media guys on the SEATTLE win

Rams outlast Seahawks in return to Los Angeles

Marc Sessler

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000705172/article/rams-outlast-seahawks-in-return-to-los-angeles

Sunday was a special day in Los Angeles as the Rams (1-1) played their first game at L.A. Memorial Coliseum since 1994. And what a day it was, as the returning heroes short-circuited a Russell Wilson two-minute march to upset the Seahawks (1-1) in a bruising 9-3 grudge match. Our takeaways:

1. This was a Jeff Fisher fever dream from outer space. The Seahawks always have their issues against the Rams. It’s one of the NFL’s stranger trends, and Sunday was no exception. Russell Wilson dropped to 4-5 in his career against the Rams on a day that saw him battered for two sacks and countless hits behind Seattle’s overpowered O-line. The ankle sprain he suffered last week clearly impacted Wilson, whose final numbers — 22-of-35 passing for 254 yards — look better on paper. Fans came close to seeing Wilson do the remarkable on that busted final drive, but the comeback fell short when running back Christine Michael fumbled the ball following an eight-yard catch inside the Rams’ 30-yard line with less than a minute to play. If only Fisher could face Seattle every week.

2. Coming off a mega-disastrous opener, Case Keenum opened the game with a nine-play, 54-yard drive for a field goal — the first points for the Rams since last season. While Keenum gets credit for testing the ball downfield with completions of 44, 36, 27 and 18 yards, he also failed to dial up a touchdown with Los Angeles sitting first-and-goal at the Seattle four-yard line. Keenum threw for a respectable 8.1 yards per pass, making good use of wideout Kenny Britt and tight end Lance Kendricks. Nobody should mistake Keenum for a bona fide NFL starter, but as long as Fisher dreams of kicking three field goals per game, he’s got his man.

3. Seattle’s ground game was a non-starter as the ‘Hawks finished the first half with 14 rushes for 14 yards. Thomas Rawls has the faith of this coaching staff, but was held to minus-seven yards on seven totes before leaving the game with a leg injury. Michael looked like the better runner — not hard to do today — heating up when allowed to roll as the unquestioned lead dog in the second half and plowing for nearly all of his 60 yards at 6.0 yards per rush over the final 30 minutes.

4. Bottom line: the Rams are in a tough place on offense. Opponents expect them to feed Todd Gurley from wire-to-wire and, therefore, stack the box appropriately. The Rams runner amassed just 15 yards in the first half before finishing with 51 yards on the day. After shredding the league for 141.5 yards per game at 6.4 yards per rush over his first four NFL starts, Gurley averaged just 66.4 yards at 3.9 yards per tote over the rest of 2015. So far this year, he’s sitting at 49 yards per outing at just 2.7 yards per attempt. CUT TO: Fantasy heads freaking out from east to west.

The Rams looked glorious wearing their awesome throwbacks in L.A. debut
Unis were sublime in the warm California sun.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/the-rams-wore-their-awesome-throwbacks-in-l-a-debut-and-looked-glorious-091816

The Los Angeles Rams are back in Los Angeles and they look spectacular. No, not in a football sense (though they’re holding their own in their yearly slop-fest with the Seattle Seahawks) but in a fashion one, as the team celebrated its first game in L.A. in 22 years by wearing the throwbacks that came to define the franchise’s time out west.

From the 1980s until the year 2000 — a span that encompassed the Eric Dickerson rec spec/jheri curl days, Flipper Anderson setting records with Henry Ellard, Jim (not Chris) Everett, Jerome Bettis (easy to forget he was on the Rams), moving to St. Louis, luring Dick Vermeil out of retirement and some grocery-store clerk named Kurt Warner — the Rams had one of the greatest uniforms in the NFL, a home blue jersey with a rams horn around the sleeves, jersey numerals and pants that were a bright yellow-gold. They were spectacular. (The road jersey was basically the same, with the colors flipped.)

Then, for the same reason anyone makes any decision in sports ($$$), the Rams switched uniforms in 2000, going with gold and millennium blue because, according to the team’s astrological aficionado owner, Georgia Frontiere, it “made cosmic sense.”

It was bad enough for the team to change colors from a distinctive, ROYGBIV situation, but to do it after a Super Bowl was practically daring the football gods to smite thee.* And smite they did, as the Rams haven’t made the playoffs since 2004, were 3-4 in the postseason during the uniform’s early years and were handed the biggest Super Bowl upset in history, all while wearing those ghastly, unmemorable duds. It’s hard to accurately describe what the uniforms look like but “7-9” hits it pretty well.

*In fairness, the process to change the uniforms started long before anyone had heard of Kurt Warner. It just so happened that the switch came after the most unexpected Super Bowl victory ever.

Anyway, the blue and yellow unis were back on the field Sunday and, under a brilliant Los Angeles sun in the historic L.A. Coliseum, the Rams pretty much looked perfect. While the uniforms were great even for those few years they were worn under the dome in St. Louis, you don’t realize how sublime they are until you see them in high-def on a perfect September afternoon.

