L.A. pulls even at top of West
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — After a week of COVID-19 chaos, the Los Angeles Rams went into their rescheduled showdown against Seattle with no full practices and major questions about who would be in uniform until a few hours before kickoff.
The Rams still came out of a tremendously uncertain week with another win because Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford have a rock-solid connection.
Kupp caught two touchdown passes from Stafford in the second half, and the Rams held off the Seahawks 20-10 on Tuesday night in a game between two COVIDdepleted teams.
Kupp broke Isaac Bruce’s single-season Rams receptions record in the third quarter with a 6-yard touchdown catch that was also the 12th of his spectacular year. The NFL’s receiving leader then scored a tiebreaking 29yard touchdown with 10:48 to play on a picture-perfect throw over the middle from Stafford to cap an 88-yard drive.
Stafford passed for 244 yards, and Sony Michel rushed for 92 for the Rams (10-4) in a game postponed from Sunday, while Kupp had nine catches for 136 yards in Los Angeles’ third straight victory.
“Coming off a very big game against the Cardinals and then having all the stuff go on … it’s just being able to navigate the changes in your routine and still put together a game plan and execute when you don’t even know who’s going to play,” said Kupp, a Washington native.
Los Angeles pulled even with Arizona atop the NFC West with three games to play, although the Cards hold the tiebreaker on division record.
DeeJay Dallas rushed for a score for the Seahawks (5-9), whose streak of nine straight winning seasons under coach Pete Carroll ended.
Carlos Dunlap had three of the Seahawks’ four sacks, but they couldn’t get enough late stops or big plays from Russell Wilson, who went 17of-31 for 156 yards and underthrew DK Metcalf on a key play in the fourth, allowing Jalen Ramsey to break it up.
“There were some opportunities in there that we needed to go the other way, and they didn’t for one reason or another,” Carroll said.