Seahawks appear well-suited to slow down Rams and their young guns
LOS ANGELES – These Rams are rampaging.
Todd Gurley is second in the NFL in rushing yards. He also leads Los Angeles with 20 receptions. Jared Goff has a higher passer rating than Tom Brady, 112.2. The first-overall pick in the 2016 draft isn’t getting sacked much while leading the league’s highest-scoring offense.
And 31-year-old offensive whiz Sean McVay has the Rams off to a flying, 3-1 start atop the NFC West in his first season as a head coach. Los Angeles leads the NFL in points per game (35.5), after finishing last in 2016 (14 points per game).
Whatever.
The Seahawks have two reasons they think they are uniquely equipped to stop these rolling Rams on Sunday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Bobby Wagner. And K.J. Wright.
“I look forward to matchups like this and going against a good back like Gurley,” Wagner said.
“We are ready for him.”
Wagner is a two-time All-Pro. He and Wright, his partner at weakside linebacker, have four Pro Bowl selections over the three previous seasons between them.
Those two are why Gurley hasn’t done much of anything in three games against Seattle, not at all what he’s been doing to just about everyone else in the NFL since his wondrous rookie year of 2015.
Gurley has 172 yards total in those three games against Seattle. That average of 57.3 yards rushing per game is his lowest against any opponent he’s played multiple times. He averages 73 yards against everyone else. He has only one of his 20 career rushing touchdowns against the Seahawks.
Gurley also has three receptions on six targets for 24 yards versus Seattle. That’s his fewest catches and lowest catch percentage of any opponent against which Gurley has a reception.
“Man, we just know that whenever we run into a good running back, it’s a linebacker-versus-running-back-type day,” Wright said Friday. “We just know that he’s going to get the ball at least 30 times. And we are going to be in his area.
“So it’s up to us to stop him. It’s on us. If he has a good day that means we are having a bad day, pretty much.”
On the flip side, Los Angeles’ defensive front has dominated these meetings with the Seahawks in recent seasons. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has made three Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams in his first three years. This season he’s playing outside more in coordinator Wade Phillips’ new 3-4 scheme.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson gushed about Donald, a unique combination of quickness and strength who often dominates games unlike any other interior linemen.
“It seems like he enjoys himself but also has a determination that is relentless. You definitely recognize that,” Wilson said.
“You really respect how he plays the game. He is a guy who plays the game the right way. He is going to be a Hall of Famer, I really believe that. You watch him play and the things that he can do. He is really special. You think back to the days where guys like Warren Sapp and certain defensive linemen really changed the game and interior linemen, he is one of those guys.”
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has spent much of this week like most while preparing for the Rams: Trying to figure out how to get his struggling offensive line to slow Donald, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers and that dynamic front. It will usually rush five or six at Seattle’s five blockers.
“Yeah, he is a really, really problematic. Yeah, there is just nobody like him, quickness-wise,” Carroll said of Donald, likening him to Hall of Famer John Randle. “For a guy that doesn’t have a big stature, he’s got extraordinary strength and explosion and ability to disengage and get off. He makes remarkable plays that other guys can’t make. You don’t know when it is going to happen, so he is really a challenge to play against.”
The Rams have won three of their last four meetings with the Seahawks, and four in the last six. Seattle has lost its last three road games at the Rams, dating to October 2014 when they were still in St. Louis.