Getty Members of the Rams offense take the field during their 37-20 loss on Sunday to Arizona.
The Los Angeles Rams offense could catch a break two nights from now before the Thursday Night Football showdown with Seattle.
That’s because the Seahawks may be without two of their best pass rushing options in this NFC West battle.
Via the Seahawks’ team website on Monday, October 4, Carlos Dunlap II and Darrell Taylor are nursing injuries. Their absence will surely swing the advantage toward the Rams’ way as they try to reignite their offense from Sunday’s 37-20 debacle at home against the Arizona Cardinals.
Seahawk head coach Pete Carroll says Dunlap has a sore toe, adding “So he’s like a bear with a thorn in his foot, he’s got to see if he can make it, and he might be a little grumpy about it. I have no idea what that means.”
As far as Taylor’s status, Carroll said “We’ll see. He’s got a little ankle (injury), we’ve got to check him out.”
Rams Pass Protection Holds This Title
Despite the loss and allowing five quarterback hits versus the Cards, the Rams offensive line unit holds this title through the first quarter of the 2021 season: The league’s best pass blocking unit so far.
Why? The number of sacks the front five has allowed tells the story below:
Fewest sacks allowed this season:
Rams 3
Washington 4
Bills 5
Chiefs 5
Jaguars 6
The @RamsNFL have been keeping the pocket nice and clean for Matthew Stafford to thrive.
According to Pro Football Focus, all five starters on the Rams’ front line have passed blocked on 148 plays. Both starting guards Austin Corbett and David Edwards are yet to allow a sack. Tackles Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein and center Brian Allen have surrendered just one sack each.
Now, they’re going to tangle in the trenches with a Seahawks rush that has nine sacks during their 2-2 start — averaging 2.25 per game. However, this is the same unit that could be without their two best edge rushers.
Dunlap may have one sack, but he leads Seattle with eight QB hurries per PFF. Taylor has four from his side.
Forgetting Sunday Began Nearly 24 Hours After Cardinals Game
Matthew Stafford hasn’t faced the Seahawks since 2018, which was a 28-14 loss while with the Detroit Lions.
And, according to Pro Football Reference, he’s only 1-3 in his career versus the ‘Hawks.
Stafford is coming off his first disappointing performance as a Ram — one that saw two offensive turnovers, his deep ball to DeSean Jackson getting intercepted by Byron Murphy and Stafford not having a single pass go for more than 40 yards in the 17-point defeat.
But Stafford immediately looked forward to the Seahawk game, telling reporters after the Cardinals loss “I won’t have to sit and think about this one too long.”
Sure enough, his head coach Sean McVay said Stafford didn’t take long to prep for Seattle.
“He was in here studying,” McVay said to reporters on the morning of Monday, October 4.
What helps Stafford in his Seahawks prep: All three games from last year versus the 2020 NFC West champion including the playoff win.
“There’s a lot of film. But they’ve done a nice job mixing it up and like anything else, each game takes on its own identity,” McVay said. “But I think the experiences that he can draw on, seeing a lot of different defensive structures throughout the course of his career, will be beneficial. But I want to make sure that he’ll do his part. He’s a pro’s pro and he was already in here getting a jump on that preparation.”
Most important: Shedding the memory of the first loss of 2021.
“We don’t want one outing to define us,” McVay said. “It was not the outing that we wanted from anybody, myself included. But fortunately, we’ve got a short week to be able to dust ourselves off, get back up and get ready to roll.”
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