The Seahawks have set the standard in the NFC West for several years and the Rams showed some signs of pushing for the top of the division in the first four weeks of the season, which made for an intriguing storyline heading into Sunday’s game between the teams in Los Angeles.
Seattle’s defense has been the biggest driver in their run at the top of the division and it was that unit that paved the way to a win that showed the Rams there’s still some work to do. The Seahawks forced three turnovers in the final 16 minutes of the game and left L.A. with a 16-10 win that leaves both teams with 3-2 records.
Sheldon Richardson picked off a pass that caromed off of Todd Gurley’s hands, Earl Thomas stepped in front of another Jared Goff pass and Frank Clark stripped the young Rams quarterback with a little under three minutes left in the game. Richardson recovered that one and returned it to the Rams’ 20-yard-line to set up a Blair Walsh field goal that accounted for the final margin of victory.
Thomas also knocked the ball out of Gurley’s hands to end the first Rams possession of the game with a fumble out of the Seattle end zone. That play foreshadowed a rough day for Gurley, who picked up 50 total yards and didn’t score for the first time this season.
The Rams defense forced two turnovers of their own while building a 10-0 lead in the first half. They couldn’t get any others in the second half, but they held the Seahawks to 241 yards to give the offense one last chance to pull out a win.
Goff finished 22-of-47 for 288 yards and showed some of the knack for big plays that he’s shown the first four weeks as he led the team into Seattle territory in the final seconds, but Cooper Kupp couldn’t hold onto a ball over the middle that would have won the game and the Seahawks held on after one more incompletion.
It was an exciting end to the game and it holds the promise of many more exciting games to come between the reigning kings of the NFC West and their would-be successors from Los Angeles.