6 takeaways from the Rams’ win over the Seahawks in Week 15

For the second week in a row, the Rams were missing several starters due to COVID-19, being without Rob Havenstein, Tyler Higbee and Jordan Fuller on Tuesday night against the Seahawks. But even with those absences, the Rams managed to beat Seattle 20-10 at home.

It was their third straight win and improved their record to 10-4, matching the Cardinals in the NFC West race.

It was a very important win for the Rams as they attempt to win the division and earn a home playoff game, moving one step closer to making that a reality. Here’s what we learned from the Week 15 victory.

Rams have shown resilience during challenging two-game stretch

Against the Cardinals last week, the Rams were without Brian Allen due to a knee injury, as well as Rob Havenstein, Tyler Higbee, Jalen Ramsey, Dont’e Deayon and others due to COVID-19. They got some players back from COVID reserve before Tuesday’s game against the Seahawks, but they still had to play without Havenstein, Higbee and Jordan Fuller – three players who hardly ever miss a single snap.

Yet the Rams escaped this difficult two-game stretch with two wins over division rivals, pulling into a tie with the Cardinals at the top of the NFC West. It was an incredible display of resilience and toughness – both physically and mentally – to overcome a bizarre week with their first practice coming on Saturday.

For a team that some have called “soft,” this win over the Seahawks was anything but that. The Rams looked good and played a physical style of football on offense despite holding a more relaxed week of practices.

Matthew Stafford didn’t let mistakes pile up

When Stafford threw an interception on the Rams’ second drive of the game, it looked like they were in for another disappointing performance against a lesser opponent. It was an ugly throw that he badly underthrew after Cooper Kupp looked open over the top of the defense.

But as terrible as it was – something he admitted himself after the game – Stafford didn’t let the mistakes pile up. He was sharp the rest of the way, hitting Kupp on a perfect throw for a 29-yard touchdown pass, also connecting with him on completions for 42 yards and 32 yards.

In total, Stafford completed 21 of 29 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, throwing that one interception early on. He didn’t force the ball into dangerously tight windows and he extended plays well by navigating the pocket and buying time for his receivers.

Had he compounded the mistakes with even more turnovers, this one could’ve ended very differently for the Rams.

Defense was outstanding outside of one drive

The Seahawks came out in the second half and went 85 yards in 11 plays to take a 10-3 lead over the Rams. That was really their only good drive of the game, though. They punted six times, going three-and-out on three of those possessions.

Only two of their 10 possessions went for more than 27 yards, with half of them ending after the Seahawks gained less than 10 yards.

They finished with 214 total yards on offense and scored only 10 points in what was a great performance by the Rams defense. Russell Wilson was sacked three times, he threw for just 156 yards and outside of two catches that went for 25 and 34 yards, the Seahawks did very little successfully on offense.

Raheem Morris and his defense deserve plenty of credit for this win, stymying Seattle’s offense all night.

No team can contain Cooper Kupp

No defense has had an answer for Kupp this season, and the Seahawks certainly didn’t either. He went off for nine catches, 136 yards and two more touchdowns, catching passes that went for 29, 42 and 32 yards.

He was right where Stafford needed him to be on third down and in what was one of the most important plays of the game, he made a nice grab behind the linebacker for a 29-yard touchdown to put the Rams up 17-10 early in the fourth quarter.

The Rams better hope a defense doesn’t figure out how to take away Kupp from the game plan because Stafford leans so heavily on him. He caught nine of Stafford’s 21 completions and was targeted on nearly half of his throws (13 of 29). Van Jefferson caught two passes for 23 yards and Odell Beckham Jr. was held to one 7-yard catch.

Good balance was struck with Sony Michel and Darrell Henderson Jr.

McVay said after the game that Michel was “outstanding” and Henderson made the most of his opportunities. It was a good balance between two starting-caliber running backs, even though Michel got the much heavier workload.

Michel rushed for 92 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for 23 yards, playing most of the game. Henderson carried it six times for 23 yards, catching two passes for 4 yards, as well.

In total, they gained 142 yards from scrimmage on 28 touches, showing that they can coexist together in the backfield and stay effective.

The Rams are likely to keep Michel as the starting running back, but Henderson still has a role in this offense, too.

Penalties didn’t decide the outcome of this game

Seahawks fans will argue that the Rams were lucky to win this one after the officials missed a blatant pass interference penalty on Ernest Jones late in the game. It was a terrible no-call by Shawn Hochuli’s crew, but it definitely didn’t decide the outcome Tuesday night.

The Seahawks didn’t show enough on offense to suggest they would have scored on that drive to tie the game had pass interference been called. After all, they scored a total of 10 points and gained 214 yards, 27 of which came on their final drive in garbage time.

The phantom defensive holding penalty on Bless Austin was costly for Seattle, too, but again, the officials didn’t decide this game. The Seahawks’ inept offense did. The Rams were the better team and outplayed Seattle, deserving to win this one.

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