–The Seahawks were able to stand toe-to-toe with the then-undefeated Rams in Week 5 in large part due to a physical ground game that amassed 190 rushing yards against a typically-stout front four. Head coach Pete Carroll knows it won’t be easy to replicate that prior success facing defensive tackles Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh, but believes commitment to the run will be key to winning on the road.
“It’s coming back to it and believing in it and keep going. When you are committed to the running game like we are, you don’t get big runs all the time,” Carroll said on Wednesday. “You have to stay with it and keep hammering at it and make the space and make the yards and finish the plays and convert your third downs so that you get the extra chances to keep running it. It’s really about commitment.”
Seattle stayed persistent pounding the rock throughout last month’s 33-31 loss to the Rams, as starter Chris Carson finished with 116 yards on only 16 carries and Mike Davis added 68 yards in a reserve role. Based on Carroll’s comments, expect much of the same this time around, even if the Rams stuff them early.
–Playing against a Rams team with a plethora of weapons in the passing game, including MVP candidate Todd Gurley II out of the backfield, Carroll indicated the return of K.J. Wright would have major implications for Seattle’s pass defense in Sunday’s rematch.
“There’s no question he’s going to help us. He just understands the principles that are necessary in this game because of the play passes and the things they do,” Carroll said. “He’s extraordinarily equipped to take care of some of those players (that) a lot of players aren’t able to make, so we’re hoping that that will come through for us and he’ll be a big factor.”
Wright returned from knee surgery a few weeks ago and played at a high level, registering 12 combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and two passes defensed in coverage. The team has been cautious with how much he practices during the week to keep him fresh, but he’s going to be very important working against Gurley as well as tight ends Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett in coverage.
Quickly summing up Wright’s value to Seattle’s defense heading into this pivotal NFC West contest, Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. stated, “Anytime we play any team without K.J. Wright and then having him back the next time, it’s going to make us better.”
–Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner has never been one to reminisce much about the past, but he’s still frustrated about a few breakdowns that happened defensively in the first game against the Rams. Most notably, he recalled a 56-yard run by receiver Robert Woods on a fly sweep, lamenting the fact that his team could’ve held Los Angeles under 100 rushing yards without that play.
When asked about what he learned from the first matchup, Wagner said, “That we can’t allow them to score as many points as they put up … we have to find a way to do that, make them one-dimensional, make sure Todd (Gurley) doesn’t get into the end zone as many times as he did. We know we have the recipe to do that, but we have to do it. We can talk about it all we want, but if we don’t do it on Sunday, then it doesn’t mean anything.”
The Rams were able to pick apart the Seahawks with short passing routes and big yardage after the catch, but Wagner clearly still believes containing Gurley remains atop the agenda. The dual-threat back scored three touchdowns in the red zone, but Seattle did limit him to only 77 yards rushing and 3.5 yards per carry. A similar performance would be a real game changer in the rematch.
BY THE NUMBERS: 25.9 – Percentage of three-and-outs produced by the Seahawks defense during the team’s first eight games, 28th-worst mark in the NFL.