Seattle muzzles high-scoring L.A.
LOS ANGELES — Seattle watched enough film to know Jared Goff and Todd Gurley have made remarkable strides under new Rams head coach Sean McVay.
Earl Thomas, Sheldon Richardson and the rest of the Seahawks’ defense wouldn’t let the upstart Rams step atop the NFC West just yet.
Thomas forced two of the Rams’ five turnovers, and Richardson picked up two more during the Seahawks’ 16-10 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday.
Russell Wilson passed for 198 yards and hit Jimmy Graham for a touchdown late in the first half for the Seahawks (3-2), who shut out the NFL’s highestscoring offense in the second half and won despite getting outgained 375 yards to 241.
The Rams (3-2) caught the league’s attention with the highest-scoring offense in the season’s opening quarter, but the Seahawks aren’t ready to abdicate the division throne.
“I don’t know if it’s a ‘not so fast’ moment,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said. “I think people look forward to writing us off, and I think our demise was greatly overstated. ... McVay has them playing lights-out, so you’ve got to give them all the credit in the world, but we don’t think about other teams when we’re going about our business.”
Thomas made enormous plays. The safety chopped the ball out of Gurley’s hand at the pylon to kill the Rams’ opening drive with a fumble and touchback, and he intercepted Goff ’s pass at midfield with 6:02 to play.
Richardson also came through impressively, diving to snag a deflected pass for his first career interception in the third quarter before scooping up Goff ’s fumble near midfield with 2:45 left.
“He’s going to be all right,” Richardson said of Goff, who went 22-of-47 for 288 yards with three costly turnovers. “He’s not the same guy from last year. But he’s no Tom Brady yet.”
The Legion of Boom did blanketing work on Sammy Watkins and the Rams’ receivers, but Seattle couldn’t rest easily until Goff ’s last-minute drive ended with three straight incompletions near the end zone.
Blair Walsh’s two second-half field goals turned out to be the difference for Seattle, which managed just 97 yards in the second half.