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.