Category: Latest Rams news

Watch: Sean McVay hands out game balls after huge win over Seattle

Sean McVay recognized the defense in his postgame locker room speech.

The Rams offense has gotten back to the way it was playing last season and the year before, scoring 62 points in the last two games. Yet, as well as the offense is playing, the defense has been even better. On Sunday against the Seahawks, who had won five straight games, the Rams kept Russell Wilson and the offense out of the end zone, en route to a 28-12 win.

The only touchdown scored by Seattle was on a pick-six by Jared Goff, building off yet another strong outing by the Rams defense.

After the game, Sean McVay recognized the defense in his locker room speech and handed out game balls to three players: Dante Fowler Jr., Troy Hill and Aaron Donald.

McVay clearly knows how well the defense is playing and what an impressive performance it was to hold Seattle to just 12 points. Take a look at his speech in the video below, rallying the players after a huge victory.

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Rams snap counts: Cooks and Kupp barely play vs. Seahawks

Analyzing the Rams’ snap counts from Week 14 and what they mean.

The Rams came out on Sunday night against the Seattle Seahawks and punched them square in the mouth. Seattle had no answer for Los Angeles’ offense and could do nothing against the Rams’ stout defense, which has allowed just one offensive touchdown in the last two games.

It was a statement victory for the Rams, who had only beaten one team above .500 prior to this week. It also kept them squarely in the playoff hunt, only one game behind the Vikings for the No. 6 seed in the NFC.

The Rams got it done in a different way Sunday night, though. Rather than featuring their three starting receivers heavily on offense, Sean McVay went with more of a heavy approach, utilizing his tight ends.

Here are the offensive snap counts, which gives a glimpse at how the Rams got it done.

Offense

What stands out most is the fact that Brandin Cooks only played 27 snaps and Cooper Kupp played just 20. Combined, their 47 snaps would’ve accounted for about two-thirds of the Rams’ plays. Cooks didn’t have a single catch and Kupp caught four for 45 yards and one touchdown.

Josh Reynolds played just one fewer snap than Kupp and Cooks combined, and while he didn’t have a reception, he carried it three times for 29 yards and was solid as a blocker. Robert Woods unsurprisingly played all but one snap on Sunday.

Tyler Higbee and Johnny Mundt were a big part of the game plan. Higbee caught seven passes for a career-high 116 yards, while Mundt was utilized more as a blocker and succeeded in that role.

Todd Gurley played 80% of the snaps with only Malcolm Brown spelling him, not Darrell Henderson. Brown subbed in for the 14 plays that Gurley missed, carrying it five times for 21 yards and a touchdown.

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Watch highlights from Rams’ win over Seattle on Sunday night

Check out highlights from the Rams’ 28-12 win over Seattle.

Since Sean McVay took over as head coach in 2017, the Rams have been one of the most fun teams to watch. Even fans of other teams have marveled at Los Angeles’ offense, largely thanks to its creativity and explosiveness.

Sunday night’s game against the Seahawks was certainly one that fans enjoyed watching as the Rams scored 21 unanswered points, including touchdowns on four of their first five drives. The game was exciting for most of the night until the Rams pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Jared Goff threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, Todd Gurley had 113 total yards, Robert Woods nearly went over the 100-yard mark and Tyler Higbee eclipsed 100 yards for the second straight week.

The Rams held Seattle’s offense in check, too, keeping the Seahawks out of the end zone (besides a pick-six by Goff).

Watch highlights from the game below and catch up on any of the action you may have missed.

Andrew Whitworth says Rams have turned a corner: ‘This is a different team’

Andrew Whitworth is pleased with the direction the Rams are heading.

No team ever wants to lose 45-6 at home, but maybe that was just the wake-up call the Los Angeles Rams needed. They were embarrassed by the Ravens two weeks ago but ever since then, they’ve been on a roll.

In their last two games, they’ve beaten the Cardinals and Seahawks by a combined score of 62-19 and have seemingly found a rhythm offensively. It’s a big difference from the 11.7 they were averaging in the previous three weeks.

If you ask Andrew Whitworth, the Rams have turned a corner and feel like a different team than they did before. He told that to reporters on Sunday night after the Rams’ 28-12 win over Seattle.

The numbers back up what Whitworth is saying, and it’s why the Rams are 2-0 since that loss to Baltimore. Their win over the Seahawks was particularly impressive, beating a team that had won five in a row and was leading the NFC West.