The Rams aren’t back home until October 9, when they’ll be back in their regular uniforms. And if you have any hope of L.A. going back to the days of Dickerson, you’ll have to wait. The team has said it’ll keep its current uniforms until 2019, and even then there’s no telling what, if any, change will be in the works. That’s just the Rams being the Rams. So, enjoy these while you can, if you can stomach the Rams playing the Seahawks, that is.

Seahawks at Rams: 5 takeaways from Seattle’s ugly loss

link: http://12thmanrising.com/2016/09/18/seahawks-rams-5-takeaways-seattle-ugly/

Seahawks at Rams: What an ugly and terrible loss for the Seattle Seahawks. There is very little to be happy about, especially on offense.

It is easy to be frustrated with the Seattle Seahawks right now. There 9-3 loss to the LA Rams was difficult to watch in a lot of ways.

In fact, Dan already went on an amazing rant about the game. I’m sure he’s enjoying an adult beverage right now trying to calm himself down. I’m trying to be more reserved and logical about the loss, but it is easy to be unhappy about the team’s performance.

Here are my 5 takeaways from today’s game:

1. Wilson’s ankle hurting him more than team says

Wilson had decent stats overall today. He threw the ball well, and connected on a few long passes when the team needed a spark.

The problems for Wilson today were more than just the pass rush. His ankle was causing him genuine problems, and not just when he wanted to scramble.

Wilson’s throwing mechanics were off because he didn’t have his normally solid base. He couldn’t drive off his back foot. Wilson’s his in-pocket footwork has become solid, but it simply wasn’t there today.

Instead, Wilson was arm-throwing a lot of his throws, and his accuracy suffered for it. There were a couple of passes that sailed on him, and a couple of others that were thrown too low.

This simply wasn’t the magical Wilson we’re used to. (He was still pretty good though)

2. Bradley Sowell is terrible

I’m afraid that this is going to become a weekly entry in this space. Calling him a turnstile is an insult to turnstiles. (Did I use that joke last week too? I think I did.)

Sowell has no business being on the field. He’s worse that Paul McQuistan was a few years ago. The problem is that there’s no Russell Okung coming back from injury to replace him. The Seahawks don’t have much in the way of options right now.

Until Russell Wilson’s ankle heals and he gets his mobility back, Sowell’s performance alone is enough to make the entire offense struggle.

3. Christine Michael was Seattle’s best offensive player

The Rams defensive front dominated Seattle’s offensive line all day. The result was a pathetic performance overall for by Seattle’s offense. The one bright spot out there was Christine Michael, who showed that he’s ready to be the lead back.

With no blocking for the most part, Michael averaged six yards per carry. Let that sink in a bit. Rawls averaged -1 yards per carry today.

Fans are understandably going to kill him for his fumble at the end of the game. He was fighting for extra yards and didn’t brace for the 2nd hit. That can’t happen, and hopefully he learns from that mistake.

It would be wrong not to recognize how well he played before that final play. Michael was the only thing working for Seattle’s offense for long stretches of the game.

4. Penalties are killing this team

The Seahawks continue to shoot themselves in the foot on both sides of the ball. They ended up with 10 penalties for 104 yards, and that is only the penalties that were accepted.

Most of these weren’t even the “overly aggressive” types that aren’t a big deal. False starts, holding, facemasks and needless offensive pass interference calls ruled the day. All of those are entirely avoidable.

The worst one of the day came late in the fourth quarter. Cassius Marsh sacked Case Keenum on third down just outside of their end zone.

For reasons I’ll never understand, Marsh decided to grab Keenum’s helmet as he made the tackle giving them a free first down. Instead of Seattle getting the ball back near midfield, the Rams were able to run out most of the clock and pin Seattle deep.

There are penalties, and then there are dumb bone-headed penalties. The Seahawks are committing far too many of the latter type.

5. Injuries are becoming a major concern

On top of Wilson and everyone else who was hurt coming into this game, the Seahawks suffered three more significant injuries today:

Doug Baldwin hurt his knee in the 2nd quarter. He returned, but only had one catch after that. He said after the game he’ll have an MRI on Monday.
Thomas Rawls injured his leg, and the trainers were looking at his surgically repaired ankle. He didn’t return.

I never thought i’d say this, but that Week 5 bye looks like it’ll turn out to be a good thing for Seattle. They need to get healthy if they are going to make another playoff run this year.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-729423-hill-first.html

STAR-STUDDED

True to form, the stars came out to welcome the Rams back to Los Angeles.

Before the Coliseum hosted its first NFL regular-season game since Dec. 24, 1994, the Red Hot Chili Peppers wore Rams jerseys and performed two songs: “Can’t Stop” and “Dark Necessities” – curiously eschewing the more California-focused parts of their discography.

After the short set, lead singer Anthony Kiedis – who shed his No. 16 Jared Goff jersey halfway through this performance – remained on stage afterward to announce the Rams’ starting defense as it ran onto the field.

