Midnight Mode, certainly.
On the day the Rams donned black uniforms for the primary and solely time this season, the offense largely went darkish.
Pink-hot quarterback Matthew Stafford cooled. Star receivers Davante Adams and Puka Nacua struggled to persistently make the clutch performs that they usually make look routine.
However security Kamren Kinchens and the Rams’ protection managed to maintain the Seattle Seahawks at bay — simply barely.
Kinchens intercepted two passes, and cornerbacks Cobie Durant and Darious Williams additionally picked off passes because the Rams held off the Seahawks for a 21-19 victory Sunday earlier than 75,323 at SoFi Stadium that was not secured till Seattle’s Jason Myers missed a 61-yard area aim as time expired.
Stafford tossed landing passes to Adams and tight finish Colby Parkinson, and Kyren Williams rushed for a landing because the Rams improved to 8-2, prolonged their successful streak to 5 video games and assumed sole possession of first place within the NFC West.
The Rams can thank Kinchens, a second-year security who has six profession interceptions, together with 4 in opposition to the Seahawks. His interceptions arrange Williams’ landing within the first quarter and Parkinson’s within the fourth.
The Rams went into the sport having scored not less than 34 factors in every of their final three video games. However that manufacturing was absent in opposition to a Seahawks workforce that fell to 7-3 and had its four-game successful streak finish.
Stafford elevated his league-leading whole of landing passes to 27 and didn’t have a cross intercepted for the seventh consecutive recreation. However the Seventeenth-year professional was not as sharp as he had been throughout a stretch that put him within the dialog for NFL most precious participant. Stafford accomplished 15 of 28 passes for 130 yards.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford slings a cross to tight finish Colby Parkinson within the first half Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
Stafford loved a banner day in comparison with Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold.
The Rams’ entrance pressured Darnold into a number of poor selections, and Kinchens, Durant and Williams made him pay. Darnold accomplished 29 of 44 passes for 279 yards with 4 interceptions.
Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was on tempo to set an NFL report for yards receiving in a season, caught 9 passes for 105 yards. However he didn’t rating.
Cooper Kupp, the previous Rams star making his return to SoFi Stadium, didn’t have a catch within the first three quarters however had three throughout a late scoring drive that trimmed the Rams’ result in two factors.
The Rams led 14-9 at halftime on Williams’ one-yard landing run and Stafford’s one-yard landing cross to Adams.
It was a satisfying scenario for the Rams, whose first drive ended on the Seahawks’ eight-yard line when Stafford’s fourth-down cross to tight finish Tyler Higbee fell incomplete.
Kinchens’ 31-yard interception return, nonetheless, arrange Williams’ landing. And after Myers kicked the primary of three first-half area objectives for the Seahawks, Stafford led a protracted drive that ended with Adams’ 1,000th profession reception and his tenth landing catch of the season. Nevertheless, it was his solely catch of the sport.
Rams security Kamren Kinchens celebrates with teammates after intercepting a cross within the second half in opposition to Seattle on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
The Rams had a chance to grab management early within the third quarter when Durant returned an interception to the Seahawks’ 35-yard line. However one play later, Nacua misplaced a fumble after making a catch.
Myers’ fourth area aim pulled the Seahawks to inside 14-12 halfway by means of the third. However Kinchens intercepted one other cross late within the quarter, establishing Stafford’s six-yard landing cross to Parkinson for a 21-12 lead.
Nonetheless, the Rams struggled to place away the Seahawks. Kenneth Walker III’s one-yard landing run within the fourth quarter pulled the Seahawks to inside 21-19 with 2:23 left.
After Ethan Evans’ punt pinned them on the one-yard line, the Seahawks received the ball again with 1:40 left and drove 56 yards in 9 performs.
However Myers couldn’t match his career-best 61-yard area aim in opposition to the Rams in 2020. This time it went broad proper.
The Rams play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-4) subsequent Sunday night time at SoFi Stadium.
