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Tre Mason Injury: Seattle Seahawks could have huge advantage

By Kevin Parvizi

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The St. Louis Rams are a favorite sleeper pick as we head into the beginning of the regular season, and they could beat out the Arizona Cardinals for the title of being the NFC West’s second-best team after the Cards stole that badge of honor from the San Francisco 49ers last year. While the 49ers are still mired in dysfunction and are the favorites to finish last in the division, the Seattle Seahawks are as strong as ever and could assert their dominance this week if Tre Mason is unable to play for the Rams.

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Mason’s status for this week’s game has always been in some doubt, and the second-year pro’s health has become all the more important with first-round pick Todd Gurley not expected to play in the first three weeks, as per the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

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Although not as talented as Gurley, Mason was a touted third-round pick in the 2014 draft class and was seen by some analysts as the second-best prospect in the class behind Carlos Hyde. While only Jeremy Hill truly exploded onto the scene as a rookie, Mason had plenty of positive moments in his first season despite playing in an offense that was bereft of a passing game and dealt with major issues on the offensive line.

Adding Nick Foles will surely help Mason, and it will be a mutually beneficial relationship with each player taking pressure off of the other. Mason, after all, showed real playmaking juice as a rookie. According to Pro Football Focus, Mason broke 28 tackles as a rusher despite receiving just 179 carries in his first season, and he was one of the most impressive big-play threats on the ground with the third-highest percentage of his runs going for at least 15 yards.

ESPN NFL Nation’s Nick Wagoner tweeted a couple of days ago that Rams head coach Jeff Fisher stated that Mason will “probably” be a game-time decision this week when his team defends its home turf against the rival Seahawks on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

It’s still too early in the week to make predictions on Mason’s status for Sunday’s game, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas reported that Mason did not practice today. When replying to a fan asking whether or not Mason will be able to play this week, Thomas replied that it’s “not looking good” when it comes to the running back’s chances of suiting up.

Friday’s practice will tell us whether or not Mason has a good shot at playing, but it’s obvious that the Rams need him out there against the NFL’s best defense. Not only did the Seahawks surrender just 3.4 yards per carry in 2014 (the second-lowest average allowed), but they allowed the least amount of passing yards, the least amount of passing attempts, the second-lowest passing touchdowns, and the third-lowest net yards per pass attempt.

If Tre Mason is unable to play against Seattle, then the Rams will have to hope that change-of-pace guy Benny Cunningham can shoulder the load, which is simply an unrealistic expectation. Even if Kam Chancellor holds out of this Week 1 rivalry game, Foles still has an incredibly tall task against a secondary that will have Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas (albeit playing through the pain) out there.

Although Mason was held to just 28 yards on 11 carries in the St. Louis Rams 20-6 Week 17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, his first big game as a pro came against the ‘Hawks in Week 7. After putting up 40 yards on just five carries against the 49ers, Mason helped spearhead a memorable upset against Seattle by putting up 85 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.

With Mason set to get better in his second season, missing out on him in a key Week 1 game is a huge loss for the Rams. And while it hurts their chances of winning a Week 1 “statement” game at home that would send the message “We are a legit playoff contender” to the rest of the league, it would be an even bigger statement for the Rams to upset the Seahawks with Cunningham leading the way instead of Mason (or Gurley) as the feature back.

The Seahawks might not have Chancellor out there delivering punishing hits and smothering Rams tight end Jared Cook, but the Rams might not have Mason out there either. Hopefully he can play so that this game will be as interesting as it can possibly be, because he is an ascending second-year player whose talent shouldn’t be masked by the drafting of Gurley. There’s still a fair shot he’ll be able to play through his hamstring injury, but maybe the Rams will choose to leave him out of the game as a game-time decision, simply for fear of risking aggravation of this injury later on in the year.

If Mason can’t play, then the Rams could be one-dimensional on offense, forcing them to try and beat the Seahawks with shorter throws and good decision-making from Foles. That’s awfully hard to do against the Seahawks defense, especially since Seattle’s pass rush matches up favorably against the Rams offensive line.

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