By Ron Johnson
LA Rams 17 – Seattle Seahawks 16
My voice hurts. My head hurts. I’m pretty sure my liver is going to unleash swear words on me before the night ends. But in the end, it was all worth it.
Because despite the return of Geno Smith, the Rams survived the onslaught.
In a game that some would consider whackluster, it was indeed a defensive battle as expected as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Seattle Seahawks 17-16 to snag their second win at home this season.
In a highly aggressive second half, both Matthew Stafford and Geno Smith left the field in the biggest world of pain you could ask for in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. After a dangerous flea flicker, Stafford went down hard after a brutal hit to the chest that should’ve resulted in a roughing the passer but ended in an interception.
Smith went down with an injury late in the fourth by Aaron Donald to his throwing arm, but he managed to come back late in the fourth quarter to try to lead the Seahawks to victory after multiple drives from Drew Lock.
To put this in perspective, both quarterbacks were out for blood in the final three minutes of the game.
The Rams made it a ball game after choking away a turnover in their favor late and turning their aspirations for a win into a Darrell Henderson 1-yard touchdown thanks to a penalty from Seattle. But the star of this game, and the X-Factor for the Rams defense was indeed Derion Kendrick. Kendrick was able to snag a late game pick from Lock, and Stafford was able to drive the Rams down the field to allow them to get a field goal from Lucas Havrisik to give the Rams the late lead and put the pressure on Seattle.
It was then that we got to put some respect on Geno Smith.
Despite an elbow injury and having his entire arm wrapped for the last few drives, Geno returned to push the Seahawks to field goal range after a snag from DK Metcalf. This would set up Jason Myers for a 55-yard attempt, and bear in mind that he had made it from 52 and 54-yards out earlier in the game. Even on this field, Myers had found success and helped his team get some much needed wins.
Following Smith’s 21-yard completion to Metcalf to the LA 39 with 30 seconds left, the Seahawks failed to get it any closer for Myers. But that didn’t matter when the kick was launched with eight seconds left in the game. As the kick was launched, it looked good, until it didn’t. Myers’ kick went the distance but fell to the right and a smidge short of its goal as the Rams celebrated snapping their three-game losing streak.
Stafford finished 17/31 for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while Smith finished 22/34 for 233 yards and a touchdown. Lock only had three yards to his credit, but his biggest faux-pas was the interception to Kendrick. For the Rams, it was Royce (Da 5’9) Freeman that stole the show on the ground after the Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker’s injury as he garnered 73 yards and pushed the Rams to victory. Puka Nacua regained his end zone ways after Cooper Kupp’s ankle injury as he snagged 70 yards on five catches and a touchdown.
Ernest Jones was a madman as he accrued 12 tackles, five solo, and half a sack to help the Rams defense make things complicated for both Seahawks quarterbacks. And of course, the rest of the D chipped in as Jonah Williams, Bobby Brown and Aaron Donald managed to give Smith and the Seahawks a barrage of headaches.
A short week will prove intriguing for the Seahawks as they will have to dust themselves off and hope for the best with Smith. They play again on Thanksgiving against the resurrected 49ers, while the Rams will have to do their best to contend with the Cardinals, who now have Kyler Murray back in full force
