Seahawks vs. Rams score: Jared Goff leads LA past Seattle despite injury, Russell Wilson bullied in loss

Goff did just enough and his defense took care of the rest

If you were looking for visceral defense and an outpouring of fiery emotion, the NFC West had your order in on NFL Super Wild-Card Weekend, with the Los Angeles Rams sending the Seattle Seahawks packing after a 30-20 victory at Lumen Field. This was the matchup perennial All-Pro Aaron Donald wanted, and while some wondered if that was a wise statement when considering the concerns at quarterback for head coach Sean McVay, it turned out to be indirectly prophetic. Both defenses played bully ball, and it didn't take long before John Wolford was forced out of the contest with a potential neck injury suffered at the shoulder of All-Pro safety Jamal Adams on a scramble play. 

Wolford was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, and didn't return to the game, but was seen in the locker room after the game wearing a smile -- a potentially positive sign for his availability in the divisional round.

The injury thrust an injured Jared Goff into the game and his fate wasn't much more pleasant, at least for the most part, seeing as he was sacked twice in only a handful of plays before finally locating the big play -- by way of a 44-yard grab by wideout Cooper Kupp that could've easily been an interception instead. Russell Wilson wasn't faring much better though, sacked three times in less than 1.5 quarters -- two of the blows being delivered by defensive lineman Donald before the Rams lost the Pro Bowler to a rib injury early in the second half. But even without Donald, Wilson couldn't get anything going en route to an abysmal outing, while Goff ended up making the right plays at the right time. 

As halftime approached, things got wild in the Pacific Northwest, when cornerback Darious Williams intercepted Wilson for a pick-six to stretch a Rams lead that was then immediately diminished by Wilson serving up a fired-up DK Metcalf with a 51-yard touchdown toss. Not to be outdone, running back Cam Akers' dominance finally led to an offensive TD by the Rams, again pushing the deficit in the favor of Los Angeles. And just like that, in what was a defensive stalemate, three touchdowns landed in less than five football minutes. It was a messy contest by both teams, but the Seahawks truly wet the bed -- particularly in the fourth quarter and helped mightily by an elite defensive outing by Los Angeles -- punctuated by a turnover that led to Goff hitting wide receiver Robert Woods for what would be the game-sealing 15-yard touchdown. 

The Rams take the season series to the tune of 2-1, and eliminate their most hated rival from the playoffs in the process. 

Why the Rams won

Cam Akers went ballistic, the defense was rabid and Goff delivered in the clutch. 

The Rams basically teed off on Wilson, constantly getting pressure and forcing him into bad decisions or into pretending he was a tent spike. The onslaught was as efficient as it was relentless, with Los Angeles rarely having to send a blitz package at the Seahawks to put hands on their QB. And even with Donald out for most of the second half, there seemed to be nothing Seattle could do to protect Wilson from being pushed, pulled, hurried and tossed around -- en route to being sacked five times and hit a total of 10 times over the course of the game. This put the Rams in the driver's seat from kickoff onward, and it ultimately didn't matter much who was at quarterback, so long as they avoided giving the ball away and making things more difficult for their defense.

Wolford was off to a solid start, but Goff didn't collapse when he entered the game, as some thought he might. Despite taking the field with several screws in the fractured thumb on his throwing hand, he threw no interceptions and didn't fumble a single time. And when the Rams needed him most, his clutch gene kicked in and punctuated a day owned by defense and Akers, the latter setting a franchise record with 131 rushing yards on 28 carries. He also added a rushing touchdown and 45 receiving yards to his bottom line, pummeling the Seahawks defense in the process. 

Lastly, the Seahawks converted only two of their 14 attempts on third down, if you need any more of an indication just how rabid the Rams defense was. 

Why the Seahawks lost

Take the last sentence of the previous section and let's expand on that for a minute.

Seattle failed on 12 of their third-down attempts. Wilson was sacked five times and hit a total of 10 on the day, ultimately completing only 11 of his 27 pass attempts for a measly 174 yards. Sure, he had two touchdowns, but he also had an interception and one of his touchdowns came when the coffin having already been out of reach, which is the equivalent of having a match in a closed coffin. To his credit though, it wasn't all Wilson's fault, and not by a long shot. While D.K. Metcalf had 96 receiving yards and was the recipient of both of Wilson's touchdowns, he also caught only five of his 11 targets, being punished on a couple to force an incompletion and dropping more than one. Tyler Lockett, another one of Wilson's usually lethal weapons, finished with only 43 yards on two catches (4 targets) and, on the whole, the Seahawks offense simply struggled to look like even a shell of themselves on Saturday.

Kudos to their defensive unit for not only keeping them in the game, but also giving them a very real chance at winning -- especially in the first half. They logged three sacks on the day, led by a team-high two sacks from defensive lineman Jarran Reed, but the unit began to wear down more and more as the game went on. A large part of that was due to Akers' big day, and the other was the fact the Seahawks offense couldn't stay on the field, losing the time of possession battle by a chunky seven football minutes.

Nearly everything that could go wrong for Seattle, did, and they'll now try to reset for 2021 knowing they got hammered by a rival who didn't even know who'd play quarterback until 90 minutes ahead of kickoff.

Turning Point 

It might not have looked like much, but it certainly was. With the Seahawks trailing by 10 point late in the fourth quarter, they made the mistake (one of many) of giving the Rams possession on the Seattle 15-yard line. Goff didn't have a lights-out game, but his clutch meter wasn't injured at all -- nailing the Seahawks coffin closed with this touchdown toss. 

Wilson would go on to finally get his second TD of the game but, thanks to this throw, it was rendered moot. 

Play of the Game 

It happened early on, but it defined the rest of the contest and also happens to be the only pick six off of a screen pass the NFL has seen this season. Williams read this so well you'd think he went into the Seahawks huddle and called the play himself. 

Green Akers

"I can show you better than I can tell you," Cam Akers when asked if he feels good enough to duplicate his record-setting effort in the divisional round, via Ed Werder of ESPN. 

What's next

This is yet to be determined for the Rams. They'll take on the Green Bay Packers if the New Orleans Saints defeat the Chicago Bears but, if the Saints lose, the Rams will face the winner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Washington Football Team.

Catch all the highlights and action from you might've missed in the live blog below.

[Jan 9, 2021 at 8:14 pm ET · Jeff Kerr]

Jared Goff is the first QB to complete under 50% of his passes and win a playoff game since Tom Brady in 2017.

[Jan 9, 2021 at 8:05 pm ET · Jeff Kerr]

Stand on my ground here

[Jan 9, 2021 at 7:51 pm ET · Jeff Kerr]

The Seahawks got a stud in Jamal Adams, but lose a deal when giving up two firsts and losing in the wild card round.

[Jan 9, 2021 at 7:47 pm ET · Jeff Kerr]

This one is over. The Rams throttle the Seahawks.