NFC West roundup: Rams defeat Seahawks, 49ers take division lead back

Week 14 was not kind to the Seattle Seahawks, as they lost to the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints.

Week 14 was not a good week for the Seattle Seahawks (10-3). They suffered a demoralizing 28-12 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams (8-5) who remain in the postseason race, and the San Francisco 49ers (11-2) reclaimed the lead in the NFC West by defeating the New Orleans Saints (10-3) on the road in one of the most exciting games of the season. The Arizona Cardinals (3-9-1) are already eliminated from playoff contention and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5). Let’s jump into the game summaries.

San Francisco 49ers 48 – New Orleans Saints 46

The 49ers and Saints exchanged blows throughout the entire game and culminated in a fitting finish – a game-winning field goal by Robbie Gould. The key play on San Francisco’s final drive was a fourth-down conversion by tight end George Kittle that put the 49ers in range for Gould’s kick to ice the game.

The two signal-callers turned in monster performances as both offenses tried to outdo the other. Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 349 passing yards, four touchdown passes and an interception for a 131.7 passer rating. Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw five touchdowns and rushed for another as San Francisco’s defense had trouble containing the Saints offense. Fortunately for the visitors, they did enough and won the game at the last second.

This was just the third game in NFL history in the past 55 years in which both teams had at least 27 points before halftime, as the 49ers led 28-27 at the intermission. San Francisco retook possession of the No. 1 seed in the NFC along with the division lead and now controls their own destiny. The 49ers will play the Falcons (4-9) at home in Week 15.

5 takeaways from Seattle’s 28-12 blowout road loss in Los Angeles

Five takeaways from the Seattle Seahawks 28-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on the road during Week 14’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup.

The Seattle Seahawks (10-3) suffered one of their worst losses in recent memory to the Los Angeles Rams (8-5) Sunday night and fell back to second place in the NFC West after the San Francisco 49ers’ (11-2) victory over the New Orleans Saints (10-3).

The Seahawks also dropped their first road game of the year, fell back to the No. 5 seed in the NFC and were denied from clinching a playoff spot. Running back Rashaad Penny sprained his ACL and the team as a whole looked terribly unprepared and outmatched. Here are a few additional takeaways from the game.

Wheels fell off offensively after the opening drive

The Seahawks managed a field goal on their opening drive and did not score offensively again until the fourth quarter when they kicked another field goal. They were held without an offensive touchdown for the first time all season. Russell Wilson and his cohorts never established a rhythm and often found themselves punting away. Wilson was under duress from the Rams’ ferocious pass rush and his receivers could not consistently get open and had a few drops as well. Penny’s injury may have played a factor in the results, but the Seahawks offense could not capitalize on the opportunities given to them. They will have to return to form to compete in the postseason and fast.

Almost no pass rush whatsoever

The Seahawks’ pass rush reverted to their inept form that was on display for most of the season before Week 10. The defense landed no sacks on Jared Goff, and this contributed significantly to the hefty production of the Rams’ offense. There were a few moments of pressure, but not nearly enough to even keep Seattle in the game, let alone win it. The Rams offensive line kept their signal-caller clean and he made plays when he needed to. The same cannot be said for Seattle’s pass rush. Speaking of the defense…

Defense gave up three touchdowns in the first half

This is not a recipe for success. The secondary was routinely gashed for big gains by the Rams’ receivers and looked thoroughly outmatched for the majority of the game, but this was especially evident in the first half. All three of the Rams’ first-half TDs came from sustained, high-yardage drives and the third one came right before halftime. The Rams received the second-half kickoff and largely controlled the game from there thanks to the sizable lead they built up.

Quandre Diggs was the lone bright spot on defense

Diggs had two interceptions of Goff, the first being a pick-six when Seattle was down 21-3. Jason Myers missed the extra point, but this play had the potential to be a massive shift in momentum for the Seahawks. Unfortunately, the offense could not take advantage of the big picks from Diggs and the rest of the defense certainly did not help matters. This was a solid game from the veteran safety and it could provide something for him to build on even more.

This was one of the ugliest Seahawks losses of the Pete Carroll era

Seattle could not establish a run game, sack the quarterback or consistently cover the Rams’ offensive weapons. Pete Carroll prides his reputation on his teams being able to execute in these situations and Seattle was poor in all categories tonight. Not even Wilson could provide many heroics, and this team just looked wholly unprepared for one of the most important games of the season. It is not uncommon for Carroll’s teams to lose, but they rarely get blown out. It is even rarer to see them get blown out on primetime in December. They did Sunday night against a division rival, and they must recover from it and defeat the Panthers (5-8) on the road next week.

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