During the first quarter, “The Late Late Show” host James Corden danced in the end zone with the Rams’ cheerleaders, wearing a similar outfit.

Other big names in the audience included LeBron James, Magic Johnson, L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti and actress Elizabeth Banks. Shortly after the game, the Emmys began less than four miles away at L.A. Live.

EXTRA POINTS
For the second week in a row, defensive end Robert Quinn raised his right fist during the pregame national anthem – part of the movement that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has sparked to protest the oppression of black Americans and other people of color. However, he was not joined this time by receiver Kenny Britt, who had also raised his fist during the season opener. … The Rams donned their throwback jerseys Sunday, pleasing many fans who have yearned for the old L.A. colors. “Everybody in the locker room loves the throwbacks,” quarterback Case Keenum said. “Something about that blue and yellow that go together.”

Homecoming King Pete Carroll fumes, falls with Seahawks

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160918/homecoming-king-pete-carroll-fumes-falls-with-seahawks

LOS ANGELES >> There were flames and smoke and daylight fireworks, the big homecoming dressed up entirely too well Sunday for something that would implode into rubble.

Oh, the Rams won, 9-3, beating Seattle in a football game decided by actual feet, the kicker-infested victory coming in their first regular-season game in Southern California since 1994.

But the homecoming king? He lost, Pete Carroll watching helplessly from the sideline as his Seahawks did what his USC teams rarely did in the Coliseum – lose and in a way more offensive than OFFensive.

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Just one lousy field goal? Carroll’s Trojans regularly produced more highlights during pre-practice calisthenics.

“I never would have thought we’d go two weeks scoring only one touchdown,” Carroll said, Seattle winning its opener last weekend over Miami, 12-10. “We’re better than that.”

Not on Sunday they weren’t, the Seahawks were unable to solve a Rams defense that made the normally elusive Russell Wilson look like a quarterback with a tender ankle.

Of course, that’s exactly what Wilson was in this game, though Carroll refused to use that ailment as an excuse for why his entire offense limped around.

He also chose to pass on blaming the officials, even after spending a decent amount of the fourth quarter doing something that appeared akin to berating them.

Seattle was called for offensive pass interference three times Sunday, the last penalty resulting in Carroll pretty much fumbling away his 65-year-old mind, the NFL’s oldest coach suddenly more crotchety than ever.

Arguing in a way as animated as “The Simpsons,” Carroll tore into a field judge named Eugene Hall, and when you have to look up the name of the field judge, something interesting certainly has happened.

“I just thought the official was in a difficult position to call what he called,” Carroll explained later, his blood pressure no longer red-lining. “But that didn’t … I’m going to gripe about calls all the time. That’s just one of them.”

At one point while pleading for clarity, Carroll plowed into one of his own players, wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, the roughness unnecessary but hardly unentertaining.

Carroll was still rambling in the direction of an official five players later, as Seattle was lining up to punt.

“We have to not have offensive pass interference penalties,” he said. “Those were crushers today.”

As much history as the Rams have in this town and in this stadium, it’s two of Carroll’s teams that are remembered in big numerals painted inside the Coliseum.

The Trojans are honored for the national titles they won in 2003 and 2004, an era during which USC routinely broke school records for number of people in the stands and number of celebrities on the field.

From where he stood during the game Sunday, Carroll could have looked up and admired those numerals.

But the guess here is he was too busy trying to figure out how a team that used to shove Marshawn Lynch down the throat of the opposition no longer can run the ball.

To understand how magical Carroll’s time at USC was, recall that he helped revive the popularity of Henry Winkler, a regular back then at Trojans games and the reason I once was able to report “Fonzie’s on the field again.”

So, even with the Rams wearing their old-school uniforms against the Seahawks and recognizing some of their all-time greats at halftime, this game, in terms of commemorating championships, was more about Carroll.

As for feeling nostalgic afterward, he either misheard the question or had no interest in revisiting a golden era later tarnished by NCAA sanctions.

“That had no factor in any of this,” he said. “It was no issue. Not for me or anyone else around here.”

Despite all of Carroll’s success at USC, this defeat technically means he has a two-game Coliseum losing streak.

His Trojans dropped their regular-season finale here in 2009 to Nick Foles and Arizona, 21-17.

Foles once was quarterback of the Rams, his departure in the offseason preventing Carroll from having to relive too much of that final USC loss Sunday.

Instead, he was able to experience losing to Case Keenum, who again failed to direct the Rams into the end zone but was good enough to produce a victory and – for now, at least – slow the “Got Goff” crowd.

“I thought this was going to be a hard one, and it was,” Carroll said. “Those guys did a nice job. We got in our own way a bit, too. We have to be better, have to play better.”

The Seahawks aren’t a traditional opponent to schedule for a celebration, Seattle having been to two recent Super Bowls.

But this is the NFL, which always seems to maximize drama, the league figuring out a way for both victory and defeat to be felt on a single homecoming.