After the Cardinals lost to the Lions on Sunday, the Rams needed a win to move into a tie for first place in the NFC West.
They got it on a Tuesday evening in Los Angeles, defeating the Seahawks 20-10.
The Rams controlled the game throughout, stifling Seattle’s offense and limiting the club to just 214 total yards. Though the score was 3-3 at halftime, the Rams led in time of possession 21:00 to 9:00. The Seahawks had just 27 yards of offense before a two-minute drill led to Jason Myers‘ 39-yard field goal at the end of the half.
The Seahawks took a brief lead with running back DeeJay Dallas’ 4-yard touchdown to start the second half.
But it was all Rams from there.
Cooper Kupp scored Los Angeles’ first touchdown with a 6-yard reception with 6:31 left in the third quarter. With that catch, Kupp set a franchise record with 120 catches in a single season.
Kupp then gave the Rams a 17-10 lead with 10:48 left in the contest, capping an eight-play, 88-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown.
On his way to a receiving triple crown, Kupp finished with nine catches for 136 yards and those two TDs.
However, the game was not without an officiating controversy. On fourth-and-6 from the 50 with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter, quarterback Russell Wilson fired an incomplete pass to Dallas that went off Rams linebacker Ernest Jones. Dallas wanted a defensive pass interference call, and replay showed that he had a good argument for it.
But the only flag thrown on the play was against Dallas for unsportsmanlike conduct.
That gave the Rams good enough field position to set up Matt Gay for a 35-yard field goal, giving L.A. a 20-10 lead.
Wilson tossed an interception in the end zone to safety Taylor Rapp on the ensuing drive that officially ended things. The quarterback finished the game 17-of-31 passing for 156 yards for a 55.3 passer rating.
Without Tyler Lockett — who is on the COVID-19 list — D.K. Metcalf caught six of his 12 targets for 52 yards. Tight end Gerald Everett had four receptions for 60 yards.
Seahawks linebacker Carlos Dunlap had 3.0 sacks, but it wasn’t enough to limit Los Angeles’ offense.
On the other side, edge rusher Von Miller recorded his first sack as a Ram, also recording a pair of tackles for loss. And defensive tackle Aaron Donald recorded his 11th sack of the season and had a pair of TFLs.
At 10-4, the No. 5 Rams will head to Minnesota on Sunday for a significant matchup against the NFC’s current No. 7 seed.
Now sporting a 5-9 record, the Seahawks officially have their first losing season since 2011 — the year before Wilson was drafted. They will host the 4-10 Bears next week.