'Monday Night Football': Five things to watch

In a rare October occasion, Monday night's NFL game at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis will be in direct competition for local fans' attention with Game 5 of Major League Baseball's World Series.

Given the drastic differences in circumstance between the Rams and St. Louis Cardinals -- one starts a new quarterback and stares at a lost season, while the other plays a pivotal game for its sport's biggest prize -- the crowd for the "Monday Night Football" matchup between the Rams and Seattle Seahawks is expected to be less than overflowing.

A quick search on StubHub revealed that there are tickets available for as little as $7 for tonight's football game. As of 11 a.m. ET, there were 472 tickets for sale $10 and under.

You know who will be watching? We will be, and we promise to love every second of the final game of Week 8.

Here are five things we are watching for:

1. It's not often you can look at an NFL matchup and justifiably say: "You know, that team legitimately could pitch a shutout." The Seahawks boast one of the NFL's best defenses, one that includes a ball-hawking, shutdown secondary. That group gets to face veteran quarterback Kellen Clemens, who is making his first start since 2011. It could get ugly for the Rams.

2. Speaking of Clemens, the former 2006 second-round draft pick just has 12 career starts. It will be interesting to see how the shockingly uncreative Brian Schottenheimer deploys his 30-year-old quarterback. If he wouldn't open up the offense for Sam Bradford, there isn't any reason to think he will for Clemens.

3. With Clemens' restrictions in mind, expect the Rams to rely on rookie running back Zac Stacy to shoulder the load. Stacy has provided some punch to the Rams' offense the past couple of weeks. However, with Clemens at quarterback, expect the Seahawks to load up to stop Stacy early.

4. One of the more intriguing matchups undoubtedly will be the Rams' pass rush trying to corral Russell Wilson. Chris Long is the more well-known player, but I want to see how Robert Quinn -- the Rams' sack leader with seven -- goes about trying to chase down Wilson.

5. The Seahawks' offense will have Percy Harvin back in the lineup soon enough. This week, I want to see how they go after Janoris Jenkins, the Rams' best cornerback. You'll remember last week when Jenkins caught the ire of Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smithafter Jenkins talked trash. We'll see how Sidney Rice, Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin respond if Jenkins runs that tactic back again.

The latest "Around The League Podcast" recapped every Week 8 game. Click here to listen and subscribe.