The Los Angeles Rams confidently ride into NFC Wildcard weekend after their 25-30 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The Rams are set to battle the Minnesota Vikings on January 13 at 5:00P.M.. If they survive, the Rams will face the top-seeded Detroit Lions.
“This group has continuously responded, I’m just proud of them,” said Rams head coach Sean McVay.
Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson is heading into his seventh postseason. His message to younger players is to seize the moment.
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“Don’t take it for granted, it’s only one week at a time,” Robinson said. “You only got one shot to move on to next week.”
Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo slung 27 completions for 334 yards, his main targets were tight end Tyler Higbee and wide receiver Tutu Atwell.
Rookie Jordan Whittington made the largest gain of the day with a 50-yard passing play in the fourth quarter. He ultimately had 86 passing yards and 12 rushing yards in the matchup. Whittington noted how trusting his teammates is key.
“There’s 10 other guys on the field just trusting that they’re gonna block their guy; like that one, they opened it up for me and you just got to hit it full speed and just trust it,” Whittington said. “I think we did a really good job of developing that.”
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith passed for 223 yards, making four touchdown slings. Former UCLA standout running back Zach Charbonnet made 14 rushes for 59 yards.
Linebacker Jacob Hummell led the Rams with eight total tackles. Corner Cobie Durant noted how the Rams defense built a strong bond through communication.
“We know we young and I’m sure other teams see that,” Durant said. “When we’re all out there, it seems like we all been in the league for plus years.”
Higbee scored the first Rams touchdown of the game with a six-yard reception. On his third game back from injury, Higbee is returning to his usual form.
“I think I’ll always be chasing my standard of football,” Higbee said. “Getting back into it is tough, you can’t mimic playing football when you haven’t played a long time.”
went 27 – 41 with
334 passing yards,
2 TDs and 1 pick
in replacement of inactive Mathew Stafford. (E. Mesiyah McGinnis / LA Sentinel)
The Rams will go into the postseason without rusher Blake Corum who fractured his forearm after rushing for 12 yards.
The Rams defeated the Vikings 30-20 in late October. With key players being injured at the time, they have to be brought up to speed.
“The best part about this and why people love it is whoever plays the best in that window of time you’re allotted and let’s control the things that we can control,” McVay said. “There’s certain things that we can’t … but we’re going to put our focus and concentration on everything that we can control.”