Now it’s a matter of keeping this up against the Cowboys in Week 15 – another game the Rams essentially have to win in order to keep pace with the Vikings in the wild-card hunt. This team isn’t going to lie down anytime soon, especially not after winning two straight by double-digits.

Studs and duds from Rams’ dominant win over Seattle on Sunday

Jared Goff had one of his better performances of the season.

The Rams put together a complete performance on Sunday night against the Seahawks, controlling the game from start to finish. After falling behind 3-0, the Rams responded with 21 straight points and rolled to a 28-12 victory at home.

Los Angeles got strong performances from several players, including Jared Goff and Robert Woods again, moving to 8-5 on the year.

Here are our studs and duds from Week 14, highlighting the best (and worst) of the night.

Studs

Robert Woods

Woods has emerged as Goff’s favorite target. He had nine passes come his way, catching seven of them for 98 yards. He also caught his first touchdown pass of the season, which is hard to believe. On the ground, Woods carried it twice (on back-to-back plays), picking up 29 yards and two first downs.

Tyler Higbee

Higbee has been the hottest tight end in the NFL the last two weeks, eclipsing 100 yards receiving for the second game in a row. He caught seven passes (11 targets) for 116 yards against Seattle and always seemed to be in the perfect spot for Goff. He was great when Goff rolled out of the pocket, working in the same direction as his quarterback. Higbee has helped this offense greatly.

Jared Goff

He may have thrown two interceptions, but one was a miscommunication and the other was a deep shot on third down. Outside of those two plays, Goff was almost flawless. He had two touchdowns, 293 yards and a completion rate of 71%, hitting receivers at all levels of the field. He was a big reason for the Rams’ win on Sunday night.

Bobby Evans

It’s going to be hard for Evans to give up the starting job at right tackle when Rob Havenstein is healthy. He once again played well against Seattle, locking up Jadeveon Clowney for the most part when left on an island with him. He got help, of course, but Evans played well considering the situation.

Cory Littleton

Littleton was at the center of this performance by the defense. He was all over the field, recording one tackle for loss and nearly splitting a sack with Aaron Donald. He also made a great stop on Russell Wilson after he tried to scramble for a first down.

Samson Ebukam

Ebukam isn’t a full-time player but his explosiveness off the edge is something the Rams can’t ignore. He provided a spark in this game, recording two sacks and five tackles. Ebukam has done a nice job in a limited role lately, especially in obvious passing situations.

Todd Gurley

He was a focal point of the offense again, carrying it 23 times for 79 yards and a touchdown. Gurley added another 34 yards receiving on four catches, breaking several tackles throughout the game – a good portion of which came behind the line of scrimmage.

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Rams defense deserves more attention after shutting down Seahawks

The Rams have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but no one seems to be talking about them.

The Rams have scored 62 points in their last two games, bouncing back nicely from an embarrassing 45-6 loss to the Ravens in Week 12. More impressively, though, they’ve held their last two opponents – the Cardinals and Seahawks, led by Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson – to just 19 total points.

Of those 19 points, six were the fault of Jared Goff and the offense as he threw a pick-six to Quandre Diggs on Sunday night against Seattle.

So in the last two weeks, the Seahawks and Cardinals scored one offensive touchdown and had 13 points on that side of the ball. Again, the offense got most of the credit for those wins by scoring 34 and 28 points, but Los Angeles’ defense is truly among the best in the league.

Entering this week, the Rams ranked 13th in the NFL in scoring, allowing just 20.8 points per game. That average will drop further to 20.1 points per game with Seattle only scoring 12 points, pushing the Rams into a tie for 10th in the NFL.

Their schedule hasn’t exactly been daunting since Week 7, outside of facing the Seahawks and Ravens, but they’ve shut down most of the offenses they’ve gone up against in that span. The Rams have only allowed more than 17 points once since acquiring Jalen Ramsey, a stretch of seven games. In those seven weeks, they’ve given up just 108 points – 45 of which were scored by Baltimore alone.

Los Angeles doesn’t force many turnovers – it ranks 14th in takeaways – but Wade Phillips’ “bend, don’t break” defense is working to perfection. Teams aren’t creating big plays against the Rams, and as a result, they’re scoring very few points.

