In the Seattle Seahawks’ first nine games of the season, they mostly played on their terms. They jumped out to early leads, ran the ball to maintain control of possession and kept Sam Darnold on schedule without getting in too many obvious passing situations.
That was until they faced the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
In the Rams’ 21-19 win, they put the Seahawks in a spot they’ve rarely been in all year. They forced Seattle to play from behind for about 51 minutes, and though the Seahawks still moved the ball and put up 414 yards of offense, Sam Darnold had to throw a season-high 44 passes in an attempt to keep up with Los Angeles.
That’s 10 more passes than Darnold attempted in any other game this season, and the Seahawks have now lost both games in which he threw at least 34 passes.
The stat below shows how rare it was for Seattle to be playing from behind, having trailed for only 97 total plays all season before Sunday, the fewest in the NFL. Against the Rams, they trailed for 81 plays.
The Seahawks may not be an efficient running team, averaging only 3.8 yards per carry (29th). However, that’s how they want to play each week. Mike MacDonald wants to grab early leads, run the ball and let his pass rushers tee off on opposing quarterbacks.
At halftime in the previous two weeks, the Seahawks led the Commanders 31-7 and the Cardinals 38-7. They obviously cruised to victories in each game, with Darnold only attempting 12 passes against Arizona and 24 against the Commanders.
The Rams forced the Seahawks out of their comfort zone by scoring first and taking a 7-0 lead before padding their cushion to 14-3 by the end of the first quarter. Seattle still ran the ball 29 times with their running backs but this game was put in Darnold’s hands, and he crumbled with four interceptions.
These teams will meet again in Week 16, potentially with the NFC West on the line. And the Rams have to hope they can put together a similar game script to the one that earned them the win on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams put Seahawks in a spot they’ve rarely been in all year
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
