Seahawks at Rams
Returning to the city where splashy Hollywood premieres are a staple, the Los Angeles Rams have a tall task in front of them following a spectacular flop in their season debut. The Rams, who relocated from St. Louis in the offseason, will play their first home game in Los Angeles since 1994 when they host the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Los Angeles turned in an embarrassing offensive performance on Monday Night Football, managing 185 yards of total offense while getting blanked by the San Francisco 49ers 28-0. "That wasn't what we expected, certainly not what I expected for the first game back in L.A.," said Rams coach Jeff Fisher, who received a three-year contract extension on Thursday. "We have some work to do obviously." Seattle also had its struggles on the offensive side of the ball, but quarterback Russell Wilson drove the team 75 yards for the winning touchdown pass with 31 seconds to play in a win over Miami. The Seahawks finished three games ahead of the Rams a year ago, but lost both regular-season matchups -- 34-31 at St. Louis in overtime in Week 1 and 23-17 at home in Week 16.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Seahawks -7. O/U: 38
ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS (1-0): Seattle had concerns over the health of Wilson, who reportedly suffered a fairly significant ankle injury in Week 1 but pronounced himself good to go. "They (the medical staff) are kind of shocked that it's doing this well, really not any swelling at all or anything like that because I got on it right away and have been hammering it right away," said Wilson, who threw for 258 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Christine Michael rushed for a team-high 66 yards against the Dolphins, but Thomas Rawls will start Sunday after rushing for 32 yards on 12 carries. Doug Baldwin, who scored a career-high 14 touchdowns last season, had nine catches for 92 yards and a score while Seattle's defense held Miami to 11 first downs and 214 total yards.
ABOUT THE RAMS (0-1): With No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff watching from the sideline in street clothes, Case Keenum threw for 130 yards and a pair of interceptions as Los Angeles punted 10 times and had two turnovers on its first 12 possessions. "It's not something that I'll go out and think about, but this team deserves better plays from its quarterback and I intend on doing that," Keenum said. Meanwhile, star running back Todd Gurley managed only 47 yards on 17 carries for Los Angeles, which ranked dead last in the league last season with an average of 175.3 yards passing per game. Gurley missed the season opener a year ago but rushed for 83 yards and a score at Seattle.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Wilson has thrown a touchdown pass in 17 straight games.
2. Rams DT Aaron Donald, who was ejected in Week 1, has four sacks in four games versus Seattle.
3. Baldwin has had at least seven receptions in his last three games versus the Rams.