Getty The Rams believe the Seahawks are "hiding" DK Metcalf from Jalen Ramsey.
Days before their playoff matchup, the Los Angeles Rams are calling out the Seattle Seahawks for “hiding” star receiver DK Metcalf in their last meeting. Rams safety John Johnson sounded off on the Seahawks’ use of Metcalf in their Week 16 matchup implying the team did not want the receiver squaring off with corner Jalen Ramsey.
“Chuckling, Rams safety John Johnson said they could tell Seahawks were ‘trying to hide’ Metcalf from Ramsey last time (via those motions away from the CB),” The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue noted on Twitter.
Johnson went on to explain that Ramsey was looking forward to facing Metcalf one-on-one and added the Seahawks would be wise not to “get him angry.“
“I know one thing, No. 20 wasn’t happy about it,” Johnson told The Athletic. “He looked forward to that matchup…You don’t want to get him angry.”
ALL the latest Seahawks news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Seahawks newsletter here!
Sign up for the Heavy on Seahawks Newsletter!
Ramsey on Facing Metcalf: ‘It Should be Like Big on Big’
It is worth noting that whatever the Seahawks’ strategy was against the Rams in Week 16 it worked as Seattle came away with a 20-9 victory. The Seahawks lost their initial matchup with the Rams 23-16. Understandably, the Seahawks would rather win games than make sure that Metcalf is always matched up with Ramsey one-on-one. Leading up to the Wild Card matchup, Ramsey backed up Johnson’s comments adding that it should be “big on big.”
“I feel personally that it should be like big on big,” Ramsey told the Associated Press, via Pro Football Talk. “If you believe you have a top guy, I’m looked at as a top guy, we should be matched up against each other a fair amount of times, as you see happens with other teams. The Cardinals game, for instance, it was me and D-Hop matched up against each other all the time. The first Seahawks game, it was that way, me and DK matched up across from each other all the time.”
Metcalf Was More Involved in the Seahawks’ Most Recent Matchup vs. Rams
Metcalf had six receptions for 59 yards against the Rams in Week 16 as the Seahawks involved the receiver more in the offense. The wideout was much quieter in their earlier November matchup notching just two catches for 28 yards. Ramsey did disagree with Johnson on the term “hiding” noting the Rams will have to come up with a different plan to slow down Metcalf if they see more of the same in their postseason contest.
“So I don’t know if I would say the right terminology is ‘hiding’ him,” Ramsey continued. “I don’t think that’s it. I don’t think DK Metcalf has to hide from anybody. But they felt it was in the best interest of their offense and their team to move him around in different areas so he could take advantages of opportunities potentially that he had that could help heir offense and help their team get a win, which you could say they were effective in doing. So now we have to find a way to combat that.”
READ NEXT: NFL Teams to Pursue ‘Blockbuster Move’ to Steal Key Seahawk: Report