Rams stay in playoff hunt, end Seahawks’ 5-game streak 28-12
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jared Goff passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns, Todd Gurley ran for 79 yards and a fourth-quarter TD and the Los Angeles Rams prevented the Seattle Seahawks from clinching a playoff berth with a 28-12 victory Sunday night.
Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp caught TD passes while the Rams (8-5) kept their playoff hopes burning and ended the Seahawks’ five-game winning streak.
With an aggressive, inventive game plan on both sides of the ball, Los Angeles recaptured a measure of the excitement from its previous two seasons on offense while also playing superb defense against Russell Wilson, who was sacked five times.
The Rams won for the fifth time in seven games, while the Seahawks (10-3) fell out of first place in the NFC West with just their second loss since Sept. 22 and their first road defeat of the season.
Wilson passed for 245 yards amid constant pressure from the Rams. Quandre Diggs returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter, but it was the Seahawks’ only touchdown.
Woods had seven catches for 98 yards and his first touchdown of the season, and tight end Tyler Higbee had seven catches for a career-high 116 yards as the Rams looked like the thrilling offensive unit that dazzled the NFL during coach Sean McVay’s first two seasons.
McVay called an inventive game full of jet sweeps and tricky plays, and he continued to give more late-season action to Gurley, who responded with a big game.
Los Angeles still trails Minnesota (9-4) by a game for the second wild card spot, but its chances improved with this critical division win.
Seattle dropped a game behind San Francisco atop the NFC West, tied with New Orleans and Green Bay at 10-3 in the jumbled conference playoff picture. The Seahawks host the Niners in the regular-season finale Dec. 29.
These NFC West rivals’ first meeting of the season was decided by the Rams’ missed field goal with 11 seconds left two months ago in Seattle. Los Angeles didn’t let it get nearly that close this time.
After the Seahawks’ opening drive ended with a field goal, the Rams’ offense started off with two touchdown drives, showing the same improved form from its blowout win at Arizona last week. Malcolm Brown punched in the opening TD after Higbee’s 33-yard reception put Los Angeles on the goal line.
Woods then caught a short TD pass to cap an 85-yard drive, extending his torrid performance since returning from a one-game absence for undisclosed personal reasons. The veteran wideout has 26 catches for 367 yards in the ensuing three games.
Goff led another TD drive late in the first half, connecting with Kupp from 10 yards out with 51 seconds left, while Wilson was left frustrated by the Rams’ defense and his own receivers’ drops.
But Goff and Woods miscommunicated at midfield on the opening drive of the second half, and Diggs returned it untouched for his second career touchdown and his second interception in his first four games with Seattle.