SEATTLE, WA — The Los Angeles Rams pulled out a victory from their NFC West opponent Seattle Seahawks 26-17 on Thursday night. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t come out of the battle unscathed as he was able to throw for 365 yards and touchdown despite popping out his finger on his throwing hand.
“It was just a little bit out of place and was able to put it back in and keep going,” Stafford said. “It didn’t affect me too much, to be honest with you.”
After an inconsistent first half that saw the Rams trailing 7-3, Stafford reshifted his focus where the offense started to find rhythm as wide receiver Robert Woods was a big target to keeping the chains moving. Woods had a paramount role on Thursday night, something we hadn’t seen in weeks prior. Woods finished with 12 catches for 150 yards in front of 68,747 at Lumen Field.
The main reason for the turnaround for Woods was a conversation with head coach Sean McVay, similar to the talk McVay had with DeSean Jackson before his breakout game against the Buccaneers. Stafford targeted Woods a team high 14 times in the game.
“It’s always a working week. Had a little talk, just trying to get more involved in the offense,” Woods said. “He said he was going to give me some touches.”
Woods competitive nature is always making sure he’s an asset to help make this team win, and the Seahawks defense had no answer for him.
The development of the running game with Darrell Henderson and Sony Michel, and the Rams defense that sacked Russell Wilson twice before having him exit the game due to a finger injury. This was another signature win for the Rams who look to win a division that is one of the most difficult in the NFL. Bouncing back on a short week after a dismal loss to the Arizona Cardinals is just what this team needed to get back on track.
“We’d love to be 5-0,” Stafford said. “The fun thing is being 4-1 and knowing that our best game of football has not been played yet.”
McVay said their goal was to get Woods more involved this week and he produced in a major way for the team. A complete team effort on all three phases of the ball, especially for defensive lineman Aaron Donald had a sack that brought to him to 87.5 career sacks, which makes him the Rams all-time sack leader. Henderson and Michel combined for 119 yards rushing.
McVay continues to evaluate and calculate his team and their next moves over the course of the next few days before getting back to work on Monday.
“I just thought there was so many good things that I can point out,” he said, “and then there’s going to be so many things that we can take a deep breath, digest this and really improve on.”
The Rams get a mini-bye before facing the New York Giants, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans in the next stretch.
