Los Angeles Rams versus Seattle Seahawks: Matchups to watch revisited

With another divisional win and season sweep of the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Rams are now 9-1 on the season and cruising to a playoff berth after nearly locking up the NFC West.

The Rams continue to rebound off losses in the Sean McVay era as they’ve never lost consecutive games.

Let’s revisit the matchups to watch:

CB’s Marcus Peters/Troy Hill vs WR’s Tyler Lockett/David Moore

Last week’s matchup to watch:

This was a relatively easy one to jot down, wasn’t it? Last go around, Peters was torched as he allowed two touchdowns to David Moore and one very long touchdown on a post to Lockett. Hill was better on the other side but his game never seems concrete and he’s always susceptible to a bad game too. Will the Rams’ cornerbacks duo do a better job of covering this time around? Can Marcus Peters bounce back after two awful weeks against the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints? Let’s hope so.

It was nice to see the Rams’ secondary play a relatively decent game. Now, they weren’t targeted much. The Seahawks’ gameplan was to clearly gain yardage on the ground running the ball. But even with that being the case, when targeted, Marcus Peters and Troy Hill were solid. Outside of one touchdown given up to Lockett with Hill in very good coverage, they weren’t involved all game (in a good way).

DT’s Aaron Donald/Ndamukong Suh vs OG D.J. Fluker

Last week’s matchup to watch:

Both Donald and Suh registered a sack last time around against the Seahawks (with Suh registering one more that was negated by a holding penalty in the secondary). Admittedly, the Seahawks’ offensive line and running game absolutely demolished the Rams’ front-seven. The reason I singled out D.J. Fluker here was because of his postgame comments which can be found here. It doesn’t seem Donald was all too thrilled about those comments.

Obviously D.J. Fluker didn’t play in the game, but the combo of Donald and Suh weren’t going to be stopped regardless. The performances were on two ends of the spectrum. Against the run? Well, the entire front-seven got abused to the tune of 273 rushing yards. Against the pass? Different story. Donald once again wreaked havoc notching 2.5 sacks and Suh chipped in with his lone 0.5 sack. Donald is simply unstoppable, and I look forward to seeing him breaking records as a legendary talent.

Rams’ front-seven vs Seahawks’ running game

Last week’s matchup to watch:

Like I said above, the Rams really struggled to stop the run the first time around. The Seahawks had 190 total rushing yards and averaged nearly six yards a run. The front-seven needs to stay more disciplined, win more one-on-one’s, and need to shoot gaps more effectively. It’s imperative the defense does a better job this time because the Seahawks simply hung around too long last time.

The Seahawks won this battle with absolute ease. Prior to Sunday, first-round rookie RB Rashaad Penny averaged 3.5 yards per carry on the year. On Sunday, Penny averaged 9.0 yards per carry. Not only that, but the Seahawks were missing RB Chris Carson and RG D.J. Fluker. The Rams seriously need to find a way to limit teams on the ground more beacuse allowing 273 rushing yards in a game isn’t a winning recipe, but they still somehow got it done.

WR Robert Woods vs CB Shaquill Griffin

Last week’s matchup to watch:

Last meeting, the trio of Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp, and Robert Woods all started the game. Only one (Woods) made it to the end with the other two suffering concussions. Woods put on a route-running clinic with over 140 total yards in that game. Look for Woods to continue to uncover as a technician who creates major separation for his QB in Jared Goff. Shaq Griffin is also banged up and questionable for the game.

Woods wasn’t used a ton but still managed to catch four passes on five targets for 89 yards. Any given day is the theme for this receiver corps as they can all shred a defense at any point in time. Sunday turned out to be Brandin Cooks’ game, but Woods still proved he can do big damage on minimal touches.

TE Gerald Everett vs SS Bradley McDougald

Last week’s matchup to watch:

Everett’s role in the offense continues to slowly expand as the season goes by. With 70 yards receiving in his past two games, Everett is proving to be a valuable weapon though he simply doesn’t get many chances to show it. This could be a week where the Rams look to let him make a handful of plays as he’s shown to be a reliable weapon in the past few games.

Everett was only targeted twice, but he caught both for 15 yards and one for a touchdown. Not only that, but TE Tyler Higbee also converted all three of his targets for 25 yards and a touchdown. The tight end usage seems to be ramping up a little bit, and will likely see even more of a target share moving forward with the season-ending injury to WR Cooper Kupp.

Rams’ defense vs QB Russell Wilson

Last week’s matchup to watch:

Anytime you play Russ Wilson you’ve got to be on your p’s and q’s. In their first duel, Wilson had 198 passing yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers. A pissed off Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh will look to impale the signal caller, though the Rams now also have reinforcements which they didn’t possess in the prior game in OLB Dante Fowler Jr. Maintain your rush lanes, apply pressure, and finish the sacks when they present themselves.

We’ll chalk this up as an “below average” performance. Wilson simply didn’t attempt many passes (at least not until the end) so his yardage was low at 176 yards (which is good). The issue was that he still managed to throw for three touchdowns and no interceptions. The rushing defense was awful allowing 273 yards on the ground. Still, outside of two awful drives in the beginning and some incredibly dumb and unnecessary penalties, they didn’t perform terribly. They wont always extend drives by way of penalty that directly lead to points, so that’s where the major hope lies.

With another major divisional win in the bag, the Rams prepare to head to Mexico City for arguably the most exciting matchup in the NFL season with a game against the Kansas City Chiefs.