The Seattle Seahawks held onto at home to score a massive home victory over the Los Angeles Rams, one that could pay dividends later in the season.
For the second consecutive week, the Thursday night game pitted two NFC powerhouses against each other. Last week’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers did not disappoint, and was outdone by this week’s NFC West showdown as the Seattle Seahawks held on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 30-29.
The second-half saw five lead changes, and was close to being a sixth after Jared Goff led a last-minute drive to put them in field goal position to win the game, but Greg Zuerlein missed the 44-yard kick give Seattle the win.
Russell Wilson continued his MVP level of play with 268 yards and four touchdowns, doing so while only throwing 23 passes, completing 17 of them. He remains turnover-free for the season, and produced multiple moments of magic, including one of the best throws you will ever see in the corner of the endzone to Tyler Lockett.
Chris Carson has seemed to shake off his fumble issues for the time being, and ran hard for 118 yards on 27 carries. Carson caught the game-winning touchdown after Wilson evaded pressure, broke the pocket and found his running back wide-open in the endzone, although Carson bobbled the ball before securing it.
The Seahawks defense was picked apart after the first quarter and remains a work in progress, but they will careless after watching Zuerlein miss his kick and vaulted Seattle into second place in the NFC West.
Early October wins aren’t usually important, but in a division with three legit playoff contenders like the NFC West, this one is critical moving forward. Seattle is now 2-0 in the division and won’t see another divisional opponent until a Week 10 bout with the San Francisco 49ers on a Monday night.
The NFC is ridiculously competitive as usual this season, and it will likely take 10 wins to reach the postseason once again. These wins over fellow contenders are massive, especially considering it’s a divisional opponent that has won the last two meetings in this building like the Rams have done.
Seattle is now the first NFC team to four wins, and has a tough stretch of games coming up. They play at the Cleveland Browns, host the Baltimore Ravens, travel east to face the Atlanta Falcons and host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before that Monday night tilt against the 49ers. Those are all tough games sans Atlanta at the moment, and this win over the Rams increases their playoff chances.
With a tough schedule and so-so defense, most teams would expect a drop-off in results. But Seattle has a top-three quarterback in the NFL in Wilson and an offense that can beat you in a multitude of ways. This win over the Rams was critical, and puts them in position to gain control of the NFC West unless San Francisco continues to roll.