INGLEWOOD, Calif. – In a battle between two of the hottest teams in football, the Rams rode four defensive takeaways to a victory over the Seahawks. In doing so, they advanced to 8-2 on the season and took over first place in the NFC West.
After the game, head coach Sean McVay, quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Davante Adams, running back Kyren Williams and safety Kamren Kinchens spoke with local media about the 21-19 win over Seattle. Here are the most significant quotes and talking points from those press conferences.
"That's a great group that (the offense) went against today, but I know that we can play better. There's certainly some things that I can do a better job for us collectively, but I'm proud of our football team, we're not gonna apologize for finding different ways to win." - McVay
This certainly was a different way for L.A. to win, coming off three-straight games with 34-plus points. But in Week 11, it was the defense that "made the plays that were necessary" in order to beat Seattle. The front didn't collect a sack, but McVay said, "That's why I say stats are for losers, because they effected and influenced the game in a huge way," as many of their pressures led to turnovers or throwaways.
One of the biggest plays of the game, however, didn't come on defense, but on special teams. With less than two minutes remaining and the Rams up 21-19, punter Ethan Evans pinned the ball at the one-yard line, forcing Seattle to drive the length of the field to get into field goal range, and the 61-yard attempt that would have won it for Seattle was wide right. McVay said all five of Evans' punts were impactful, and he doesn't "take for granted" the fact that they made all three extra points with kicker Harrison Mevis because, "We needed every single one of them today."
"I think probably age and growth (has helped me avoid critical mistakes) and understanding, 'Hey, our defense has got a really good thing going. They're playing really well. Make sure we don't make it hard on them tonight.' And obviously we'd love to connect on a few more and put up some more points, but you've got to find a way to win the game, and that's what we did tonight." - Stafford
Stafford didn't light up the stat sheet as he has been doing for the past several weeks, but he did just enough to get a win against a tough opponent on both sides of the ball. And, compared to Darnold's four interceptions, Stafford's zero turnovers and two touchdowns were difference-makers.
Stafford said the rhythm of the game definitely played a role, especially in the first half when only 12 of their 25 plays were in the normal field, as opposed to the red zone. Obviously, that's a positive, but "It was a little bit of a strange game momentum-wise," he said. But still, they "didn't sustain drives long enough" in the second half, but the defense and special teams were able to salvage those possessions with big plays and created momentum of their own.
When the field goal fell short, Stafford said he felt "relief."
"Man, they want to throw the ball. Most people want to just dink and dunk and run the ball and kind of chip their way down the field. So people who want to kind of put it down the field or kind of give us a shot, that's their mistake." - Kinchens
Four of Kinchens' six career interceptions have come against the Seahawks, including his two on Sunday. When asked why that is, that was his response, and it was a genuine one. When Kinchens has been given opportunities to make plays on the ball, he's come through more often than not, and Seattle has given him those opportunities.
Kinchens said this game wasn't a "statement" to him because it was just them "finally getting the opps (opportunities)" to make plays on the ball. He added that teams want to "test" the Rams' secondary, maybe because the rush is so strong, but "they don't know how good the secondary is, too, so if they wanna keep trying us, then they'll keep seeing."
"I think we played kind of an average league game of football. It wasn't like it was the worst of all time, but to our standard, it definitely was not there. I mean, it makes you feel even better knowing that you can play like crap, like what we feel like on offense, and still come out with a victory against a really good team." - Adams
Adams didn't mince words. They weren't happy with the offensive production as a whole today, and Adams himself (one catch, one yard, one touchdown on eight targets) said this is a game that he wishes he could "delete from the tape reel forever," but they found a way to win, and that elicited some real positive emotions from the team.
The defense were getting "picks left and right in practice" this past week, so Adams said he felt a game like this on the horizon. And although it wasn't smooth sailing by any means for the Rams' offense, Adams knows how valuable these hard-fought games can be. "We can go out here and have no adversity and go up and down the field every single time, but you don't learn much from those type of, drives, games, experiences," he said. They definitely learned from this one.
"It felt really good (to get two big runs). I knew the second one, I kind of knew if we got into that third down, that fourth down, what kind of front they're going to be in. And I was hoping, I was watching film last night and I seen it from the Cardinals game, and I was like, 'Ooh, if we call it outside zone on this play, it's going to hit.'" - Williams
And hit, it did. Williams cut back on a 4th-and-1 outside zone carry, taking it 34 yards down the Seattle's one-yard line for his longest run of the season. Earlier in the game, he had a 30-yard run, which also set L.A. up in the red zone, and those served as his two longest runs of the season so far. Williams said it felt like the first time since 2023 that he really was able to get into the third level of the defense, which felt good because they had worked on that all week leading into the game. He wants to work on his "over speed" a bit now so he can put those in the end zone next time.
Williams joined Rams running back royalty by scoring his 40th touchdown in his first three seasons with the team, along with a few other franchise milestones. While he doesn't follow stats closely, to be mentioned in the same breath as some of those legends "makes my insides feel good," he said, but added, "I'm not going to try to really get too excited over it. I'm going to keep myself humble and hungry and go pass those guys, honestly."
