There is an adage in football, that if you win two out of three phases of the game you’ll win.
That definitely proved to be true for the St. Louis Rams, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks 19-13. The Rams got all 19 of its points from the special teams, which were led by rookie sensation and Rams most valuable offensive player kicker Greg Zuerlein.
Zuerlein booted four field goals and is a perfect 12 for 12 so far this season. And the other contributor to the Rams offense was rookie punter Johnny Hekker, who tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola on a fake field attempt.
The other unit that came through for the Rams again, as in the first four games this season, was in fact the defense. Yes, they did allow Seahawks’ running back Marshawn Lynch to run over 100 yards and a touchdown. However, for the most part the defense did bend but didn’t break. The Rams forced three interceptions, with the last one coming when the Seahawks marching into Rams territory for a potential last-minute score.
Courtland Finnegan’s streak of interceptions in consecutive games came to an end. That didn’t mean his presence wasn’t felt as he was second in team tackles with eight.
But, other players stepped up on defense whose names we don’t discuss often. Defensive tackle William Hayes had a great game with four tackles and one tackle for a loss. He appeared to constantly disrupt Seahawks’ rookie quarterback Russell Wilson. Eugene Sims also got his first sack of the season then left the game because of a head injury.
Robert Quinn registered a sack and constantly provided a steady pass rush for this opportunistic defense. For the second week in a row, the defense as a whole didn’t allow a quarterback to throw for over 200 yards or allow a receiver to go over 100 yards.
Now the last of the three units was still shaky. Sam Bradford was decent in going 16 for 30 for 221 yards and one interception. The pick was clearly a miscommunication. The running game couldn’t get going against the Seahawks defense; only averaging 2.7 yards a carry.
And no Rams receiver has went over 100 yards since Danny Amendola big game two weeks ago against the Redskins when he went for 160. Amendola had 55 yards on six catches for the second week in a row. Chris Givens caught a 52 yard bomb from Bradford and that was it. Fellow rookie Brian Quick had a big third down catch for 19 yards. That was pretty much it.
The offensive line play was bad. However, they did stand tall when needed. But, they have to do much better, or Sam Bradford might leave the game in an ambulance.
There is not much time to celebrate as the 4-0 Arizona Cardinals show up in town for a Thursday night game. Can the Rams make it two in a row? Of course they can. Especially if the other one-third shows up.
