There is no love lost between these two NFC West rivals. Despite what their records were entering the game, the Los Angeles Rams (5-0) and the Seattle Seahawks (2-3) battled it out in a tightly contested game Sunday afternoon. Sean McVay’s Rams came into this game near perfect on the season and were firing on all cylinders. Pete Carroll’s Seahawks, on the other hand, was sputtering at the beginning of the season and were looking to gather some rhythm.
The second half featured three lead changes as neither team’s defense could slow down the opposing offense. At the end of the day, it was Jared Goff’s two-yard sneak that secured the Rams victory late in the fourth quarter. Running back Todd Gurley had a monster afternoon as well, tallying 113 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns.
Big Afternoon From Todd Gurley Gives the Los Angeles Rams Just Enough to Beat the Seattle Seahawks
Bring in the Closer
There are a lot of talented players on this Rams offense, but few are as important as their star running back. Gurley impacted the game in more than one aspect on Sunday, but his most important plays came at the end of the fourth quarter. The Rams got the ball back with 3:28 in the fourth quarter and on the very first play, Gurley rushed the ball for 12 yards, stayed in-bound and moved the chains, putting the Seahawks in a must-stop situation.
The following three plays went to Gurley and he was able to get 9.5 yards setting up a manageable fourth and inches. After the Seahawks called their final timeout, McVay decided to go for it on fourth down and Goff executed a quarterback sneak for just enough to move the chains, ending any hopes of a comeback in a Seattle.
Gurley finished the game with 77 rushing yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns.
Marcus Peters Struggles
One of the Rams’ many additions this off-season struggled immensely Sunday afternoon against the Seahawks receivers. Marcus Peters is known for his feast-or-famine technique in the secondary and on Sunday, the corner came up empty a lot. The Pro Bowl corner gave up three touchdowns in Sunday’s victory over Seattle.
The Seahawks took a 14-10 lead in the second quarter when Peters was burned by Tyler Lockett on a play-action post pattern. Peters’ eyes were all over the place and did not even see when Lockett ran right past him, making an easy throw for Russell Wilson.
Russell Wilson hits a WIDE OPEN Tyler Lockett for a #Seahawks touchdownpic.twitter.com/TR1fbH06hw
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) October 7, 2018
In the third quarter, Peters was burnt on two different occasions for touchdowns. The first came when Wilson scrambled outside the pocket near the goal line and found David Moore in the back of the end zone. Peters was tracking Moore in man-to-man coverage and thought the wide receiver stepped out the back of the end zone, leading to another easy throw.
RUSSELL. WILSON. ?@dangerusswilson escapes the rush to find @DmoeSwagg23 for SIX!
?: FOX #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/uLrcxNX22x
— NFL (@NFL) October 7, 2018
The third touchdown given up by Peters was another instance of the corner looking at the quarterback’s eyes rather than playing his man. Moore ran a slant-and-go pattern and had Peters biting hard at the first move. Wilson had an easy 30-yard throw to Moore as he backpedaled into the end zone.
Cory ‘Not so Little’ Littleton
At the beginning of the season, the Rams had a star-studded defensive line and secondary, but many thought the linebacking corps was going to hold this defense back. That has not been the case thus far, as the former undrafted free agent Cory Littleton has had himself quite a year. The third-year linebacker recorded his second blocked punt of the season and had two impact plays on the Seahawks final possession.
On 2nd-and-23, Littleton came off the edge on a blitz and batted Wilson’s pass up in the air causing an incompletion. The following play, Littleton came up the middle on a blitz, created pressure and forced Wilson out of the pocket, as he was unable to make a throw downfield. That hustle by Littleton set up the final possession for the Rams in which they ran the clock out.
Big time hustle play by Cory Littleton on 3rd-and-23 that helped the Rams secure the victory pic.twitter.com/wldlzwhGFx
— Noah Alvarez (@_noahalvarez) October 7, 2018
