It was a bizarre Thursday Night Football game that had a pinch of everything. From mangled quarterback's fingers, to sketchy kickers, to an amazing double punt by Seahawks punter Michael Dickson and last but not least: Geno Smith.
It was an ugly first half for the Rams in Seattle on Thursday night. It was a night where a raucous 12th man crowd played their part early and were with their monstrous walls of noise at Lumen Field. QB Matthew Stafford as the Rams offense struggled mightily to get anything going for the first 30 minutes of play. The offense would achieve first downs on their first two possessions and ultimately punt the ball away after getting rung up by the Seattle defense on consecutive drives. When the offense would finally get close to achieving their first touchdown of the game, Stafford would make an atrocious mistake of a throw that was lofted up for ex-Lions teammate Quandre Diggs to intercept in the endzone. A throw that almost always should go into the crowd as a throw away. Yet another drive killing play to add to the Rams list in the first half.
Fortune would favor the Rams defense just a few plays later as cornerback Jalen Ramsey makes a beautiful play on a Russell Wilson pass to be batted up and intercepted by line backer Troy Reeder. After that pick the Rams offense would stall yet again and go 3 and out. The defense had given up just one touchdown, a 19 yard strike from Russell Wilson to wide receiver D.K. Metcalf would have the Seahawks up 7-0 in the second quarter. That touchdown would come after a long 47-yard pass interference penalty on Rams corner Robert Rochell. Just as things were looking bleak for the Rams, they were able to get 3 on the board after a Matt Gay 31 yard field goal was good with 1:08 left in the first half.
That only means there was just enough time for Russ to cook something up for a score before the intermission. Wilson would ultimately drive down the field and find his trusty receiver Tyler Lockett in the end zone, but a hold would be called on left tackle Duane Brown to remove the score. Seahawks kickers Jason Myers would bring the wonky kicking game to life in this game as he missed a 35-yard field goal. The Hawks would go to the locker room with a 7-3 lead at the half.
The Rams offense looked revitalized coming back out to the field in the 3rd as Stafford found deep threat and speedy receiver DeSean Jackson for 68 yards. Running back Darrell Henderson would score the Rams first touchdown of the night on a 5 yard run. The ensuing extra point would be missed by Gay to give the Rams a 9-7 lead. After the score, the kicker hijinks would continue as this would be the first of two Matt Gay kickoffs that would go out of bounds, allowing Seattle to start their drive at the 40 yard line. Nothing would come of this drive that would begin with stellar field position as the Rams defense would force a three and out.
The chunk plays would begin with the Rams. Wide receiver Robert Woods caught two passes for 20 yards each. Woods was a force and unguardable against Seattle as he would catch 12 passes for 150 yards. After Woody's two big 20 yard plays, Darrell Henderson would gash the Seattle D for a run of 29 yards to set up Matthew Stafford finding a target in tight end Tyler Higbee over big money safety Jamal Adams for the touchdown. Gay would make this extra point as the Rams lead would once again increase to 9.
The next Seattle drive would signify two legendary plays by both teams. The first in line is defensive tackle Aaron Donald would become the Rams all time sack leader with 88.5 after a sack of Russell Wilson for a loss of 9 yards. Just yet another accolade to add to what is already a first ballot Hall of Fame career for Donald, who is, in fact, the best football player on the planet.
Then one of the craziest punt plays ever would take place. With 3 minutes left in the third quarter, and Seattle on their own 21 yard line, Michael Dickson's punt would be blocked by linebacker Jamir Jones. Then Dickson, the Australian born punter would demonstrate an exemplary showing of concentration and football IQ. He would grab his blocked ball and proceeded to bomb the ball 68 yards on a double punt with defenders surrounding him. A play once thought to be illegal but Dickson grabbing the football and punting it away on the re-grab was in fact the right play to make. Had the Seahawks have won this game, that very easily would have been the play of the game and turning point for Seattle.
On the previous drive, Wilson's middle finger was hit by Donald during in an attempt to bat the ball down on a pass play. It would leave Wilson questionable to return to the game and Head Coach Pete Carroll would be forced to hand the reins to his veteran backup QB Geno Smith. The ex-Jet and Charger would take control of the offense swiftly in the 4th quarter. After a defensive pass interference call on CB Jalen Ramsey for his coverage on Metcalf, Smith would go on to complete 5 passes in a row. On the fifth pass he would locate Metcalf for a 23 yard touchdown to put Seattle back within two points. The 2 point deficit wouldn't last long as the Rams would conjure up a methodical drive of their own on the next possession. A beautiful 4 pass completion drive by Stafford that would end with 2nd string running back Sony Michel walking into the endzone from two yards out to make the score 23-14.
Smith came back out and continued to drive the Seahawks just as he did on his first drive but the drive would soon stall out after 3 incomplete passes on the Rams 14 yard line would have Seattle settling for 3 points, making the score 17-23. After the Rams would punt the ball away with 2:09 left in the game, Smith would come out onto the field with no timeouts, but a decent amount of time left on the clock to complete the comeback. On the first play of the drive Smith would roll out right and throw a pass for a Tyler Lockett, who has tripped over his own feet. The ball would sail into Safety Nick Scott's waiting hands for a back breaking interception that would have the Rams start at the Seattle 32. A Matt Gay field goal with 31 seconds left would ultimately ice this game in the Rams favor for a 26-17 victory.
It was an ugly one, no doubt, but the Rams showed up in the second half with a purpose that was unseen in the first half. The offense looked like the capable machine it had been the first 3 weeks before losing to Arizona. On the Seattle side it looks really grim. As I'm typing this I just found out Russell Wilson has a ruptured middle-finger tendon and is set to be out for at least a month. The Seahawks can find bright spots in Geno Smith's play, though. As dark as it is losing out on a leader like Wilson, Smith seemed more than capable of taking control of the offense and keeping this team's head above water in the NFC West race.
The Rams will get a nice 10 days rest as they return to Los Angeles with a victory. Their next matchup is against the New York Giants at Metlife Stadium. The first of a very winnable slate for the Rams over the next month. Starting a slate like that after a grueling divisional battle on the road and coming out victorious is bound to have this team gain some momentum into the colder months of the season. It's also a very good time to right the wrongs that both sides of the ball are making. The defense still looks incredibly rough and the offense is showing signs of inconsistency. Use this mini bye week to make some corrections. L.A. control's their own destiny in this early playoff race, now let's see what the team can make of it.
woozy banger 😩
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