5 Takeaways: Rams 9-3 Win Over Seahawks

Five Takeaways: Rams 9-3 Win Over Seahawks


By Myles Simmons

[www.therams.com]

The Rams evened their season record in their first home opener in Los Angeles in over two decades with a 9-3 victory over the Seahawks. After Sunday, the Rams have now beaten Seattle three straight times and four of their last five meetings.

Here five takeaways from a game between division rivals that came down to field goals.

1) Defensive strength

There’s no question Los Angeles won its Week 2 matchup with Seattle in large part because of the club’s defensive play. The Rams allowed only three points to a Seahawks offense that was among the NFL’s most explosive for the second half of the 2015 season. Granted, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson was playing with an ankle injury. But L.A. still did not allow a touchdown, surrendered just 67 yards rushing on 24 attempts, recorded seven tackles for loss, sacked Wilson twice, and tallied eight quarterback hits.

That’s a far cry from the 28 points and 28 first downs the 49ers recorded on the Rams’ defense in Week 1.


“Last week, we were definitely disappointed with our play. But at the end of the day, we had to put it behind us because that game was over,” defensive end Robert Quinn said. He recorded his first sack/fumble of the season on Wilson to end the first half. “We knew we had to play better and we used how bad we played the first game for a little motivation. We realized we need more from everybody and I think everyone stood up today and made a play when needed.”

The game came down to the defense needing a stop in the last two minutes, and the unit delivered a turnover at the game’s most critical moment — forcing and recovering a fumble to seal the victory.

“When the defense goes out there at the last possession to win the game, we take pride in being that defense out there that’s going to win the game,” said middle linebacker Alec Ogletree, who recovered the loose ball.

As has been the blueprint for the Rams for years under head coach Jeff Fisher, this game was another example of the defense leading the way for the club to win.

2) Offense provides enough to win

Los Angeles’ offense improved in enough aspects from Week 1 to Week 2 to come away victorious. Quarterback Case Keenum finished 18-of-30 passing for 239 yards, good for an 85.3 rating. Tight end Lance Kendricks caught four passes for 61 yards, wide receiver Tavon Austin caught five for 50 yards, and wide receiver Kenny Britt led the way with six receptions for 94 yards.

Britt and Keenum have shown solid chemistry over the Rams’ last six games. In that time, they’ve hooked up 20 times for 397 yards and two touchdowns — an average of 19.9 yard per reception.

“I love throwing him the ball,” Keenum said.


Los Angeles was able to sustain drives better throughout the contest, which was instrumental in getting the team a victory. The club’s opening drive went nine plays, as did its final drive of the first half — both of which resulted in field goals. In the second half, L.A. had drives of eight, nine, five, and 10 plays before taking a pair of knees to end the game.

Those sustained drives help out the defense in staying fresh down the stretch.

“Our offense, they had some great drives today. Even though we didn’t score touchdowns, they extended drives to give us opportunities to rest,” Quinn said. “And if we’ve got to win a ballgame 9-3, whatever [it is], close game — if we get a rest and the offense can continue to do that, I think we’ve got a great chance.”

3) “We need to score some touchdowns”

While sustained drives are an improvement, the Rams have not scored a touchdown through the first two weeks of the season. And while it’s always better to correct after a win than it is a loss, that clearly has to change.

“There are some realities to where we are right now,” Fisher said. “We’re 1-1 in the division and we haven’t scored a touchdown yet. We need to score some touchdowns, so we’ll keep working on that.”

“If we take anything away from this week, that’s what we got to do,” Fisher added. “We’ve got to keep working on it someway somehow, whether it’s special teams or defense, but I’ll take a touchdown next week.”


One of the issues that’s kept the Rams out of the end zone has been their inability to make plays inside the red zone, according to Keenum.

“I think we had a penalty, maybe a negative run, just negative plays in the red zone. It is not good,” Keenum said. “When we get down there, yards are precious in the red zone.”

“We got down close to field-goal range a couple of times, obviously helped with the field position battle,” Keenum added. “But if you’re going to be successful in this league, there are a lot of really good offenses, you have to score points.”

Tight end Lance Kendricks said it is bothersome the Rams have not scored a TD through two weeks.

“But we know we left some things out there on the field that we can learn from,” Kendricks said. “Going forward, I think we just have to learn from it, and just continue to practice hard and just focus on the details. That’s what got us this win.”

One way to improve on that will be to get running back Todd Gurley going. The 2015 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year has only 98 yards on 36 carries, as opponents are clearly focused on making the Rams beat them through the air.

“We just have to get him some more touches. He ran well when he had the ball,” Fisher said. “Again, it’s the same thing we’ve been talking about if we convert more third downs we get more opportunities. He’ll be fine.”


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4) A striking evenness to the game

As division rivals with steady coaching staffs, there’s a reason the Rams and Seahawks seem to have particularly competitive matchups every time they play.

“We match-up well against them and strange things happen in these games, too,” Fisher said. “I mean, we beat them a couple of years ago without scoring [an offensive] touchdown.”

But when you look at some of the numbers from this game, it jumps off the page how evenly the two teams played.

For some examples…

First downs — SEA: 17 | LA: 17
Third-down efficiency — SEA: 4/13 (31 percent) | LA: 3/12 (25 percent)
Total offensive plays — SEA: 61 | LA: 58
Average gain per offensive play — SEA: 5.0 yards | LA: 4.9 yards
Net yards rushing — SEA: 67 | LA: 64
Total rushing plays — SEA: 24 | LA: 25
Pass attempts - completions - had intercepted — SEA: 35-22-0 | LA: 30-18-0
Avg gain per pass play — SEA: 6.5 | LA: 6.6
Net punting average — SEA: 39.1 | LA: 39.5
Penalties (number and yards lost) — SEA: 10-114 | LA: 9-78
Time of possession — SEA: 30:03 | LA 29:57

So what is it about games between the Seahawks and Rams that produce these kinds of dogfights?

“I don’t know,” defensive end William Hayes said. “Seattle is a great football team. They’ve had a lot more success than us. We were just dialed in a little more this weekend. I can’t really explain how we won the game, but I can tell you we worked pretty hard last week and it paid off.”

5) A few costly penalties

If there was one factor that allowed the Seahawks to score at all it was the Rams’ costly penalties.

It looked like L.A. had forced two straight three-and-outs to start then game when quarterback Russell Wilson fired an incomplete pass in the middle of the field on 3rd-and-10 from the Seattle 19. But defensive end Ethan Westbrooks had apparently lined up in the neutral zone, and was flagged. Wilson completed a pass for a first down on the following 3rd-and-5.

Later in the possession, Ogletree was flagged for unnecessary roughness after he hit a sliding Wilson, who had scrambled through the middle. The foul pushed Seattle to the L.A. 24-yard line.

Finally, cornerback Trumaine Johnson was called for a facemask penalty inside the red zone that gave Seattle another first down, extending the drive. Los Angeles did clamp down, making the Seahawks settle for a field goal. But these are the elements that show the defense has room for improvement, despite giving up only three points.