When the St. Louis Rams beat up the Washington Redskins a week ago, many people including myself doubted that they could do it two weeks in a row.
Well, I’ll be jammed. The male sheep extinguished a 10-game losing streak to the division rival Seattle Seahawks with a resounding 20-3 victory. Not only did the Rams end a losing streak, they started a winning one. Although it’s a modest two-game winning streak, this feels like 10 in a row.
The Rams were in control the entire game. The defense was dominant again. After holding the Seahawks to only three points, the Rams defense is giving up only 13 points per game. Did you hear that? Only 13 points a game are being given up by a defense that came into the season looking for redemption from the prior season.
The front four of the Rams’ defense gets better week after week. Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was constantly hit and harassed. The Rams accumulated four sacks, seven passes defended, one interception and one fumble recovery.
Defensive end James Hall had two sacks. He is starting to put together another solid season on the defensive line. Defensive tackle Fred Robbins has been a gift from above. Since Robbins became a Ram, teams find it a little harder running into the gut of the Rams’ defense. Seattle only managed 67 yards on 24 carries. That comes out to under three yards per carry.
Cornerback Bradley Fletcher is turning into a playmaker. He had the lone interception and made a spectacular play to break up a pass. He’s playing way better than advertised. Coming out of college, the knock on Fletcher was his hips looked too stiff and shifty receivers give him problems. Well, it looks like Fletcher is providing the problems as this secondary takes shape as possibly one of the best in the NFC.
After the game, linebacker Larry Grant told me, “We are a better football team than a lot of people think. But you know what? People are going to look at it like the Rams beat up Seattle, no big deal. So we have to keep going out there and keep winning.”
The Rams have a chance Sunday to make it three in a row. And with the way they’ve played lately, why not?
