3 studs and 2 duds in Seahawks 20-9 victory over Rams to win NFC West
It may not have been pretty, but the Seattle Seahawks finally got revenge on their rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, in a 20-9 slugfest victory to clinch the NFC West.
Avenging their depressing 23-16 loss to LA in Week 10, the Seahawks flipped the script on the Rams. This time, it was Seattle’s defense that completely shut down Jared Goff and LA’s usually competent offense. While Seattle’s offense did just enough to take advantage of such a great defensive performance.
The Seahawks also snapped a six-game streak where division opponents had scored at least 21 points in Seattle.
For the first time in four seasons, the Seahawks are guaranteed a home playoff game, and even still maintain an outside chance at the No. 1 seed. As a result, here are three studs and only two duds.
No. 1 Stud - Jamal Adams
Jamal Adams is all that and a bag of chips for the Seattle Seahawks this year, routinely justifying the lofty price the team paid the New York Jets. When he has been healthy, Adams has been a revelation for the Seahawks defense. On Sunday against the Rams, it was more of the same. Adams was flying over the field and managed to be in a three-way tie with first-round pick Jordyn Brooks and D.J. Reed for most tackles on the day with eight. However, the play of the game for Adams was a touchdown-saving tackle on the goal line to stop Rams running back Darrell Henderson from finding the end zone. This play proved to be critical as the Rams turned the ball over on downs at Seattle's one-yard line.
No. 1 Dud - Offensive line
A week after the offensive line received a rightful spot on the studs list, this position group finds themselves as the No. 1 dud of the game. The Seahawks' offensive line has kept quarterback Russell Wilson clean the last two games, but the Rams proved to be too much. The offensive line allowed Wilson to be sacked five times and hit an additional eight times. Of course, it should be noted they were playing the Rams, who always have an elite defensive front thanks to the likes of Aaron Donald. Still, Sunday was not a great look for the improved offensive line.
No. 2 Stud - Russell Wilson
One of Pete Carroll's biggest mantras is "it's not how you start, it's how you finish" and this was particularly true for Russell Wilson. In the first half, Wilson looked rather pedestrian, completing only 10-of-19 passes for 84 yards. Wilson looked gun shy and wasn't connecting on any of his deep throws. But like Carroll's adage, Wilson finished strong. On the final drive for the Seahawks, the team was protecting a slim 13-9 lead. The Rams were hoping for any kind of stop to give their offense a final shot, which never happened . . . all thanks to Russell Wilson. Wilson was a perfect 5/5 passing, with 59 yards through the air and a game/division-clinching touchdown pass. These kinds of drives may not be seen as conventionally clutch, but clutch is exactly what it was for Wilson. Wilson also scored a rushing touchdown to give Seattle a 13-6 lead, which they would never relinquish.
No. 2 Dud - Anyone defending Cooper Kupp
It was an overwhelmingly positive performance from the Seahawks defense overall. Seattle's defense has been greatly improved these last few weeks, but of course, the caveat was they hadn't played any quality offenses, until they shut down the Rams on Sunday. However, one aspect of the Rams offense which remained fully armed and operational was receiver Cooper Kupp. The former Eastern Washington standout had yet another great game in the Pacific Northwest by hauling in 8-of-9 passes for a team-high 66 total yards. Kupp's real impact came when the Rams needed to move the chains. Kupp picked up a total of five first downs, four of which came on third down.
No. 3 Stud - Jarran Reed
Seattle's best interior defensive lineman, Jarran Reed, is starting to get back to his disruptive version we saw in 2018. Only two years removed from a 10.5 sack season, Reed has 6.5 on the year already. Reed picked up an additional two sacks on Sunday as he brought down Jared Goff twice, as well as two more tackles for a loss. Seattle may have finished with only three total sacks on Sunday, but the thing about a successful pass rush isn't how many raw sacks a team gets, it's really about how much consistent pressure they can create. This is exactly what the Seahawks did by putting Jared Goff under constant duress. In the first half, Goff was pressured 15 total times which was the most he ever had in his career.
