By: Peter Vandeventer | @PeteVandeventer
Seahawks soared by the Rams in a well-fought divisional game on Thursday Night by a score of 30-29.
With their first big win of the season, on Thursday Night, the Seahawks sent a message to the rest of the NFL that they are contenders and not pretenders. But even though they won, how did the Seahawks fair when looking back at the game:
Key Players
Russell Wilson
*Steven A. Smith voice* Russell Wilson is a BaaaaDDD man. Russell continues to show why he is a top MVP candidate. With 286 passing yards and 4 TDs, Russell adds to an already historic season for the 8-year vet. Wilson is on pace for the 2nd highest completion % in the NFL history and has yet to throw an interception. Russell is also the only QB to have over a 90 PFF rating, beat that Mahomes…
Chris Carson
In back-to-back weeks, Chris Carson ran like a madman with 118 yards on the ground as well as a receiving TD. It looks like Carson has turned a corner with his fumble issues and he's back into his bruiser role. With a great showing against a stronger defensive front, Carson will continue to prove why he is top tier running back in the NFL.
Tedric Thompson
Tedric didn't have a perfect week by any means, but he made the play when he needed to. His interception late in the 4th quarter was his 1st career int and showed a lot of the ball skills the Seahawks saw during the draft process. Though he got off to a slow start to his career, the Seahawks have shown dedication to Tedric so this might be the upstart to his career that he was looking for.
Jadeveon Clowney
Clowney continues to provide turnovers for the Seahawks defense and bring life to the defensive line. Though he only came away with a FF and its recovery, he was so to multiple batted passes and always finished the play in the vicinity of Goff. He is so close to a breakout game and it will likely happen soon as Ansah is getting healthier and Reed comes back after week 6.
Jamarco Jones
Jones was the MVP of the Seahawks offensive line this week and it wasn't even close. Jones came in in place of DJ Fluker who suffered a hamstring injury and didn't return. Any time you have a player play out-of-position on the OL almost always spells trouble, yet Jones thrived against a defensive front that’s led by Aaron Donald. Jones was able to use his pure athletic ability along with the interior and take on the equally athletic defensive tackles of the Rams, leading to the 4th highest graded Seahawk by PFF.
Key Takeaways:
It looks as if the Seahawks finally found the perfect run-pass combination and it looks extremely lethal. Russell threw the ball 23 times while Carson got the rock 27 times. That level of play-calling by Schotty makes it extremely difficult to scheme against for opposing defenses and it is needed as most of the Seahawks next 6 weeks are against good, playoff contenders, that will likely put up a lot of yards offensively so the Seahawks will have to try and keep up.
The Seahawks offensive line played extremely well given the circumstances, with Fluker’s hamstring injury and having to play a 2nd-year player who had never played the position prior to Thursday. Yet, they did a great job limiting Aaron Donald and preventing other defensive linemen from wreaking havoc. The line also did while running the ball by reaching the second level and getting to the less established LBs.
A key way to limit opposing offenses is by limiting the time of possession. The Seahawks had 11 more minutes of possession than the Rams and that is what the Seahawks have been notorious for doing during their SB runs in the previous years.
I’m still waiting for the offense to put more yards on the scoreboard though, the Seahawks scored 30 points on the Rams which is the most they’ve scored this season but still, yet to do so against a strong defense.
Defensively, the Seahawks played outstanding, they made the plays that they needed when it was needed. They let Todd Gurley run like his former self, but they made it difficult to stick with the run as they never were able to break a long run. The Seahawks also jumping out quickly, it made the Rams feel a little rushed and abandon the run when they really should’ve stuck to it.
The defensive backfield played really well as they limited a lot of the RAC yards for players like Cooper Kupp who tend to thrive in the open space. Goff had a good statistical game but the Seahawks defense forced him to be perfect. The Seahawks made the Rams play how they wanted them to play.
There still is some concern for the Seahawks as they have won back-to-back weeks on the misfortune of the opposing kickers, but a win is still a win. There still is work to be done prior to their matchup against the Browns, but they have half a week to rest up and roll. This was a great and gritty team win and it's a stepping stone for the Seahawks against the 2019 NFC champion.