Seattle Seahawks' Leonard Williams didn’t hide his frustration after the Seattle Seahawks fell 21-19 to the Los Angeles Rams in a game that felt like it could shape the NFC West race.
Speaking inside the locker room at SoFi Stadium, the veteran defensive lineman told Gregg Bell of The News Tribune that he wasn’t ready to move on from the bitter defeat, and made it clear he wants another shot at Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense.
Williams said he’s “looking forward to seeing them again,” emphasizing that Seattle expects this matchup to matter when the Rams come to Lumen Field on December 18, and possibly even beyond that.
Before diving into what went wrong, Williams praised how hard Seattle battled despite Sam Darnold’s disastrous four-interception performance and Jason Myers’ missed 61-yard field goal in the final seconds.
He credited the defense for keeping the Seahawks alive throughout the afternoon, Williams added: “I think overall our team just did a good job of fighting to the end. It obviously came down to that field goal at the end. I think we had great red zone defense… Overall, we just kept attacking. I gotta watch more film to see how it went.”
Leonard Williams rips run defense
But Williams did not gloss over the reasons why the Rams controlled the early part of the game. When asked whether the defensive game plan was executed as hoped, he didn’t hesitate. “I mean, no, because if it did, we would have walked away with the win,” he said.
Williams was particularly blunt about Seattle’s inability to stop RB Kyren Williams, who gashed the Seahawks for multiple long gains and over 90 rushing yards. The star defensive lineman stressed the connection between run defense and pressuring Stafford:
“We wanted to affect the QB more and I think to do that we have to stop the run. I don't think we did a good enough job stopping the run, especially in the first half… once we started affecting Matt [Stafford], that will help us and we didn't do a good job doing that today.”
He also explained the adjustments Seattle made after halftime, noting that discipline was key: “I think we just realized we had to be patient, staying in our gaps… if you start peeking too much out of your gap… that's when they were getting some leaky yards.”
The Seahawks know their offense must return to the explosive standard it set earlier in the season, but with a trip to Tennessee next, Seattle (7-3) can’t dwell on the setback. However, Williams’ comments make it clear the real date circled on the calendar is December 18.