That’s been the case all season, even before the secondary was completely revamped. In 13 games, the Rams have allowed 262 points. Of that total, 110 came against the Buccaneers and Ravens alone. If you exclude those two games, the Rams have allowed just 13.8 points per game this season, which would rank second behind only the Patriots.

Stats don’t work that way, of course, but it just goes to show how those two games were outliers more than they were indications of the quality of Los Angeles’ defense.

It’s time to start paying attention to the Rams has one of the best defenses in the league, and truly the strength of this team. The pass rush is among the top units in football, Cory Littleton is playing like an All-Pro at linebacker and the secondary is headlined by Ramsey, Eric Weddle and a budding star in Taylor Rapp.

If the defense plays the way it has lately, the Rams can beat anyone at any point.

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5 takeaways from the Rams’ 16-point victory against Seattle

The Los Angeles Rams took care of the Seattle Seahawks in a must-win game on Sunday Night Football. Here are a few takeaways from the big win.

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Rams took care of business against the Seattle Seahawks in dominant fashion on Sunday night. It was a must-win for the Rams, who remain a game out of a playoff spot in the NFC at 8-5. Here are five takeaways from the big 28-12 win.

Goff produces another stellar performance

Jared Goff was able to get back on track last week against Arizona after a fairly rocky season so far. Arizona’s pass defense is awful, so it was hard to decipher whether or not it was a return to form for Goff or simply a result of bad defense. After tonight’s performance, it feels like the former.

Goff once again shined against Seattle on a big stage, completing 22 of his 31 passing attempts for 293 yards and two touchdowns. Goff was particularly impressive out of the pocket, completing all seven of those passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. We were reminded why the Rams gave Goff a big payday this summer tonight.

Still, there was a brief stretch in the third quarter where Goff looked rough. He threw a pick-six thanks to a miscommunication on a pass to Robert Woods. The interception wasn’t entirely Goff’s fault, but he should know where Woods is heading on that play. A few plays later, with the ball on Seattle’s 37-yard line, Goff tossed a deep ball into double coverage that was intercepted. It wasn’t a shot Goff needed to take at the time.

One major takeaway from Goff’s two interceptions isn’t the interceptions themselves, but that he was able to come back from them. Goff threw a few nice passes following the turnovers, including a dime down the sideline that was dropped by Brandin Cooks and a great play-action rollout pass to Tyler Higbee deep in Rams’ territory. If Goff can continue to play like he did tonight for the remainder of the season, the Rams might actually find themselves playing in January.

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NFC playoff picture: Rams still very much alive after Week 14 win

The Rams are still one game back of the Vikings in the NFC wild-card race.

The Rams answered the bell on Sunday night in a pivotal matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. It wasn’t a game that necessarily favored the Rams, considering Seattle had won five in a row, but Los Angeles took care of its division rival and crushed the Seahawks 28-12.

With the victory, the Rams kept their postseason hopes alive. They’re still only one game back of the Vikings for the sixth wild-card spot with three weeks remaining, meaning they don’t necessarily need to win out in order to make the playoffs.

Depending on what Minnesota does, the Rams can go 2-1 and still sneak into the playoffs – which is the ultimate goal for the team right now. Here’s how the playoff picture looks after their win on Sunday night, with the only Week 14 game left being Giants-Eagles – which has no bearing on the Rams.

  1. NFC West: 49ers (11-2)
  2. NFC North: Packers (10-3)
  3. NFC South: Saints (10-3)
  4. NFC East: Cowboys (6-7)
  5. Wild card: Seahawks (10-3)
  6. Wild card: Vikings (9-4)

In the hunt

Rams (8-5)
Bears (7-6)
Eagles (5-7)

The Rams are one game behind the Vikings, but what’s important to note is the tiebreaker. According to ESPN’s playoff machine, Los Angeles owns the tiebreaker over the Vikings because of each team’s record in common games. That holds true if the Rams beat the Cowboys next Sunday and Minnesota loses to the Chargers.

Here’s each team’s remaining schedule

Rams: at DAL (6-7), at 49ers (11-2), vs. Cardinals (3-9-1)

Vikings: at LAC (5-8), vs. Packers (10-3), vs. Bears (7-6)

The Vikings technically have the tougher schedule the rest of the way with their opponents having a combined record of 22-17. The Rams’ opponents have a record of 20-18-1, so it’s not much of a difference.

