The Seattle Seahawks went on the hunt to take down the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, and just barely missed their target. The Rams ended up achieving their second victory against Seattle since the 2010 season, and only the third since 2005. A disappointing loss, the Seahawks record now stands at an even 3 wins, 3 losses.
St. Louis kicked things off hard and heavy in the first half, taking a 21-3 lead for quite some time. Perhaps nothing was as devastating as Seattle failing to properly counter some chicanery on the part of the Rams, who used a punt return to fake out Seattle’s team of coverage; Stedman Bailey of the Rams managed to pull out a whopping 90 yards from the play Seattle would respond by pulling off a field goal, but the score at the half still leaned heavily in the Rams’ favor- 21-6.
By the time the third quarter began, the Seahawks finally kicked into Super Bowl Champions gear and pulled off a pair of touchdowns. St. Louis’ lead was down to just 2 points, and things were starting to look up. That was, until the Rams fired back with a touchdown pass from n Austin Davis to Lance Kendricks, putting St. Louis ahead with a 28-19 lead. Seattle got the ball back with about four minutes on the clock. The Rams’ defense proved no match for the 13th Man’s spirit, which gave Russell Wilson the opportunity he needed to get the ‘Hawks marching down the field. Doug Baldwin would go on to receive for a score, bringing things within two points once again… with just about three minutes on the clock remaining.
The Rams ended up getting stuck deep within their own territory, finding themselves in need of a few first downs to get the clock ran down. Seattle would eventually manage to stop the Rams, who were faced with a fourth-and-three at their own 18, but managed to pull off yet another fake-out. This punt let St. Louis’ Johnny Hekker toss a pass for a crucial first down. This could have been very bad for the team – had the Rams not managed to pull a conversion on the fake punt, the ball would have been put on the line for an easy field goal by Seattle. The Rams took a risk, but a necessary one given the poor state of play that the Rams defense was putting out all game.
Later, St Louis’ Tre Mason would run for a game-winning first down. He actually fumbled on the play and nearly gave up the game as a result, but the Rams managed to pull it together long enough to bounce back and take a knee. This game was a decisive victory for the Rams, who are now behind Seattle by just one game in the NFC West standings.
The next Seahawks game will be another road game, happening at 10AM PST on Sunday October 26th at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. They’ll be facing the Carolina Panthers, whose current record runs 3-3-1.
