The Seattle Seahawks absolutely needed to beat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13 if they wanted to stay in the playoff hunt over the remainder of the season. It was certainly a bit closer than initially expected, but the Seahawks managed to get the win in the end, pulling out a 27-23 victory over a feisty Rams side.
Even though Los Angeles was forced to turn things over to John Wolford with Matthew Stafford being placed on the injured reserve, the Rams managed to put up a good fight. But the Seahawks got the win, and that's all that matters. There were some areas that were phenomenal for Seattle, and some that were horrid, so let's take a look at the final grades from their performance and see which is which.
Passing offense
Geno Smith has had some good performances for the Seahawks this season, but this was probably the best outing of his entire career. With the defense not giving the offense as much help as they deserved, Smith stepped up and absolutely torched the Rams in this one (28/39, 367 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT). Without this stellar outing, Seattle wouldn't have won.
Tyler Lockett (9 REC, 128 YDS, 1 TD) and DK Metcalf (8 REC, 127 YDS, 1 TD) both had monster outings, and Noah Fant (4 REC, 42 YDS, 1 TD) was solid at tight end as well. The Seahawks game-winning 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter may have saved their season, and if it weren't for a pair of turnovers from Smith (he also lost a fumble) this grade would have been an A+.
Grade: A
Rushing offense
Seattle's ground game wasn't good in this one at all, but things likely would have looked a lot different had Kenneth Walker III not been forced out of the game in the early going. Walker picked up 36 yards on his first three carries, and looked set to be in for a huge day. Instead, he picked up an ankle injury, and the ground game did virtually nothing afterwards.
DeeJay Dallas and Tony Jones Jr. were tasked with filling in for Walker, but didn't have much success in doing so. The ground game only picked up 90 yards on 22 carries in this one, and if you take out Walker's contributions, that had just 54 yards on 19 carries. It was an unfortunate circumstance, but the rushing attack didn't deliver here.
Grade: D+
Passing defense
This was a favorable matchup for Seattle's pass defense considering Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Allen Robinson were all out, and sure enough, they took advantage of the matchup. Wolford didn't have much success doing anything in this one (14/26, 178 YDS, 2 INT) and Seattle made his life miserable for long stretches of the day.
Wolford was intercepted by Tariq Woolen and Cody Barton, and he was constantly under pressure from Seattle's front seven, as he was sacked four times as well. Simply put, the Seahawks had a matchup they liked, and they did what they had to do by making Wolford's day horrible, earning them a high grade here.
Grade: A
Rushing defense
Just like on offense, though, the Seahawks couldn't find a way to put everything together to just thrash a vulnerable Rams team. Los Angeles only stayed in this game because they were getting tons of yards on the ground, and considering how Seattle was trailing 23-20 late in this game, it very nearly cost them.
Cam Akers led the way with a fairly inefficient performance (17 CAR, 60 YDS, 2 TD) but those two touchdowns were huge in this game. Brandon Powell also played a big role behind him, picking up 45 yards on just three carries. Overall, the Rams ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries, showcasing that it wasn't Seattle's best day in this department.
Grade: C-
Special teams
Special teams didn't have to do too much in this one, but when they were called upon they did their job for the most part. Jason Myers hit all of his kicks (2/2 FG, 3/3 XPM) and Michael Dickson averaged 52 yards on his two punts. The Rams didn't get much going in their return games, and while Matt Gay hit all his field goals too, that cannot be used against Seattle here.
Grade: B+
Coaching
The coaching staff got it right in the passing game, but couldn't figure things out on the ground on either side of the ball. Pete Carroll made the right calls when he had to, but this game shouldn't have been this close. A win is a win, but the coaching staff needs to shore up their game plans in order to prevent games from being this close again
Grade: B-
Overall Seakawhs Grade: B
The highs and lows of this game were fascinating for Seattle, and it ultimately resulted in a middling final grade. This team has the potential to be really good, and they are way ahead of where they should be in their rebuild, but in the short term, there were some holes that popped up here that need to be fixed as soon as possible if they intend on making the playoffs this year.
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