The Los Angeles Rams took care of business against the Seattle Seahawks in dominant fashion on Sunday night. It was a must-win for the Rams, who remain a game out of a playoff spot in the NFC at 8-5. Here are five takeaways from the big 28-12 win.
Goff produces another stellar performance
Jared Goff was able to get back on track last week against Arizona after a fairly rocky season so far. Arizona’s pass defense is awful, so it was hard to decipher whether or not it was a return to form for Goff or simply a result of bad defense. After tonight’s performance, it feels like the former.
Goff once again shined against Seattle on a big stage, completing 22 of his 31 passing attempts for 293 yards and two touchdowns. Goff was particularly impressive out of the pocket, completing all seven of those passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. We were reminded why the Rams gave Goff a big payday this summer tonight.
Still, there was a brief stretch in the third quarter where Goff looked rough. He threw a pick-six thanks to a miscommunication on a pass to Robert Woods. The interception wasn’t entirely Goff’s fault, but he should know where Woods is heading on that play. A few plays later, with the ball on Seattle’s 37-yard line, Goff tossed a deep ball into double coverage that was intercepted. It wasn’t a shot Goff needed to take at the time.
One major takeaway from Goff’s two interceptions isn’t the interceptions themselves, but that he was able to come back from them. Goff threw a few nice passes following the turnovers, including a dime down the sideline that was dropped by Brandin Cooks and a great play-action rollout pass to Tyler Higbee deep in Rams’ territory. If Goff can continue to play like he did tonight for the remainder of the season, the Rams might actually find themselves playing in January.
Higbee shows up in statement performance
For the better part of the last three years, Tyler Higbee has played second-fiddle as a pass-catching tight end behind Gerald Everett. He was always labeled as the blocking tight end while Everett was the electrifying pass-catcher. It’s one of the main reasons why many were puzzled at Higbee’s contract extension this preseason.
Higbee has started to earn that money recently. He’s put up seven receptions and over 100 receiving yards in each of his last two games. Before last week, he had just one game with six or more receptions and one game with over 65 receiving yards in his career.
The fourth-year tight end diced Seattle’s secondary this week and wound up with a career-high 118 receiving yards. Higbee coming into his own as a legitimate threat in the passing game adds yet another wrinkle to the Rams offense that defenses will have to account for. Expect the Rams to continue to get Higbee involved in the passing game even after Everett returns.
Rams’ pass rush smothers Russell Wilson in dominant defensive performance
When the Rams and Seahawks met in Week 5, it felt like Wilson should have been sacked far more than he actually was. The Rams got their hands on him plenty of times and failed to bring him down. That wasn’t the case this time around.
The Rams took down the elusive passer five times in another great showing by the defense. Seattle was forced out of their comfort zone after being forced into becoming a passing offense thanks to a few early scores by the Rams. They failed at winning the game through the air.
Samson Ebukam, Dante Fowler, and Aaron Donald combined for the five sacks tonight. The secondary shined as well in the victory. Taylor Rapp stepped up early and made some big tackles, while Troy Hill broke up a few huge passes later on. It was another fantastic performance by the Rams defense. Don’t expect another Baltimore-type showing this season.
Commitment to feeding Gurley continues
After giving Gurley the ball a puzzling 12 times in a 17-12 loss to Pittsburgh a few weeks back, the Rams made a commitment to putting the ball in his hands as much as possible. That streak continued tonight.
Gurley ran the ball 23 times for 79 yards and a touchdown, also catching all four of his targets for 34 yards. It was the third time in the last four games where Gurley touched the ball at least 20 times. He’s scored a touchdown in all three of those games.
Gurley has looked like his former self the past few weeks and made a few huge plays for the Rams this week. The Rams are 5-0 this season when Gurley has 16 or more carries and 7-1 when he has 14 or more. The Rams are better when Gurley touches the football more. What a shocking revelation.
Rams could realistically win out
The Rams have finally started to look like their old selves over the past two games on both sides of the ball. If they play like they did tonight, they can beat anybody. They’re going to have to keep it up if they want to make the playoffs.
Assuming the Rams can take care of Dallas next week, their big test will come in Week 16 against San Francisco. The Rams put up one of the most miserable offensive performances by any team this season the last time they played the 49ers. Still, the team we saw play tonight is capable of beating San Francisco and is certainly capable of dismantling Dallas. We’ll see if they’re up for the challenge.