The Rams are also on the road twice, whereas Minnesota will be at U.S. Bank Stadium twice in the final three weeks. It doesn’t make this deficit insurmountable by any means, but the Vikings are in the driver’s seat for now.

Tyler Higbee made Rams history with 2nd straight 100-yard game

Tyler Higbee is catching fire for the Rams with Gerald Everett out.

When it comes to the Rams offense, there are a lot of familiar names the come to mind. Jared Goff might be the first, but close behind are Todd Gurley, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks.

It takes a while before Tyler Higbee gets mentioned as one of the key contributors on offense, but that’s exactly what he’s been in the last two weeks. After breaking out for a career-best performance against Arizona last week (seven catches, 107 yards and a TD), Higbee one-upped himself with seven catches for 116 yards.

He only had one game with more than 63 yards prior to last week, and now he has two straight with over 100. Higbee made some franchise history in the process, too, becoming the first Rams tight end in the Super Bowl era (1967) to have consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiving.

Goff targeted Higbee a game-high 11 times against Seattle, on everything from straight drops in the pocket to rollouts to play-action passes. It all worked beautifully for the young tight end, and Goff never missed him when he was open.

He’s caught fire in these last two games with Gerald Everett out, emerging as the No. 1 tight end on the depth chart. He should continue to control the snaps at tight end when Everett returns based on the way he’s playing.

Instant analysis of Rams’ commanding 28-12 win over Seahawks

The Rams were in control of this one from the first quarter to the last.

The Rams only had one win over a team above .500 entering Week 14, but they doubled that number on Sunday night. With the 10-2, NFC West-leading Seahawks coming to town, the Rams needed a win to stay a game behind the Vikings in the wild-card race.

They handled their division rivals in prime-time, beating Seattle 28-12. It was by far their best win of the season, and one that put the rest of the conference on notice. The Rams are getting hot at the right time, both offensively and defensively.

They scored 21 unanswered after falling behind 3-0 early, and the only touchdown Seattle scored came on a pick-six thrown by Jared Goff. The offense will be in the spotlight more for finding a rhythm finally, but the defense has been excellent outside of the games against Baltimore and Tampa Bay.

Here’s our analysis of the game, which was the Rams’ second straight win by double-digits.

Player of the game: Tyler Higbee

Higbee has been more heavily involved on offense lately, posting his second straight 100-yard game. He caught seven passes for 116 yards and did a good job blocking, too.

Stat of the game: 0

The Rams allowed zero sacks in this game and Goff was rarely even under pressure. He had plenty of time on play-action passes and although rollouts helped him and the offensive line, the unit did a great job as a whole.

Game notes

  • Sean McVay got more creative with his play calling, and for the most part, it worked. There were a lot of rollouts for Jared Goff, a few end-arounds for Josh Reynolds – which picked up first downs twice – and even a trick play. The trick play with Cooper Kupp throwing a pass to Tyler Higbee came at the wrong time, though, with it being third-and-7. The pass fell incomplete and on the next play, Greg Zuerlein’s field goal was blocked.
  • The Rams clearly want to get Todd Gurley more involved as the season winds down. He had 23 carries against Seattle, picking up 79 yards and a touchdown with another 34 yards receiving. He’s done a nice job with a bigger workload in the last month, helping to balance the offense.
  • Jared Goff’s numbers don’t tell the whole story. He had two interceptions, but the first was on a miscommunication with Robert Woods and the second was on a deep shot on third down, which worked similarly to a punt. Yes, it was a turnover with the Rams at Seattle’s 37-yard line, but it was inconsequential, really. He played well in this game, making very few mistakes against a secondary that has craeted plenty of turnovers this season.
  • The defense was outstanding in this game. It only allowed six points to the Seahawks with the other six points coming on an interception return. Russell Wilson was contained, and while Seattle rushed for 106 yards on only 21 carries, that’s a very low total for the league’s third-best team on the ground.
  • Jalen Ramsey allowed a catch on third-and-22, but the secondary more or less limited Seattle’s passing attack. Tyler Lockett only had 43 yards on four catches, while DK Metcalf had 78 yards – 35 of which came on one play.
  • The pass rush was relentless, sacking Wilson five times. Those were divided up with Aaron Donald and Dante Fowler Jr. recording 1.5 each, and Samson Ebukam sacking Wilson twice. They were all over the quarterback throughout the game.