The Los Angeles Rams began their second season over the weekend when they traveled to take on the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card round.
It was a matchup between two teams that were very familiar with each other having split their two regular-season meetings to set up this rubber match. Aaron Donald said before the game that the Seahawks were exactly who the Rams wanted to play, and they proved why by securing a 30-20 victory to advance to the next round.
Before I get into my analysis, I just want to say that I’m very proud of the Rams for the heart they displayed in this game. L.A. lost a number of key players to injury throughout the afternoon, but the next man stepped up every time to keep the train moving, and the result was a convincing victory over a very good Seahawks team.
It remains to be seen how far they will continue to advance, but the Rams have already exceeded everyone’s expectations by making it this far and have a chance to do even more damage. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let’s talk observations and analysis about this one…
Goff stepped up in a big way
Leading up to the game, the biggest story surrounding the Rams was who would play quarterback as Jared Goff was just two weeks removed from thumb surgery and John Wolford was solid in his NFL debut, earning a Week 17 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
While Goff was able to practice throughout the week and was active for the game, McVay ultimately went with Wolford to start to allow Goff’s thumb another week of rest to get fully healthy.
Unfortunately, Wolford did not last long in his first taste of postseason action as he went down with a scary neck injury in the first quarter that forced him to be taken to a local hospital. Luckily, it seems that Wolford is OK and didn’t sustain any serious injuries, but him going down left Goff as the Rams’ only active quarterback.
No one really knew what to expect from Goff because of his thumb, and it was clear early on that the injury was affecting the way he threw the ball. Goff toughed his way through it though and although he was nowhere near perfect, he played well enough to win. In fact, he even outplayed Russell Wilson, who many have as a top-five quarterback in the league.
Goff completed 9-of-19 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown, but most importantly, he took care of the ball and didn’t turn it over. That helped the Rams, who got solid contributions on the ground from Cam Akers, control the clock throughout the game to hang on for the victory.
McVay has not yet committed to Goff starting moving forward, but if he is able to continue improving throughout the week then there is no doubt he will be under center for L.A.
Defense continues to dominate
While Goff and the offense managed the game well, it was once again the Rams’ No. 1 ranked defense that carried them to victory.
L.A. was able to get pressure on Wilson all day, and the result was him having one of his worst games of the season, completing 11-of-27 passes for 174 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while being sacked five times.
The interception was a big one as Darious Williams read a screen pass to DK Metcalf perfectly in the second quarter, jumping the route and taking it the other way for a touchdown.
By allowing just 278 total yards and holding one of the league’s best third-down offenses to a 2-for-14 conversion rate, the Rams defense continues to show why they are the best in football. If they can continue to play at this level and the offense can take care of the ball, then that is absolutely a winning formula for L.A.
Ramsey Island
I’ve talked about Jalen Ramsey a lot in this weekly column, and here I am doing it again after he shut down one of the best receivers in the NFL, Metcalf, for a third time this season.
Per NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Ramsey allowed Metcalf to catch three passes for 33 yards on seven targets while he was in coverage. In three meetings this season, Metcalf had just four receptions for 44 yards with Ramsey guarding him.
Ramsey not only shut down Metcalf though, as he did the same for DeAndre Hopkins (twice), Mike Evans, Stefan Diggs and so many other top receivers throughout the course of the season.
Trading for and then extending Ramsey is looking like the best decision the Rams have made in a while as in addition to Aaron Donald, he really makes this defense go. He will be facing his toughest test next in Davante Adams, but if anyone is up for the challenge, it certainly is Ramsey.
Injuries piled up
I already mentioned Wolford’s neck injury, but he wasn’t the only one who went down for the Rams in this game. The same can be said for wide receiver Cooper Kupp (knee), offensive lineman David Edwards (ankle), outside linebacker Leonard Floyd (concussion) and Donald (ribs).
Among that bunch, Floyd was the only one who was able to return to the game after going down, which was a good sign that he did not have a concussion after being evaluated. That forced other players to step up though, and the defense, in particular, did an outstanding job of continuing to get pressure on Wilson after Donald went down in the third quarter.
The good news is that none of the injuries are believed to be serious, and for Kupp and Donald, there is no doubt they will do everything they can to be ready for this weekend’s game.
Up next…
After beating the Seahawks, the Rams now advance to the NFC Divisional round where they will take on the top-seeded Green Bay Packers coming off a bye.
This will be the biggest challenge of the year for the Rams’ defense as Rodgers has been rolling as of late on his way to another NFL MVP award.
Additionally, temperatures are expected to be in the 20s at Lambeau Field on Saturday afternoon, which will present Goff and his injured thumb some problems if he gets the start. The game is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. PT on Saturday, which is the first game of the weekend.
