Rams News: Sean McVay Credits Defense For Win Against Seahawks
Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Rams finally snapped their three-game losing streak when they beat the Seattle Seahawks in Week 11.

The Rams swept the regular season series against the Seahawks, though they had to fight tooth and nail for their most recent win. Los Angeles spent most of the afternoon trailing, but managed to come together in the second half and hold on for the victory.

Even with Matthew Stafford, the offense struggled to find a rhythm though the defense stepped up in a huge way. Sean McVay couldn’t help but express how proud he was of the unit. “Unbelievable effort by our defense today,” McVay said. “They kept us in the game and I thought it was key and critical for the offense to be able to get into a rhythm when they had to. Would’ve loved to have been able to punch that last in instead of having to kick the field goal where you’re forcing them to have to go get a touchdown at the end there.

“But man, I’m just so proud of this group. I think the grit was on display, the mental toughness, the ability to get stops, the ability to be able to feed off of one another. Really happy for our group and happy for those players and the coaches did a great job.”

McVay added that he thinks these sorts of win are able to motivate a team and once again credited the defense for it.

“I think it’s so big. I mean really to be able to just see, especially the way the game unfolded, and there were a lot of things that didn’t go our way, but they just kept staying the course and they kept just learning from it. I’ve said it over and over again and I’ll say it till I’m blue in the face, the defense was so key and critical. They allowed the offense to then be able to hit their stride at the right moment.

“What a great job by the defense, just forcing (Jason) Meyers kind of that fringe range right there where you’re saying once he gets right to the 40, he’s pretty high percentage. Fortunately, it worked out in our favor and here we are feeling a lot better than I would’ve if that went in. Isn’t that crazy though when you think about that, all comes down to that one play. This game is nuts, man. I just love it.”

The defense has shown flashes throughout the 2023 season, but to McVay’s point this may have been their best game to date. Hopefully they’re able to keep it rolling in Week 12 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Sean McVay explains goal-line play

The Rams had a chance to put the game away for good in the final two minutes when they got to the goal line. Curiously enough, Los Angeles decided to throw to Puka Nacua on a slant that was batted down and stopped the clock.

McVay explained the play call and admitted he would call the same play again.

“Really just trying to score a touchdown. So figuring what’s the best play. We had been having success running the football from the seven-yard line. You could have a chance to be able to do that, but we were really trying to be able to score a touchdown. And then we had some substitutions where some guys weren’t available, felt like the screen on the third down had a chance to be able to get punched in. Looked like we had some space right there. And you get the benefit of the clock rolling because you feel like it’s a high percentage play.”