3 Takeaways From Los Angeles Rams 24-3 Loss to Seattle Seahawks in Week 15
Dec 15, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril (56) during the second quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Here’s a look at three takeaways from the Los Angeles Rams during their 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 15.
The Los Angeles Rams entered Thursday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks as heavy underdogs as these NFC West rivals were meeting for the final time in 2016. As expected, the Rams struggled on both sides of the football as they went on to lose against the Seahawks 24-3 to drop their record to 4-10 on the season.
In a week where Jeff Fisher was relieved from his coaching duties, John Fassel knew he was going to have quite the work cut out for him after taking over the responsibilities of being interim head coach. While Fassel has received plenty of praise for his success with special teams, it didn’t take the new interim head coach long to realize he may be in over his head when seeing how much Los Angeles struggled against Seattle.
With the loss, the Rams have now recorded just one win in their last 10 games, as they will finish their 2016 season at home with two games against the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. Of course, before jumping that far ahead in the remaining schedule, here’s a look at three takeaways from Los Angeles during their Week 15 loss to Seattle in Week 15.
Dec 15, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Mike Morgan (57) tackles Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) for a loss during the second quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Todd Gurley Records a 20-Yard Rush
For only the second time this season, Todd Gurley managed to rush for at least 20 yards on a single play on a 22-yard run, which is truly sad to think about. What’s even more frustrating is seeing the final numbers for Gurley against the Seahawks as the running back struggled to get anything consistent going on offense after finishing the game with 38 rushing yards on 14 carries.
When it comes to the biggest disappointments from the 2016 season, Gurley ranks near the top of the list when considering the hype surrounding the former first-round pick at the beginning of the season. For a player that many believed would compete for the rushing title this year after taking home Rookie of the Year honors in 2015, it’s amazing to see Gurley enter the final two weeks of the regular season still in search of his first 100-yard game.
As frustrating as it is to see Gurley fail to record a single 100-yard game in 2016, it’s even more frustrating to see Thursday marked just the second time he broke a 20-yard run. The offense has seen plenty of struggles, but at the end of the day, nothing is going to be more disappointing than the lack of production on Gurley’s end, even if it’s not entirely his fault.
Dec 15, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks defenders during the second quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Jared Goff Leaves Game
The good news for Jared Goff was the rookie failed to record a single turnover in his fourth career start on Thursday. The bad news for Goff was his first trip to Seattle as a starter turned out to be one to forget as he received all sorts of pressure throughout the game, and was even sacked five times.
To top everything off, Goff was forced to leave the game to be evaluated for a concussion after taking a nasty shot by Richard Sherman in the fourth quarter while scrambling out of bounds on a play that ended up being called back anyway due to a penalty. With Goff out of the game, Los Angeles was forced to call on Case Keenum to finish out the game, which was just another reminder the team made the right choice by switching to the rookie at quarterback last month.
In the long run, this experience in a hostile environment will hopefully benefit Goff after he only completed 13 of 25 passes for 135 yards against the Seahawks’ defense. Goff has certainly made some impressive plays over his first four games as the starter, but if there’s anything to takeaway from Thursday’s performance, it would be he still has plenty of developing to do.
Dec 15, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass against the Los Angeles Rams during the fourth quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Russell Wilson Gets Last Laugh
Earlier in the season, the Rams’ defense did an amazing job with containing Russell Wilson, even if the quarterback was dealing with numerous injuries when these two teams met back in Week 2. This time around, Wilson did everything in his power to make sure that wouldn’t happen again as he displayed a phenomenal performance to help his team clinch the NFC West title.
Wilson completed 19 of 26 passes for 229 yards to go along with three touchdowns and one interception, which came late in the fourth quarter when the game was already over. From Wilson’s perspective, it was important to bounce back and have this type of performance against Los Angeles after he had one of the most embarrassing performances of his career last weekend against the Green Bay Packers in which he threw five interceptions.
Throughout his career, Wilson has always been considered one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league when healthy, as he’s capable of getting hot at any moment. Even though Los Angeles had won the last three meetings in this series, deep down it was easy to assume that Wilson would make sure that streak came to an end in Week 15.
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