Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks: Stock up, stock down

In an absolute thriller, the Seattle Seahawks narrowly escaped their divisional rivals in the Los Angeles Rams at Century Link Field on Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks escaped with a 30-29 win, as kicker Greg Zuerlein missed a game-winning field goal attempt by the slightest of margins. With the contest going back and forth for it’s entirety, plenty of options present themselves for the stock report.

Let’s jump right into it:

Stock Down

CB Aqib Talib

Aqib Talib showed his age tonight as he struggled in all facets of defensive play. His angles to ball carriers were incredibly lackluster, his tackling was horrible, and he even struggled in coverage, specifically on a play where he was burned by a backup running back — who’s heavier than most — on a vertical route. Talib — and majority of the secondary — have had two consecutively bad weeks. The extended rest from now until week six may benefit the secondary the most.

CB Marcus Peters

Talib’s running mate made the stock down list too, though Marcus Peters had more positives tonight than Talib did. Peters allowed a touchdown on a quick screen in his coverage due to a pathetic attempt at a tackle. Peters did manage to rebound with two great plays down in the redzone against wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, one of which came on the two-point conversion. Peters did also have a huge tackle on 3rd-and-short that gave the Rams’ offense another opportunity to receive the ball. Still, Peters needs to be more reliable, specifically in terms of communication as he and safety John Johnson III once again had a miscommunication that turned into a wide open 45-yard touchdown for Metcalf.

Front-seven

The front seven struggled, plain and simple. The defensive line had a handful of pressures, specifically forcing quarterback Russell Wilson to elude the pocket and create some magic as he’s always done, though they missed way too many sacks on the night. The entirety of the front seven struggled stopping the run, as the Seahawks’ rushing attack totaled 169 rushing yards.

Tackling

The tackling in this one was absolutely brutal. Running back Chris Carson is as physical as they come, though the defense was allowing extra yards all over the field due to missed tackles and bad angles on ball carriers. The tackling needs to be a focal point moving forward, because many plays presented themselves, with the defense not capitalizing on majority of them.

PR JoJo Natson

Every week you can count on JoJo Natson doing something silly as the punt returner, and this contest was no different. Instead of moving forward and catching a punt (which admittedly wouldn’t have been a cakewalk), Natson let the ball bounce and trickle all the way down to the 1-yard line. The Rams were nearly forced into a safety on one play and a pick inside their own 10-yard line on another, due to a simple error that could’ve been avoided.

Stock Up

TE Gerald Everett

Outside of one error that turned out to be rather critical, Gerald Everett was absolutely unstoppable in this game. Everett — who exploded out of absolutely nowhere — finished the game with seven receptions for 136 yards on 11 targets. After dropping a pass that turned into a fingertip interception for the Seahawks’ defense, Everett redeemed himself with a massive play on the final drive that put the Rams in field goal range. Everett has an uncanny ability to use his athleticism to create separation in space and to create yards after the catch.

QB Jared Goff

After an eventful week four, Jared Goff did his best 2018 impression with a fantastic performance in week five. Goff went 29/49 for 395 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, though the turnover was on Everett’s shoulders not Goff’s. Goff’s ability to forget the previous play/drive and continue to play is unlike most, putting it on display on so many occasions. Instead of rolling over and admitting defeat after throwing an interception which wasn’t his fault, Goff took the field with under two minutes remaining, marched the Rams roughly 50-60 yards down the field, and gave kicker Greg Zuerlein a very makeable attempt to win the game.

WR Cooper Kupp

Cooper Kupp has reserved himself a spot on the “stock up” portion of this list, proving he’s no stranger as he’s become a weekly consistent. Kupp was once again dominant, reeling in nine receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown on 17 targets. Kupp had his first drop of the season, though it was a minor gaff that ultimately resulted in nothing.

DT Aaron Donald

Even though he hardly showed up on the stat sheet, Aaron Donald was damn near unblockable tonight. Donald only had three tackles and one tackle-for-loss, though he was living in the Seahawks’ backfield, routinely affecting throws from Russell Wilson and forcing Wilson out of the pocket and into new release points. Donald was also the sole reason edge rusher Clay Matthews was able to register his sack.