Rams defense came through in victory over Seahawks

INGLEWOOD — Sunday night, in an energized and roaring locker room, Rams head coach Sean McVay handed out game balls after a 17-16 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

He made it a point to hand the first one to the defensive captains, represented by linebacker Ernest Jones.

In his postgame presser, before taking a question, McVay opened with praise for the defense.

“Unbelievable effort by our defense today. They kept us in the game. …” said McVay. “I’m just so proud of this group. I think the grit was on display, the mental toughness, the ability to get stops, the ability to be able to feed off of one another.”

The way Seattle’s offense looked on the first drive of the game, it felt as if it was going to be a long day for the Rams’ defense.

The Seahawks manufactured a 14-play, 88-yard drive that culminated in a DK Metcalf touchdown to go up 7-0 early.

But thanks to a tireless and gritty effort by the defense, it would be the only touchdown Seattle scored in the game.

The Rams held the Seahawks to field goals the rest of the way, two in the first half and one in the second half. Seattle kicker Jason Myers missed a 55-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the game that would have won the game for the Seahawks.

“We’ve done some things to self-inflict ourselves and when they’ve gotten down there, I tell the guys, ‘Just don’t let them score,’” said Jones, who led the team with 12 tackles. “Three points, we’ll win all day with three points if we continue to make them kick it. That was our mindset today and we were able to execute and do well.”

The first drive aside, the Rams excelled at forcing the Seahawks into third-and-long situations, particularly when Seattle was closing in on scoring opportunities.

On Seattle’s second drive, a pair of penalties and a tackle for loss pushed the Seahawks back 10 yards from the Rams’ 26-yard line.

The Seahawks’ third offensive possession saw them get to first-and-goal at the Rams 7-yard line, but defensive pressure pushed Seattle quarterback Geno Smith into an intentional grounding penalty, resulting in another field goal.

Seattle kicked another field goal in the third quarter around the eight-minute mark, but didn’t score again.

“It’s always a team game, but I thought for them not to be affected by some of the things that we were struggling with and our offense was struggling with as a whole, they just kept playing,” McVay said. “They kept competing. They kept it to a tight game. … Our red area defense was key and critical to not allow it to be able to get out of hand. I mean, to only be down the way that we were at the half after the way that the first half went, we seemed really fortunate.”

Jonah Williams garnered a sack and Bobby Brown and Jones each had half a sack. The team had eight total quarterback hits with Aaron Donald logging three himself.

Cornerback Derion Kendrick had three pass deflections and recorded the first interception of his career, a key moment in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning field goal by Lucas Havrisik.

“It was huge. And I thought he stood up really tall all day,” McVay said of Kendrick’s interception. “But Derion Kendrick, it was outstanding. It’s a cool thing to be able to see guys respond the right way and then be able to see the work, the responses pay off and a performance like he had today.”