The Seattle Seahawks saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Sunday against the Rams.
With some help from ESPN Stats and Information, here are five numbers behind the loss:
27.3: Russell Wilson's completion percentage against five-man rushes. I asked Seahawks coach Pete Carroll after the game about how the Rams attacked the Seahawks.
"A lot of five-man rushes today," he said. "That’s what they featured today. A few called blitzes beyond that, but basically it was a five-man rush that got us."
When the Rams rushed five, Wilson was 3-for-11 for 36 yards with one sack. This is significant for a couple different reasons. First, St. Louis was able to get to Wilson by committing just one extra pass-rusher and still leaving six defenders in coverage. Second, the Seahawks' streak of doing damage against the blitz (defined here as anything more than four rushers) came to an end.
Wilson was 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) for 71 yards (5.07 yards per attempt) against the blitz. During the five-game winning streak, he completed 72.1 percent of his passes and averaged 12.26 yards per attempt versus the blitz.
Minus-4: The total number of yards before contact for Seahawks running backs Christine Michael and Bryce Brown on Sunday.
When Carroll was asked about the run game, he said, "We didn’t block very well today. They had penetration and made some plays in the backfield early on. When we run the ball for 60 yards, we’re not on it. We’re in bad shape at the line of scrimmage, and we have to do a lot better than that."
The numbers bear that out. Brown and Michael didn't have a chance. Brown ranked dead-last in average yards before contact among the 55 players who had at least six carries in Week 16. Michael was ranked one spot ahead of him at No. 54. The Seahawks have had a lot of success running the ball this season, but they got dominated at the line of scrimmage Sunday.
1: Where the Seahawks had Rams running back Todd Gurley ranked on their draft board last offseason. That's what GM John Schneider confirmed during his appearance on 710 ESPN Seattle, which aired before the game. Gurley ran 19 times for 85 yards (4.5 yards per carry). He averaged 2.84 yards after contact, which was fourth-best among running backs in Week 16. Defensive end Michael Bennett was not impressed, but Schneider and the Seahawks' scouting staff apparently think quite highly of Gurley.
0:The number of wide receivers since 1992 (when targets were first tracked) that have posted a 1,000-yard season with an 80 percent catch rate. Depending on what happens in Week 17, Doug Baldwin could be the first. He had another big game against the Rams, catching eight balls for 118 yards and a touchdown. On the season, Baldwin has 73 grabs for 1,023 yards and 14 touchdowns (tied for tops in the NFL with Jacksonville's Allen Robinson). Among wide receivers, his 80.2 percent catch rate is second to only New England's Danny Amendola. Baldwin has had a phenomenal season all around.
62: The number of consecutive games in which the Seahawks held a lead at some point, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That was every game of Wilson's career before Sunday, when the Rams led wire to wire. It was also the first time this season the Seahawks did not have a lead at any point in the fourth quarter. While the players gave credit to the Rams' defensive line, they seemed unimpressed with the rest of the group.
"I feel like they were comfortable the whole game as far as the offensive side of the ball because they didn't have to do anything," said safety Earl Thomas. "To be totally honest, that's an average group, especially with the quarterback. But he just managed the game."
Whether it's matchups or familiarity, the Rams seem to always give the Seahawks problems.