After a rough loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 8, the Los Angeles Rams went into their bye week at 5-3 with a sour taste in their mouths.
That showed when they returned to the field in Week 10 as the Rams welcomed the first-place Seattle Seahawks to town and put together a solid all-around performance, earning a 23-16 victory. With the win over Seattle, the Rams are now tied for first in the NFC West at 6-3 with the Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals carrying the same record.
Before we get into some analysis, let’s discuss how this victory went down for the Rams. It looked as if this game was gonna be a shootout early with L.A. leading 17-10 midway through the second quarter. After Seattle added an impressive 61-yard field goal just before the end of the first half, the Rams went into the locker room with a 17-13 lead.
The scoring slowed down significantly in the second half though, which is a credit to the Rams defense for continuously getting pressure on Russell Wilson. The Seahawks had five drives in the second half and the results were two punts, two turnovers and a field goal, leading to the 23-16 final score after L.A. added one touchdown in the third quarter.
Here are some observations as we dig deeper into the Rams’ big win over the Seahawks:
Defense did outstanding job getting pressure on Russell Wilson
As previously mentioned, the Rams’ defense was awesome against a Seahawks offense that was one of the best in the league coming into this game, so it only makes sense to start by discussing their performance.
In order to have success against an MVP candidate like Wilson, you have to get pressure on him, and the Rams were able to do exactly that.
Aaron Donald’s impact on the stat sheet wasn’t huge as he finished with two quarterback hits and zero tackles. Anyone who watched the game realizes that was by the Seahawks’ design though and his impact goes far beyond the stat sheet. Donald was doubled team on nearly every play, which led to good matchups for the Rams’ other defensive linemen, and they made the most of it.
L.A. finished with six sacks in the game, led by a career-day by Leonard Floyd, who had three sacks, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Rookie Terrell Lewis also made his presence felt with two sacks and Michael Brockers was responsible for the final Rams sack.
Wilson dropped back to pass 50 times on the day and was pressured 23 times, which is a season-high for the Rams. Wilson turned the ball over three times for the second consecutive week for the first time in his career. He seems to have every team in the league figured out except the Rams as he is 3-7 in his career against them.
Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams led way in secondary
As great as the Rams’ defensive line was getting pressure on Wilson, the secondary was just as good on the back end.
We weren’t sure how much Jalen Ramsey would shadow DK Metcalf, but it wound up being most of the game and he straight up shut down one of the best young receivers in the league.
Metcalf finished the game with two catches for 28 yards, both of which came in zone coverage. He wasn’t targeted a single time while being guarded by Ramsey, who is putting together another All-Pro season and proving to be worth every penny of the big extension he signed before the start of the season.
With Ramsey not being targeted often, that put a ton of pressure on the Rams’ cornerback opposite him, Darious Williams, and he had a career day. Williams picked off Wilson two times, including an incredible acrobatic diving interception near the sideline. He also had what would have been a third interception that he returned for a touchdown, but it was called back due to an offside penalty.
Williams is having a Pro Bowl season in his own right, ranking third in the league with four interceptions. The Rams’ secondary was thought to be a weakness before the season, but to this point, it has proven to be a big strength for Brandon Staley’s defense.
Injuries starting to pile up
The Rams have been one of the healthiest teams in the league this season, but Sunday was a rough one in terms of injuries. Veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth went down with a knee injury and is expected to be placed on injured reserve. Reports indicate it wasn’t a torn ACL though, so the hope is that he will be back at some point this season.
Rams safety Taylor Rapp could also miss some time moving forward after going down with an MCL sprain. With the return of Jordan Fuller though, the Rams’ safety corps is in a much better spot than it was the last few weeks despite Terrell Burgess also going down with a season-ending injury.
The final injury was an ankle issue that kicker Kai Forbath went down with. Forbath missed an extra point in the third quarter before being forced to miss the remainder of the game. The Rams have now missed a kick (field goal or extra point) in eight of nine games this season, so it is clear that kicking continues to be an issue for them.
Second-half dominance in full force
I’ve talked about this a lot in this weekly column, but the Rams have been absolutely dominant in the second halves of games this season. They are outscoring opponents 106-39 coming out of the locker room, which means the defense is giving up a really impressive 4.3 points per game in the second half.
Whether it be the coaching staff’s adjustments or the players’ conditioning, it is good to see the Rams playing a full four quarters week in and week out.
Running back by committee continues
Just keeping an eye on the Rams’ running back committee here, and it still doesn’t look like anyone is separating themself from the pack. Here are the lines for the three backs in the win over the Seahawks:
Malcolm Brown- 29 snaps, six carries for 33 yards and two touchdowns, two receptions for 18 yards
Darrell Henderson- 23 snaps, seven carries for 28 yards and a touchdown, one reception for five yards
Cam Akers- 18 snaps, 10 carries for 38 yards
Pretty even disturibution of snaps and touches, and all had some success when called upon, so we can expect the committee to continue moving forward.
Up next
Things don’t get any easier for the Rams moving forward as they now travel to take on Tom Brady and the 7-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football in Week 11.
A win over Tampa could be huge for postseason tiebreaks, so hopefully the Rams come out strong once again against another formidable opponent on a big stage.
