Seahawks Outclassed by Rams, Drop First Road Game of 2019
Held to just six points on offense, the Seahawks suffered their first road defeat of the season, dropping a 28-12 decision to the Rams and falling back to second place in the NFC West.
Seattle barely surpassed 300 yards of total offense, while Los Angeles sprinted up and down the field with three touchdown drives in the first half to build an 18-point lead they would not relinquish.
Here are four key takeaways from Seattle’s Week 14 loss at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The aerial attack looked out of rhythm all night with inaccurate throws and dropped passes.
During the first half, the Seahawks couldn’t sustain drives in large part due to untimely drops by receivers and tight ends. While trying to convert a 4th and 1 opportunity from the Rams -yard line, Wilson rolled out and made a perfect throw to receiver Malik Turner past the sticks. But the ball bounced off Turner’s hands, leading to a turnover on downs. Later in the half, Jacob Hollister dropped a would-be first down, forcing a quick punt. After the break, the situation didn’t get much better, as Wilson missed on a downfield throw to David Moore in the third quarter and he and Turner weren’t on the same page midway through the fourth quarter. Even after creating a turnover and blocking a field goal, Seattle couldn’t capitalize with any points to trim into the lead.
The inability to stay ahead of the sticks also allowed the Rams pass rushers to tee off on Wilson.
Wilson may not have been seeing ghosts like Sam Darnold of the Jets did earlier this year, but he was definitely impacted by the Rams relentless pass rush. Constantly under duress while facing long 2nd and 3rd down situations, he was flushed from the pocket on numerous occasions, sacked five times, and hit nine times overall. And honestly, all those numbers felt bigger in live action. At one point in the third quarter, Wilson took a shot in the end zone on his incompletion to Moore and appeared to be favoring his ribs, indicating the constant battering may have taken a toll on Seattle’s franchise quarterback. He simply looked off all night and with his receivers not doing him any favors, the offense simply couldn’t find traction. As a result, Wilson’s streak of 16 games with at least one touchdown pass came to a screeching halt.
The Rams moved the ball against Seahawks like a hot knife through butter during the first 30 minutes…
There wasn’t anything methodical about the Rams’ offensive approach on Sunday night. From the opening kickoff, coach Sean McVay’s unit looked like a well-oiled machine, mixing up tempos and picking up big chunks of yardage seemingly every snap. Each of Los Angeles’ three first half touchdown drives spanned at least 75 yards as Jared Goff comfortably sat in the pocket and peppered the middle of the field hitting wide-open receivers on crossing routes. On one particular scoring drive, the Rams rattled off consecutive plays of 14, 12, 11, 11, 7, and 4 yards while picking up five first downs, carving up the Seahawks’ defense with ease. Goff finished with 184 yards and two touchdown passes before the break, helping the Rams race out to a 21-3 lead at intermission.
Led by Quandre Diggs, the unit answered with an equally impressive second half performance, but it wasn’t enough.
Give credit to Seattle’s defense, however. After laying an egg in the first half, the unit came out with much better energy out of the break, allowing just seven points during the final two quarters. Diggs continued to be a revelation for Seattle at free safety, jumping an inaccurate throw by Goff on the first possession of the half and returning it 55 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Diggs picked off Goff again, this time intercepting him inside the Seahawks five-yard line. Though their pass rush remained stagnant and they couldn’t stop jet sweeps throughout the evening, the group responded well enough to give Seattle a fighting chance to win a game that seemed out of reach at halftime. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t return the favor.
