The Los Angeles Rams freaking blew it on Thursday night, losing the game of the year in a 38-37 heartbreaker to the Seattle Seahawks. L.A. managed to not only choke away a 16-point fourth quarter lead, but has now lost its grip on the NFC West and conference lead. Talk about a case of the Thursdays.
Los Angeles has everything to play for in these final two
weeks. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the devastating loss to Seattle.
The Good
The Matthew Stafford-Puka Nacua show
Matthew Stafford lost his first game to the Seahawks in a Rams uniform, only it wasn’t his fault. He and Puka Nacua did more than enough to win the game on their own.
Stafford reached the 40-touchdown plateau for the third time in his career, including his second time as a Ram, and threw for 457 yards and 3 touchdowns. That yardage was the third most of his career, and 225 of it went to Nacua.
The pair routinely linked up for several big plays throughout the game.
Nacua has an astonishing 573 yards in the last three games. It cannot be said enough just how unmatched the chemistry is between the two. They had what should’ve been the game-clinching dagger on a 41-yard touchdown in overtime.
Call it the Adin Ross curse if you will.
Keep in mind that Stafford had his big day without Davante Adams in the lineup. But oh wait, I thought the Rams’ weapons were going to prevent him from winning MVP. What an idiotic argument.
Hopefully, this loss won’t keep him from winning the award. Again, it wasn’t his or Nacua’s fault that L.A.‘s defense couldn’t stop jack crap in the final frame. Stafford has far and away been the best quarterback in the NFL this season and should be rewarded, regardless of whether his Rams clinch the top seed or not.
The Bad
Rams forced to rely on outside help
Regardless of what happens in the final two weeks, the Rams are still one of the most dangerous teams in the NFC playoff bracket — assuming they can actually close out a game. The problem is, they’re relying on other NFC teams to stumble down the stretch for them to shoot back up the standings.
Seattle clinched a playoff spot following the win, and has the Panthers and 49ers to close out the year. If the Seahawks win both, they’ll have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Chicago, the Rams’ other main competition ahead of them in the conference standings, have the Packers on Saturday, then the 49ers and Lions to close out the year.
Even if the Bears do lose one or all three, it won’t matter if the Seahawks keep winning. Both Seattle and Los Angeles can finish with the same reason, yet the tiebreaker will go to the Hawks because of the Rams’ choke job.
As good as L.A.’s roster could be at full power, they don’t deserve the division crown or the top seed, assuming they miss out on both. You don’t go 6-4 in the conference and expect homefield advantage to come your way.
The Rams haven’t earned it, and they are where they are for a reason.
A silver lining in this frickin’ ray of sunshine of an article: possessing the top seed is not all it’s cut out to be. Last season, the Lions went an NFC-best 15-2 and lost right away in the Divisional Round. Meanwhile, the No. 2-seeded Eagles won the Super Bowl.
So while the Seahawks loss will sting for some time, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll kill the Rams’ Super Bowl hopes entirely.
“Elite” Defense gives up another 30-burger
Every time we keep thinking this defense is elite, they do something to make us think otherwise.
Elite defenses will sometimes have off days, but they don’t typically blow a game like that (more on that in a sec).
The Rams have given up 34+ points in back-to-back games against the Lions and Seahawks. This is while the offense put up at least 37 points in those matchups.
L.A. has allowed over 30 points in four games this year, against a bad Eagles offense, Bryce Young and the Panthers, the Lions, and a Seahawks offense coming off a game in which they put up only field goals against the Philip Rivers-led Colts.
That is not good enough. There is undeniably a lot of incredible young talent on this team, but no fan should reasonably feel comfortable with trusting them once the competition stiffens in the playoffs.
Additionally, this loss likely caused some teams to cross Chris Shula off their list of potential head coaching candidates, and rightfully so.
The Ugly
WORST. EVER. LOSS. IN. THE. MCVAY. ERA.
The Rams have suffered several blowouts and other questionable losses during Sean McVay’s tenure, yet this was far and away the worst. Especially considering everything at stake in this one.
What is it about the Seahawks about their ability to overcome 16-point deficits? Thursday’s game had flashes of Seattle’s stunning comeback win over the Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship. Apologies for conjuring up painful memories for the Green Bay faithful out there.
The reason I’m reminded of that game is that the Seahawks were thoroughly outplayed in that one, until by some miracle from the football gods, managed to pull a win from their butts.
Los Angeles had the Seahawks exactly where they wanted them in the fourth quarter … until they didn’t. This is what the box score looked like heading into overtime:
How the actual f*** did the Rams lose a game like this, honestly? You don’t see many teams put up almost 600 yards of offense, dominate time of possession AND win the turnover battle, and still manage to lose. The game theoretically should’ve been over after Sam Darnold’s second interception, Seattle’s third turnover.
Darnold has thrown 13 interceptions this season, with 6 of them going to the Rams. L.A. is clearly his one true weakness, only it didn’t seem to matter on this night from hell.
The reason this loss was so painful is that they couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities presented to them when it mattered most.
Following the touchdown to put the Rams up 30-14, they managed to punt four times and miss a field goal in their final five drives in regulation. Seattle had no business crawling back into this one, and absolutely should’ve never seen overtime.
Maybe this is the bitterness of the loss talking, but this is the type of loss that gets coaching staffs fired. You know for sure that would be the case if this were college ball. Obviously, that’s not going to happen in Hollywood with the Rams already in the playoffs and McVay’s track record of success.
Regardless, McVay and his merry men must get their shiitake together before it’s too late. A second brutal overtime loss to a division rival on Thursday Night Football isn’t going to earn any good graces from the fanbase.
Seahawks’ Rivalries uniforms
The Rams seriously lost to a team that looked like this?!
Seriously?!
Those uniforms were only slightly less ugly than their full-on neon green abomination from a few years ago. Maybe I’m just hating on everything after that game given how heated I am. Think I’m angry now? Just you wait until my upcoming Festivus article. To paraphrase the great Vance Joseph: No survivors!
Ugh, until then, sleepless in Seattle!
