“Our first game back here the fans were incredible,” said Rams Head coach Jeff Fisher. “It made this a tough place to play starting day one, which was really impressive.”
The Los Angeles Rams did not disappoint their new fan base with their 9-3 victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Over 91,000 people witnessed the historic homecoming game.
Super Bowl Champion Richard Sherman addressed this game in the article “Back in L.A.” written for The Players’ Tribune. Sherman, a Compton native, helped the Stanford Cardinal upset USC twice in the Coliseum.
The academic and athletic work ethic that Sherman put in at Dominguez High School led him to one of the top universities in the country.
“I just went to class, worked hard, asked for help when I needed it and wasn’t scared to ask questions,” Sherman said about his time at Dominguez. “I took more challenging classes, I read on my own when I got a chance,”
Sherman contributed two solo tackles and three overall tackles to Seattle’s effort on Sunday.
The first game in over twenty years celebrated former Rams players and Olympic athletes. At halftime, The Rams honored their Hall of Fame players, which included Jack Youngblood, Eric Dickerson, and Orlando Pace, Marshall Faulk, Jackie Slater, and Tom Mack.
The Rams also honored Olympians who are helping Los Angeles in their bid for the 2024 Olympics.
Los Angeles held back their division rivals without scoring a single touchdown. The Rams’ victory was the low scoring game, Seattle and L.A. were two out of three teams with a single-digit final score on Sunday.
“It’s always a fourth-quarter game when we play them,” said Rams tight end Lance Kendricks. “I think today, we just grinded it out like we normally do against them.”
Running back Todd Gurley made 19 carries for 51 yards. Wide receiver Kenny Britt made six catches for 94 yards. Safety Mark Barron made nine solo tackles.
In the first quarter, wide receiver Tavon Austin caught a 17-yard pass from quarterback Case Keenum that landed them in the Seahawks 28-yard line. A few plays later, kicker Greg Zuerlein landed a field goal with a 39-yard kick.
Seattle relied mainly on passing the ball to move down the field. However, quarterback Russell Wilson could not make a touchdown pass in the Seahawk’s first possession.
“I was trying to just trust my reads and make the plays” Wilson said. “We had a couple penalties that kind of hurt us a little bit, but we just stayed [on] course, and keep trusting, one possession at a time and one play at a time.”
Kicker Steven Hauschka scored for Seattle with a 23-yard field goal. Los Angeles would not score again until the fourth quarter.
The Rams will travel to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Sept. 25.
