The bye week came at the right time for the Los Angeles Rams as they had lost three straight games to drop to 3-6 on the season.
Getting a week off allowed the Rams to get healthy and as a result, they returned in Week 11 and picked up a come-from-behind 17-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at home. With the win, the Rams improved to 4-6 and completed the season sweep over their division rivals.
This game followed a similar script as their Week 1 matchup as the Rams fell behind early and then locked in on defense in the second half with the offense making enough plays to win it.
The biggest question mark coming into the game was the health of Matthew Stafford after he missed the Rams’ last game with a thumb issue. He clearly wasn’t playing at 100% but still toughed it out. He also took a big shot on an interception in the second half but was able to fight through it and led two scoring drives late to complete the comeback.
Overall in the game, Stafford completed 17-of-31 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown went to Puka Nacua, who continued his outstanding rookie season with five receptions for 70 yards and the score. With Cooper Kupp going down in the first half with an ankle injury, Nacua stepped up with some big catches late.
The Rams also found some success on the ground as Royce Freeman had a solid game with 17 carries for 73 yards while Darrell Henderson had L.A.’s other touchdown.
While the offense did enough, it was really the defense that won this game for the Rams. After giving up a touchdown on their opening drive, they allowed just three field goals the rest of the way with Seattle only scoring three total points in the second half.
Derion Kendrick had the tough challenge of guarding DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett outside and handled his own, even coming up with the first interception of his career.
Aaron Donald was also in the backfield all day and recorded a tackle for loss. He also had a big hit on Geno Smith that knocked him out of the game for a few drives, which was perhaps the difference.
Smith returned for the final drive and led the Seahawks down the field to attempt a game-winning field goal. Even though Jason Myers had already made two 50-plus yarders on the day, he missed the game-winning 55-yard attempt to the right and the Rams would hang on for the win.
Up next for the Rams…
At 4-6, the Rams are back in the NFC playoff mix and they will have a prime opportunity to get another win in Week 12 when they have another division matchup on the road with the 2-9 Arizona Cardinals.
