As the Los Angeles Rams silenced the “12th Man” crowd and flipped it into the “Rams House” for one day only, one star from the Seattle Seahawks wasn’t silent about his team’s effort in the Rams’ 30-13 romp on Sunday, September 10.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, who one year ago led the regular season sweep of the Rams while on their way to a playoff berth, didn’t hold back his own feelings about the stunning 17-point Rams win following the game — and called out his team’s effort.
“Obviously, we’ll see those those guys again, but it just looked like they were playing harder and that’s why they won,” Smith told NFL reporters.
Smith Hopes Rams Game Becomes ‘Learning Experience’ for Team
The Rams frustrated Smith with an array of rushes, including from newcomer Bryon Young who produced his first career NFL sack. The third rounder even showed how capable he is in taking on one-on-one blocks with this full on bull rush to rattle Smith.
Of course, it’s not a Rams win without an Aaron Donald highlight. And “A.D.” additionally dipped into his QB attacking side to help put together a dominating defensive day.
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Smith, in the end, settled for just 112 yards passing and a QB rating of 44.5. But he chose to shoulder blame with the rest of his team.
“We just didn’t execute when it comes down to it,” Smith said.
Still, he acknowledged that the Rams game has to be a wake up call for them and a wake up call for the younger members of the Seahawks who got to taste their first NFL game.
“You know, that’s something that we got to get better at,” Smith noted. “We got to understand that we got to go earn it every single play, every single down, every single game. Like I said, it’s the NFL. I know we got a lot of young guys who for their first time are playing regular-season football and might not know how hard you got to play to go out there and get wins.
“But they don’t come easy, and so I think this is going to be a great learning experience for us,” Smith continued. “I think we can look at these moments later on down the season and say that we gain from it.”
Snap Counts and Other Rams Notes
The Rams ended up using 19 defenders total in frustrating the Seahawks. And that included extensive playing time for one of the Rams’ newcomers.
New cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, already familiar with the Seahawks as a past member of the San Francisco 49ers, ended up with 47 snaps total per Pro Football Focus which led all cornerbacks. Three Rams, though, ended up earning more action.
Linebacker Ernest Jones and the free safety duo of Russ Yeast Jordan Fuller all had 50 snaps total. Meanwhile, the rookie Young ended up with one more play that Donald as the edge rusher settled for 42 snaps. Donald was given 41 plays in the defensive rotation. Other notes:
Tackles made and missed: The Rams got 54 total tackles as a team and only missed four opportunities there. Seattle defenders missed six tackles per PFF.
Pressure: The Rams defense, with Raheem Morris now in his third season as defensive coordinator, dialed up 14 QB hurries of Smith. Seattle had nine.
Seahawks “WR1” trios locked up: There were Seattle fans who stated how the ‘Hawks were one of the few teams with three guys who could pass as legit WR1 options in DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and rookie Jaxson Smith-Njigba. All three were held to a combined eight catches for 70 yards and none had a 30-yard gain facing the Rams.
Second-year CB Emerges: Sticking with the pass coverage dominance of the Rams, second-year CB Derion Kendrick put together one of his best outings to date. On five targets thrown his side, he only allowed two catches for 11 yards. And the rookie Smith-Njigba only had one catch for one yard facing him.
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Rams Week 1 Romp Leads to Seahawks Star Calling Out His Own Team