LOS ANGELES _ It wasn't the most entertaining performance, but the Rams and their new Los Angeles fans will take it.
The defense shut down quarterback Russell Wilson for nearly the entire game and Greg Zuerlein kicked three field goals, giving the Rams a 9-3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at the Coliseum.
In the first regular-season NFL game in Southern California since 1994, the Rams bounced back from a 28-0 season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers with their third consecutive victory over the Seahawks.
Wilson put the Seahawks in position to possibly win when he completed a 53-yard pass to Tyler Lockett with less than two minutes left, but Rams middle linebacker Alec Ogletree and linebacker Mark Barron forced a fumble on a fourth-down reception by running back Christine Michael near the first-down marker to clinch the victory.
The Rams spoiled the return of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who had led USC back to national prominence during nine seasons.
The Rams have now defeated the Seahawks four times in their last five meetings.
They are 1-1 in the NFC West heading into a non-division game at Tampa Bay next week.
Rams quarterback Case Keenum completed 18 of 30 passes for 239 yards.
Receiver Kenny Britt caught six passes for 94 yards and Todd Gurley rushed for 51 yards in 19 carries.
The Seahawks' Wilson did not look adversely affected by a sprained ankle he sustained in last week's victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Wilson completed 22 of 35 passes for 253 yards.
The Rams took a 6-3 halftime lead and extended it with Zuerlein's 47-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
The Rams came out on their first series of the game and looked as if they had left behind last week's struggles.
Keenum completed three consecutive passes and the Rams got a break when the Seahawks got flagged for a face-mask penalty on Gurley's first carry.
But the Rams could not penetrate past the Seahawks' 21-yard line and Zuerlein came on to kick a 39-yard field goal that gave the Rams their first points of the season.
The Rams helped the Seahawks answer by committing three penalties on the ensuing possession. One kept alive a drive and two others resulted in automatic first downs. Ogletree's hit on a sliding Wilson was perhaps the most costly.
But the Rams kept the Seahawks out of the end zone. Steven Hauschka's 23-yard field goal tied the score early in the second quarter.
While the Rams' defense mostly shut down Wilson and the Seahawks, the offense struggled. Three consecutive series encompassed only three plays before punts.
The Rams finally launched another scoring drive with 4:20 remaining in the first half.
Gurley took a screen pass 19 yards and then ran the ball twice. That set up Keenum's play-action fake and strike to tight end Lance Kendricks for a 44-yard gain.
The Rams had first and goal from the four, but lost four yards on a Gurley run, two on a pass from Keenum to Tavon Austin and then saw Keenum's pass for Britt fall incomplete.
Zuerlein's 28-yard field goal with 1:04 left in the second quarter put the Rams ahead, 6-3.
