For one of the most well-rounded offenses in the league, Sunday did not prove to be a game they would shine. That belonged to both the Rams’ and the Seahawks’ defenses. Mike Macdonald’s squad kept LA’s QB under constant pressure, limited their rather successful 13 personnel, and held them down to 249 total yards. 

By the end of the evening, it did not mirror a group that had been hanging 30-plus points on everyone for three straight weeks. But on a second look, performance wasn’t the only contributing reason as to why the Rams’ offense did not stand out during the all-important game. It was a lack of possessions, too. 

“You’ve had five plays in what’s probably real-time an hour and a half,” Sean McVay admitted on The Heard with Colin Cowherd. “It is frustrating, and it can get a little misleading when you go back and watch it. You know the margin for error is slim against a great team like that. But our guys stayed in the fight.” 

To break it down, the Rams’ offense started off well. They went right for it on 4th & 1 from Seattle 8 in the opening drive, managing to move the ball to the red zone twice and scoring two touchdowns in the initial four possessions. But what really dulled their efforts was the lengthy Seahawks drives that kept the ball away. 

As McVay explained, following their second TD on the third drive in the first quarter, the Rams would not gain back possession until there were only eight minutes left before halftime. And after that drive led nowhere, the offense was once again off the field until midway through the third quarter. 

So when a stat reads that the Seahawks held down LA to no touchdowns in the second and third, and pushed them to record the Rams’ second-lowest total net yards this season (249), it also includes lengthy periods the team went without possession. Regardless, McVay is proud of whatever execution the Rams’ offense put up against one of the top defensive teams in the league. 

To their credit, Seattle’s defense kept them in the game until the very last minute. In an 11-possession game, they allowed only a single drive over five plays, and limited the Rams to their fewest first downs of the season – 12. Moreover, LA’s 13-personnel team – one running back and three tight ends – that ran 36.0 % of their plays on Sunday, averaged only 2.7 yards per play according to Next Gen Stats. 

So it wasn’t perfect football despite the 21-19 win, as Matthew Stafford agrees, but they are capable. Entering the week, the QB led the league in touchdown passes and yards per game, while Davante Adam topped the charts with nine TD catches. What’s more, the Pro Football Focus graded the offensive line 89.1 in the running block department, with the second-best team stopping at 78.2. 

It was clearly an off day for the Rams’ offense, as it was for the future Hall of Famer QB. But McVay is only looking at the positives.

Sean McVay thinks Stafford did a “phenomenal job”

For a quarterback sitting on 2,500-plus yards and 27 touchdown passes, Sunday felt a little muted. But Sean McVay wasn’t bothered. In fact, he sounded almost proud of how Matthew Stafford managed a game that never seemed to flow.

“I thought Matthew did a phenomenal job of being able to play the game the way it needed to be played. We weren’t able to sustain drives, and the possession was how it was, so he didn’t have as many opportunities, but he took care of the football and got the ball where it was supposed to go,” McVay said about Stafford.

Hard to argue. Stafford rolled into this one on a ridiculous heater: the only quarterback in league history to post at least four touchdowns with no picks in three straight games, and then walked into a Seahawks defense that does one thing as well as anyone: heat up the pocket.

This was never supposed to be an easy afternoon. It was more about staying clean, surviving their rush, and cashing in when the shots presented themselves. He did exactly that. 130 yards, two scores, no turnovers. Not the fireworks show we’ve seen lately, but a steady hand.

It was also his seventh straight game without an interception, and he nudged his league-leading touchdown total up to 27. That’s the kind of outing you expect from an MVP-caliber quarterback: maybe not full-throttle, maybe not pretty, but enough to close out a divisional game when the offense can’t find its rhythm.