The Seattle Seahawks rolled to a 31-16 win over the St. Louis Rams Sunday, led by running back Shaun Alexander’s 165 yards rushing on a season-high 33 carries – highlighted by touchdown runs of 6, 4 and 17 yards. With 17 touchdowns and 102 points, he is on pace to break Paul Hornung’s all-time scoring record of 176 points set 45 years ago – and remember, Hornung doubled as a kicker.
The victory increased the Seahawks record to 7-2, putting them three games ahead of the second place Rams (4-5) in the NFC West – and completing the series sweep that includes the tie-breaker. And considering how blowing last year’s game had such a significant impact on the rest of the season, this win was enormous for any number of reasons.
A key moment in the game came early in the second quarter with the Rams leading 3-0.
On a fourth-and-3, Bulger unsuccessfully attempted to draw the Seahawks defense off-sides. So on came Wilkins for a 26-yard field goal attempt.
Instead, holder Dane Looker pitched the ball to Wilkins looking to throw. Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant was all over Wilkins for a 4-yard loss, giving the Seahawks the ball on their own 12. It caused a huge shift in momentum, when the Seahawks responded with a touchdown drive.
“I wanted to get points,” Rams coach Joe Vitt said. “The first thing I wanted to do was draw them offsides. I think the whole world knew that. And I tried to come away with some points. We were facing the No. 1 offense in the National Football League. We thought it would be high-scoring.”
St. Louis found itself inside Seattle’s 20 on four other occasions. Making matters worse, the Rams weren’t able to even come away with three points in two of those situations.
“That was the difference in the game,” Bulger said. “We were able to move all the way down to the 10 yard line it seemed like and we couldn’t get in. If we get in just half the times we were down there it’s a different game, but you have to give them credit for holding us, but at the same time we didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”
“We had great drives, I don’t think they stopped us all day, (but) once we got to the 20 or the 10 we just got stalemated and we couldn’t punch the ball in,” receiver Torry Holt said. “In the National Football League you have to be able to score points and today we weren’t able to do that and it hurts.”