Rams win again, but it wasn't easy and they might have taken on a bad injury too

Senior writer

Mon, Nov 12, 2018, 1:35 AM

The beauty of the Los Angeles Rams is how many star players they have at their disposal. They were aggressive in acquiring as many stars as they could this past offseason, and Sunday’s big play was made by their newest big acquisition.

Dante Fowler isn’t necessarily a star, but he’s a talented edge pass-rusher who was the third pick of the 2015 NFL draft. He fit what the Rams needed, and the deadline trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars paid off on Sunday when he strip-sacked Russell Wilson with the Rams up 29-24 and having a tough time putting a feisty Seahawks team away. Brandin Cooks scored on a 9-yard end-around run the net play.

The Rams needed those insurance points, because the Seahawks drove for a score, then used their timeouts to get the ball back trailing by five points again. Wilson got the Seahawks down to the Rams’ 35-yard line, but the Rams finally got a game-winning stop on fourth down when Wilson threw too high to Tyler Lockett. Los Angeles held on for a 36-31 win.

The Rams haven’t been quite as dominant the past few weeks. They needed a late rally to beat the Packers, they lost their first game of the season to the Saints in Week 9, and on Sunday they got all they could handle from the Seahawks. Still, the Rams have enough talent at their disposal that someone will end up making a play.

That depth might be tested, because they lost receiver Cooper Kupp with what looked like a potentially serious knee injury in the fourth quarter.

Cooper Kupp’s injury could be a concern

Kupp was running a route in the fourth quarter, planted to cut and went down holding his knee. It didn’t look good, and he was helped off. Kupp is a talented second-year player, able to line up in the slot and give the Rams big-play ability from there or get open on third-and-short to move the chains.

The Rams played without Kupp before this season, after he sprained his MCL, and while they kept winning it was a loss for the offense. Kupp had 527 yards this season before Sunday and led the Rams with six touchdown catches despite missing two games.

There are still a lot of playmakers on offense for the Rams, but Kupp’s value shouldn’t be overlooked.

Seahawks gave the Rams a tough challenge

The Rams were on upset alert all day.

The Seahawks gave the Rams all they could handle in the first meeting too, back in Week 5. The Seahawks led by a touchdown going into the fourth quarter, the Rams scored all nine points in the fourth quarter and converted a fourth-down quarterback sneak at the end to seal it. They got out of Seattle with a 33-31 win.

It was clear from that game the Seahawks weren’t overmatched or intimidated. That was obvious from the start on Sunday too, as the Seahawks scored first. Nick Vannett caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to give Seattle a 7-0 lead. The Seahawks used a throwback run-heavy game plan, perhaps in part to limit the time the Rams offense was on the field, and it almost paid off.

The Rams took a lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, but couldn’t pull away, even after Fowler stripped Wilson of the ball.

Rams still lead the NFC

The Rams are 9-1 and still have the best record in the NFC, though the 8-1 Saints have a head-to-head win and a tiebreaker advantage over the Rams, if it comes to that.

The Rams were dominating teams early, and that has slowed down. They’ve faced a tough schedule recently. Even though the Seahawks are 4-5, they’re a proud team with a recent championship past and their physical style played well against the Rams on Sunday.

Los Angeles still got the win, which it had done in all but one game this season. The Rams were able to give Floyd Mayweather some touchdown balls and live it up through the Seahawks throwing a scare into them. There were some challenges though, and a potentially rough injury to deal with.