Perfect Rams look to continue early run facing Seahawks
SEATTLE — The last time the Los Angeles Rams visited Seattle, they were announcing themselves as the new powerhouse in the NFC West by handing the Seahawks a drubbing unlike any they had experienced in Pete Carroll’s tenure.
As much as the Seahawks would like to forget that day last December, a 42-7 loss to a division rival lingers.
Less than a year later, the Rams are more than just the favourites of their division. A quarter through the season, they might be the prohibitive Super Bowl favourites. The Rams (4-0) make their annual trip to Seattle today looking to take control of the division just five weeks into the season.
“I think there’s definitely a lot of confidence that comes with playing well and definitely can get some momentum going,” Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. “We’ve done a pretty good job executing.”
And there is little reason not to believe Los Angeles will be leaving town with a three-game lead.
The Rams are scoring an absurd amount of points, having scored at least 33 points in all four games. Goff is coming off a career-high 465 yards passing and five TDs, carving up a Minnesota defence that was regarded as among the best in the NFL and posting a perfect passer rating in the process. Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks each had 100 yards receiving against the Vikings.
Oh, and there’s still Todd Gurley, who the last time he saw the Seahawks rushed for 152 yards and scored a career-high four total touchdowns. And this time, they’ll be facing a Seahawks defence without safety Earl Thomas after he suffered a season-ending lowerleg fracture last week against Arizona.
“You wish he was there. Would have been great to compete against him,” Goff said.
The Seahawks (2-2) have recovered from a 0-2 start by knocking off Dallas and Arizona in consecutive weeks. The Seahawks have rediscovered their run game with consecutive 100-yard rushers and their defence has held three straight opponents to under 305 total yards of offence.
But they know the Rams are a different challenge.
“They’re going to do something that we haven’t seen before, but if we’re disciplined and we do what we practised, we should be fine,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said.
Here’s what else to watch for:
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Slowing the Rams’ powerhouse offence on first down would be huge for the Seahawks, but it’s been almost impossible this season. Goff is an astonishing 46 of 56 for 668 yards and six touchdown passes on first downs in the Rams’ first four games, averaging 11.9 yards per pass. Add in Gurley’s steady running on every down, and Los Angeles is tough to contain.
TEDRIC TIME
Second-year safety Tedric Thompson knows he’s about to get a lot of attention. Thompson will be stepping in at free safety replacing Thomas after the former All-Pro was lost for the season in last week’s win. Thompson gained plenty of experience in the off-season and training camp when Thomas was holding out as part of a contract dispute, but there couldn’t be a tougher team to debut against than the top passing offence in the NFL through four weeks.
“He’s really mature about stuff, he’s really worked hard to understand the scheme and the principles of what we want and he plays really strict and disciplined football,” Carroll said.