INGLEWOOD – Yes, I realize it doesn’t work that way, but don’t you wish you could go ahead and place your order right now for the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 25?
More Rams vs. Seahawks, please.
Right now, there’s still quite the scrum at the top of the NFC. The Rams are at the top of the list at 8-2 following Sunday’s pulse-racing 21-19 victory over Seattle at SoFi Stadium, an afternoon that ended with hearts in throats as the Seahawks’ Jason Myers missed what would have been a game-winning and career-high-tying 61-yard field goal at the end.
The Seahawks are 7-3. Philadelphia entered the Sunday night game against Detroit at 7-2. Chicago is also 7-3, San Francisco is 7-4, Green Bay is 6-3 and the Lions were 6-3 as well before Sunday night. So there’s a lot of territory to be traveled before we get to Jan. 26, the last step before Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
But if Sunday afternoon in Inglewood was any indication, the two teams at the top of the NFC West are more than capable of battling for that spot – and once there, they’ll likely keep us on the edge of our seats. They managed to entertain and thrill and frighten those among the ticket-holders (75,323 distributed) who were in attendance Sunday … and sometimes engendered all three emotions on the same play, with nothing more tangible than the division lead at stake in the first of the teams’ two regular season meetings.
And if you are a Rams fan, coming away with a W on an afternoon when the offense was less productive than usual had to have been a good sign, because it meant that the defense was doing way more than its share.
Consider: The Rams won despite being outgained by 165 yards and despite running only 50 plays to Seattle’s 79, including one stretch of the first half where they ran 19 plays to the Seahawks’ 36. Efficiency helps, and the Rams came away with two touchdowns in that stretch, on a Kyren Williams 2-yard run and a Davante Adams’ 1-yard reception, while Seattle settled for three Myers field goals.
Those touchdowns were both historic. Adams’ score was his 1,000th NFL reception, making him one of 17 receivers in NFL history to reach that milestone. And Williams became the fourth Ram to reach 40 touchdowns from scrimmage over a three-season span, joining Marshall Faulk, Eric Dickerson and Todd Gurley II. Also, Williams entered the game needing 26 rushing yards to pass Wendell Tyler and move into 10th all-time among Rams running backs, and he got it all and more on his first carry, a 36-yard run on the third play of the game.
But Colby Parkinson’s score, a 6-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford early in the fourth quarter, was more important. That one gave the Rams a 21-12 lead, and Seattle’s Kenneth Walker II scored on a 2-yard run off right tackle, finishing off an 11-play, 84-yard drive with 2:23 left to cut the lead to 21-19 and create the late-game suspense.
“There’s definitely things we can clean up here and there,” said Stafford, had been on an MVP-level pace but had something of an off day Sunday (15 for 28, 130 yards). “But we battled. Just got to find ways to end the game with the ball in our hands. That’s what we always want to do. And we had our opportunity to do it. We didn’t get it done. So that’s frustrating. But shoot, we found a way to win without playing perfect football against a really good football team. So you know I’ll take it.”
Fortunately for the Rams, this was the defense’s day. Or, to look at it from another vantage point, Sam Darnold’s nightmare.
Darnold, the former USC star who resurrected his career in Minnesota last year and had completed 71.1 percent of his passes and thrown for 17 touchdowns in nine games with Seattle this season, threw for 279 yards Sunday but only drove his team to one score and tossed four interceptions. Kamren Kinchens picked him off twice, and Cobie Durant and Darious Williams got one apiece.
Adams all but said he saw that coming during the week.
“It was just the way they prepped all week,” he said. “You could feel it. I mean … the attention to detail, the communication, all of it. And then for (safety Quentin Lake) to go down (with an elbow injury) and then to still uphold that standard … That’s why I love this team, to be honest with you.
“What this is about is the next man mentality. We’ve had that on offense all year. You know, Puka (Nacua) goes down, next guy jumps in there, we don’t even blink. We continue to do our thing and keep running.”
Even the punter had a highlight play Sunday, or at least a highlight that didn’t involve a forward pass. Ethan Evans booted a 50-foot punt that bounced out of bounds on the Seahawks’ 1-yard line with 1:41 left and the Rams clinging to their 21-19 lead, and he received a hero’s welcome when he returned to the sidelines.
Still, it took a freaky play for Seattle’s Myers to even have a chance at a game-winner. With five seconds left when the ball was snapped, Darnold hit Rashid Shaheed with a pass at the Rams’ 43. Shaheed went to the ground to catch the ball and the nearest defender didn’t touch him to stop the play, probably assuming that time would run out. But the clock stopped at one second anyway, enabling the Seahawks to call timeout and set up the final field goal attempt.
“Yeah, it was,” Rams coach Sean McVay said when a questioner noted how weird that was. “You know what? I think (referee) John Hussey always does a great job. He said the guy gave himself up, and so that left one second.
“And I’m not too upset about it because they missed the kick.”
Oh, but stay tuned. These teams will play a Thursday night game next month in Seattle … and if we’re lucky, they’ll have one more shot at each other Jan. 25.
jalexander@scng.com