Rams Stun Seahawks

Less than two weeks after Jared Goff broke his thumb at Lumen Field, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback returned to Seattle, came off the bench and led the Rams to a gutsy 30-20 victory over the division-champion Seahawks in Saturday’s wild-card game.

The win avenges a Week 16 loss to the Seahawks that clinched Seattle’s NFC West title.

“Two weeks ago you saw them smoking cigars and getting all excited about beating us and winning the division and we’re able to come up here and beat them in their own place,” Goff said after the game. “It feels good.”

The Rams will play in the divisional round next weekend at the top-seeded Green Bay Packers, if the New Orleans Saints beat the visiting Chicago Bears on Sunday. If the Bears prevail, the Rams will play Tampa Bay, which beat Washington 31-23 on Saturday night.

The Rams’ triumph broke the Seahawks’ string of 10 straight home playoff wins, which was the third-longest such streak in NFL postseason history. No fans were allowed at Saturday’s game because of the coronavirus pandemic.

With Goff continuing to recover from Dec. 28 surgery on his throwing-hand thumb, John Wolford made his second career start. But it ended abruptly with 5:40 to play in the first quarter. Wolford rushed for a 2-yard gain on a designed run, but he suffered a neck injury when he was tackled and was transported to a hospital for precautionary measures.

As Goff toughed out playing 12 days after surgery, he had plenty of support from his backfield. Running back Cam Akers rushed for 131 yards (the most by a Rams rookie in playoff history) and a touchdown on 28 carries and also caught two passes for 45 yards.

“He was huge,” McVay said. “We were able to control the time of possession, able to just eat up yards a little bit at a time.”

The Rams controlled the clock, 33:39 to 26:21. And under first-year coordinator Brandon Staley, the Rams’ top-ranked defense again stifled Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and frustrated leading wide receiver DK Metcalf.

In the second half, the Rams were able to limit Wilson to one touchdown pass despite two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald leaving the game early in the third quarter because of a rib injury. Donald returned to the sideline but did not reenter the game.

Wilson was sacked five times and went 11-of-27 for 174 yards and two touchdowns.