rams should still be treated as the slight favorite in that matchup. The evidence for Seattle is strong. The Seahawks are the reigning champions, they return almost all of their Super Bowl starting core, and their defense remains their biggest advantage. Leonard Williams, Devon Witherspoon, Ernest Jones IV, Jarran Reed and Byron Murphy II anchor a unit widely viewed as one of the league’s best, and continuity under Mike Macdonald’s system matters in a playoff game. Seattle also has a recent track record against Los Angeles, beating the Rams twice in three meetings last season and edging them in the NFC title game. That said, the Rams are favored for a reason. They already had one of the league’s deepest rosters, and their offseason only widened the ceiling with additions such as Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie, plus Aaron Donald’s return. With Matthew Stafford leading an elite offense, Los Angeles has more top-end star power than any team in the league and fewer obvious weaknesses than Seattle. So the most realistic answer is that Seattle’s defense absolutely could make the difference in a one-game playoff, especially because it has already shown it can disrupt the Rams. But “too much” may overstate it. If these teams meet in January, it would likely look close to a coin-flip game, with Seattle’s championship poise and defense giving it a real shot, but not enough to knock the Rams off clear favorite status.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Sep 7

Buffalo reshaped its leadership and roster after an overtime divisional-round exit, dismissing Sean McDermott, promoting Joe Brady to head coach and trading for receiver DJ Moore.
Josh Allen's Super Bowl window drove the urgency: the quarterback turned 30 in May, and the Bills also upgraded their defense to strengthen a roster built around him.
Allen's track record against the Rams adds intrigue to Buffalo's title push — in 3 games against Los Angeles, he has 950 passing yards, 15 total touchdowns and 146 rushing yards.
Week 5 brings an early measuring stick at the Rams on Monday night, with the matchup framed as a possible Super Bowl LXI preview at SoFi Stadium.