St. Louis – The Seattle Seahawks squandered a chance to sit alone atop the NFC West, falling to the St. Louis Rams for the first time since 2005 on Sunday in a 20-3 humbling at the Edward Jones Dome.
The Rams’ win ended their 10-game losing streak in the series against Seattle.
Looking to head into the bye week with some momentum, the Seahawks instead laid another egg on the road.
Seattle is now 3-15 in road games dating back to the start of the 2008 season. In two games away from home this season, the Seahawks have been outscored 51-17.
“They were able to dictate the game, and that was the sad part,” Seahawks safety Lawyer Milloy said. “We have to get more balance as a team, especially on the road. Obviously when we go home, we have our 12th man with us and all of that. But we’ve got to bring that energy here on the road with us.”
For a fourth straight week, Seattle failed to execute consistently on offense, managing just 257 total yards of total offense.
How bad was Seattle’s offense? The Seahawks never crossed the 50-yard line in the second half.
Because of his team’s struggles to move the ball against a young and aggressive Rams defense, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll signed off on a misguided attempt at a fake field goal on a potential 51-yard effort by Olindo Mare late in the first half with his team trailing, 7-3.
Needing 10 yards from the St. Louis 33, holder Jon Ryan pulled the ball back and tried to scramble for it. However, the Rams were not fooled, and cornerback Kevin Dockery tackled Ryan for a 9-yard loss.
The Rams then drove down the field for a 30-yard field goal by former Seattle kicker Josh Brown and a 10-3 lead.
The Seahawks also failed to pick up a fourth-and-2 from the Rams’ 33 earlier in the second quarter when fullback Michael Robinson dropped a pass in the flat that would have picked up the needed yardage.
“We’re just trying to create,” Carroll said about the calls. “And sometimes it’s OK, and sometimes it isn’t. You’ve got to go for it sometimes – try and give us a spark and make a play to change field position and all of that.”
Seattle had the more experienced quarterback in Matt Hasselbeck, but St. Louis rookie Sam Bradford delivered the explosive plays – four of them covering 21 yards or more.
Up 10-3 to start the third quarter, Bradford threw a 49-yard screen pass to Steven Jackson and a 21-yard screen pass to Kenneth Darby for a touchdown that gave St. Louis a commanding 17-3 lead.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Carroll said. “We need the bye week desperately. We need to get some work done. We need to get some guys healed.”
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