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When the Seattle Seahawks lost on the road against the St. Louis Rams in Week 7, it was a bit of a wakeup call for Earl Thomas and the defending Super Bowl champions.

But since that 28-26 loss that mired them to a disappointing 3-3 start, the Hawks (11-4) have been a different team, reeling off eight wins against just one loss.

Now in Week 17, with the NFC West crown and the No. 1 seed in the conference within their reach, Seattle meets St. Louis (6-9) again with a chance to extract a measure of revenge at CenturyLink Field, while proving how far they’ve come in the last 10 weeks.

In the last five games in particular, the Hawks have looked like perhaps the best team in the NFL, and their resurgence has been led by Earl and the Legion of Boom. The Seattle defense has allowed just 6.6 points, 193.6 total yards—122.8 passing, 70.8 rushing—per game in that span.

The difference between where the Seahawks were the last time they played the Rams and where they are now is stark, and corner Richard Sherman noted how far they’ve come in his comments to the media this week.

“We’re healthier,” Sherman said. “Guys are playing good football, we’re confident and really, really prepared for everything. Our offense is playing outstanding football right now. Marshawn Lynch is playing MVP-caliber football.”

While the dominance of the defense has keyed Seattle’s run, the play of the offense has been just as significant, particular that of Lynch. Marshawn has been destroying defenses left and right, notching four 100-yard games and 10 total touchdowns since that meeting in St. Louis.

The Legion Of Boom was solid in the loss in St. Louis and allowed just 275 total yards, including just 173 through the air. But Austin Davis, the Rams’ starting quarterback at the time, completed 17 of his 20 passes to consistently keep drives alive. No. 29 had six tackles in that game and didn’t allow the Rams a single play of more than 30 yards.

Special teams ultimately doomed Seattle, as the Rams returned a kickoff for 75 yards in the first quarter, took a punt back for a touchdown on a trick play in the second quarter and converted a first down on a successful fake punt in the fourth quarter that sealed the game. But the big-play Seahawks defense also couldn’t force a single turnover in the loss and walked away disappointed in the performance.

“We didn’t play very well, and we were a little disappointed when we looked at the film of how we played on defense,” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said of that game. “Hopefully that will factor into helping us. It’s going to be a very challenging game.”

As a whole, turnovers have been hard to come by for the Seattle defense this season. The Hawks have just 21 takeaways through 15 weeks after forcing 39 last season. Of those, 28 were interceptions, but ET and the L.O.B. have picked off just 11 passes this year. Sherman joked with the media about that disparity and how the Hawks plan to bridge the gap in the last game of the season.

“We’re going to shoot for it,” Sherm said with a laugh. “We’re going to shoot for the moon and hopefully land on a star. Seventeen interceptions in one game hasn’t been done before—but you know what, there’s a first time for everything.”

Earl, Sherman and strong safety Kam Chancellor were all just selected for the Pro Bowl, the second straight year the trio has been chosen. For ET III, it marks his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl honor, while Chancellor and Sherman have three and two selections respectively.

Linebacker Bobby Wagner and Lynch both also joined the L.O.B. trio as the five Seahawks selected. The Rams, meanwhile, had two honorees: defensive tackle Aaron Donald and defensive end Robert Quinn.

St. Louis was eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago, though they certainly haven’t been lifeless on the field. Prior to their current two-game losing streak, they had won back-to-back games over the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins by a mind-boggling combined score of 76-0. They followed that up with a 12-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15 and a 37-26 defeat at the hands of the New York Giants last week

In that loss to the Giants last week, the Rams were also flagged for numerous late hit penalties and involved in a brawl, and that was just a standard game; this week’s game pits division rivals, so it could be expected to get chippy. In his weekly press conference, Carroll noted that his team knows St. Louis very well and won’t be altering any game plan because of their physicality.

“We are trying to play the game we want to play, play it on our terms as best as we can and not be taken out of that. This is no different than any other game, although we do recognize something happened last week. That’s not going to change anything,” he said. “We have a lot of respect for this team, these coaches and these players. They probably have the most athletic team we’ll face all year long, probably the fastest group we will see. I know they are young, but they are very athletic. We will have our hands full.”

Lucky for Carroll, the Hawks have some pretty athletic guys of their own.

At the forefront of the Seattle attack is Lynch, the star running back who reeled off an incredible 79-yard touchdown run last week against Arizona. Lynch put up just 53 rushing yards on 18 attempts in the entire game against St. Louis earlier this year, but has averaged 98.5 yards per game over the last four weeks.

The Seahawks will be hoping for and expecting Lynch to maintain the productive workload against St. Louis, and Earl said Beast Mode’s most recent epic run made him realize the Seattle running back is just different from others.

“I saw a guy that was fearless, and I saw the people on the field were scared of him,” ET III said of Lynch. “He’s so different, bro.”

With perhaps the most feared running back in the NFL on their side, the Hawks enter the final week of the season as confident as ever.

While Lynch has been firing on all cylinders for the Seahawks offense, the team’s defense has been doing the same and will approach the contest with a big goal: to finish the regular season at the top of all three defensive categories.

Seattle currently leads the NFL in total defense (268.6 YPG) and passing defense (184.5 YPG). But the Hawks are currently third against the rush, allowing 84.1 yards per contest. They’re trailing the league-leading Detroit Lions, who have given up just 63.8 YPG.

“We’re playing good defense in a lot of areas,” Sherman said. “I think our total yardage is down from what it was a year ago. Our pass yardage is somewhat close to what it was a year ago. Our rush game is close to what it was a year ago. I’m not sure how many times a team has led the NFL in three yardage categories, but we’re going to do our best to get in that company.”

Sunday’s game is scheduled for a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff, and it will be broadcast on Fox.

RELATED LINKS

• Seahawks vs. Rams preview (ESPN)
• Seahawks taking on Rams with huge playoff implications on the line (ESPN, December 26, 2014)
• Earl Thomas among five Seahawks to make Pro Bowl (The Seattle Times, December 23, 2014)
• Richard Sherman thinks more of Seattle defense should make Pro Bowl (CBS, December 24, 2014)
• Grantland names Earl Thomas an easy All-Pro (Grantland, December 23, 2014)
• Seahawks Press Pass – Richard Sherman Week 17 (Seahawks.com, Dec. 24, 2014)