What were the biggest keys to the Seattle Seahawks' 14-9 win over the St. Louis Rams on "Monday Night Football"?
Wilson capitalized when Rams didn’t blitz
Russell Wilson was limited in what he could do against the Rams' blitz, taking a career-high seven sacks in this game.
Wilson completed only four passes on the 16 dropbacks in which the Rams sent five or more pass rushers. The other dozen dropbacks featured seven incompletions and five sacks.
But on the nine instances in which the Rams sent four or fewer rushers, Wilson did damage. He was 6-for-7 for 113 yards and two touchdowns on those throws.
Wilson was 5-for-6 for two touchdowns when connecting with Golden Tate. He was 5-for-12 when throwing to anyone else. The 80-yard touchdown throw to Tate was the longest touchdown pass in Wilson’s career.
The Rams couldn’t punch it in at the end
The Rams remained the only team in the NFL without a rushing touchdown this season. They couldn’t score near the goal line in the final seconds, partly because of their rushing struggles, and also because quarterback Kellen Clemens couldn’t finish from in-close. He was 3-for-11 on his passing attempts in the red zone.
This was an odd win
Both the Seahawks' seven first downs and 135 yards of offense were the fewest by any team in a win in the past three seasons.
Some Wins Don't Make Sense
Monday Night
The Rams outgained the Seahawks 339-135, but still lost. It was the fewest yards the Seahawks recorded in a win since they had 128 in a win over the Chargers in 2000.
Entering Monday, teams that outgained their opponent by 200 or more yards were 291-37 (an .887 winning percentage) since the start of the 2001 season.