St. Louis Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks: A Win That Wins No Respect

The Rams beat the Seahawks 34-31 in a thrilling overtime victory.

When the final whistle blew, the Rams had committed three turnovers to Seattle's one and lost time of possession to Seattle by nearly 10 minutes despite outgaining the Seahawks on offense 352-343. The Rams' offense outscored the Seahawks offense 27-17. The Rams even had a higher third down completion conversion rate of 54%-42%.

So when discussing how the Rams won, one would not expect the first thing for every media outlet to discuss is the absence of Kam Chancellor.

Last time I checked, Chancellor would not have had an impact on the Seahawks' offensive line not stopping the Rams defense from having six sacks. Chancellor's presence would not had resulted in Marshawn Lynch running for more than 73 yards. His presence would not have stopped a Tavon Austin punt return. Chancellor's presence would not have helped to keep Richard Sherman from getting beat silly by Stedman Bailey. But most of all, and this one is the most important, Chancellor was present the previous two times the Rams beat the Seahawks at home, and it made no difference.

Chancellor is a great player. Easily one of the best on the NFL. But to suggest his absence is the cause of the Rams winning is horseshit at it's finest.

Where's the respect?

How can anyone say a team isn't good that plays the way they did against a team so many picked to return to the Super Bowl? The Seahawks were flat outplayed by the Rams.

It's not like Kam's absence resulted in their defense creating no turnovers. They had three of them for crying out loud. The Seahawks controlled the clock the whole game. All of this is proof the Rams were just the better team on this day. For a team to have those turnovers and time of possession, and still lose, one can only wonder what the score would have been without the turnovers and a split on possession...

The worst slap in the face is the trash being talked about the Rams only scored the tying touchdown with Lance Kendricks because Dion Bailey was covering him. Last I checked, Kam Chancellor is no shutdown coverage safety and far from it. Oh, and just based off of total performance according to PFF, T.J. McDonald - who plays for the Rams - was better than him last season.

The Rams won because they were more prepared and their defense was shutting down the Seahawks run game and allowing nothing over the top. The Rams made plays on offense, but Chancellor and his presence would not have made a difference. Richard Sherman, aka the best in the league, was beaten multiple times and this is somehow Chancellor's fault?

I say call like you see it, and give credit where credit is due.

The Rams were simply the better team on this day.