Get up out of your post-World Sequence slumber, Los Angeles.
There’s one other title contender on the town.
For anybody else who was too busy following the Dodgers final month to note what was happening at SoFi Stadium, the Rams are for actual.
They’re first-place actual. They might be Tremendous Bowl actual.
You might really feel it within the stands, which accurately shook on Sunday when Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers missed a 61-yard field-goal try and seal the Rams’ 21-19 victory.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went proper for the Rams in a 21-19 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
You might really feel it within the interview room afterward, the partitions penetrated by the bass of the funk music enjoying within the adjoining dressing quarters.
The Rams are solely 10 video games right into a 17-game season so that they nonetheless have loads of time to mess this up, however that is what the beginning of a championship run appears like. That is what the beginning of a championship run seems like.
“It’s superior,” coach Sean McVay stated.
What was particularly superior about their newest triumph was how un-awesome their quarterback performed.
Matthew Stafford handed for less than 130 yards, finishing 15 of 28 passes. A Rams offense that scored 34 or extra factors in every of their final three video games was restricted to simply three scores.
“I don’t suppose anyone’s discouraged by what we did on offense as we speak, nevertheless it was undoubtedly to not our commonplace,” stated receiver Davante Adams, whose solely catch was a one-yard landing reception within the first quarter.
For Stafford, the sport wasn’t about what he did as a lot because it was about what he didn’t do. He didn’t throw any passes that had been intercepted. He didn’t make any crucial errors.
If just for a recreation, the previous gunslinger was extra of a recreation supervisor.
“That’s most likely age and progress,” Stafford stated.
Stafford knew he may depend on operating again Kyren Williams, who rushed for 91 yards and a landing. Stafford knew he may rely on a protection that has allowed simply 17 factors per recreation.
“You gotta really feel the way in which the sport’s going generally and be that model of your self, no matter you want to your workforce to win,” Stafford stated. “I felt there have been occasions I used to be ready to do this as we speak.”
The late-career shift in mentality by the 37-year-old Stafford might be a key for the Rams, who don’t want him to win each recreation for them.
They’ve an alternate offensive choice within the explosive Williams, who had two runs of 30 or extra yards in opposition to the Seahawks. They’ve a fearsome defensive entrance that enhances the secondary’s playmaking skills.
The Rams’ cross rushers didn’t sack Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold however irrespective of.
Rams operating again Kyren Williams carries the ball throughout a 21-19 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
“That’s why I say stats are for losers,” McVay stated. “They affected and influenced the sport in an enormous means. Clearly, Sam is a good quarterback, however he was getting off his spot. I believed plenty of the stress that we did get is what led to a few of the choices the place our guys ended up making some nice performs.”
The Rams intercepted 4 passes. The Seahawks’ solely landing got here on a one-yard run by Kenneth Walker III with 2 minutes 23 seconds left.
Adams stated of the workforce’s defensive backs: “The best way they prepped all week, you may really feel it. I imply, it was picks left and proper in follow, the eye to element, the communication, all of it.”
Adams pointed to how security Quentin Lake was knocked out of the sport due to an elbow harm.
“To nonetheless uphold that commonplace within the secondary,” Adams stated. “That’s why I really like this workforce, to be trustworthy with you. That’s what it’s about. It’s the next-man mentality. We had that on offense all 12 months too.”
That is what profitable groups do. That is what the Dodgers do. That is what Tremendous Bowl champions do.
