Peephole perspective: Former Seahawk K Josh Brown scored the only points of the quarter, capping an 83-yard drive. Seahawks 7, Rams 3.
Players of the quarter: The Seahawks’ maligned defense. Yes, the unit surrendered the 83-yard drive to Brown’s field goal. But they forced the Rams to settle for the three-pointer after the drive reached the Seahawks’ 14. The Seahawks forced three-and-outs on the Rams’ other two possessions, giving them four in the first half. The Rams had 121 yards in the first half, and 83 came on the field-goal drive.
Play of the quarter: The Rams had a third-and-1 on their second possession of the quarter and wisely gave the ball to RB Steven Jackson. But DT Brandon Mebane collapsed the middle of the line as he and DE Kentwan Balmer stopped Jackson for no gain.
Numbers of the quarter: 7/11. Raheem Brock and Chris Clemons teamed up for a sack of Sam Bradford. That gave Brock seven for the season and Clemons 11.
The bigger picture: The Rams got on the board as Brown kicked a 32-yard field goals with 8:54 left in the half. The three-pointer by the former Seahawk capped a 13-play, 83-yard drive that included Bradford passing to TE Daniel Fells for 15 yards on third-and-2 and Jackson contributing a 13-yard run and a 13-yard reception.
The Seahawks moved into Rams’ territory on the ensuing series, as Whitehurst scrambled for 7 yards to the Rams’ 46. But RB Marshawn Lynch was then dropped for a 4-yard loss and Whitehurst’s third-down pass to WR Ben Obomanu was incomplete.
The defense came up with a three-and-out effort, however, as Mebane and Balmer teamed up to stop Jackson for no gain on a third-and-1 play from the St. Louis 19.
The Seahawks got a big third-down play on the ensuing series, as Whitehurst passed to WR Ruvell Martin for 16 yards. But LT Russell Okung limped off the field after tweaking his sprained left ankle. That caused Chester Pitts to come in at left guard so Tyler Polumbus could slide out to tackle. Pitts was called for a hold on the next play. The Seahawks couldn’t come up with the 20 yards needed for a first down and punted the ball away.
FIRST QUARTER
Peephole perspective: Charlie Whitehurst gets the start, and gets the Seahawks a first-possession TD with a 4-yard pass to Mike Williams. Seahawks 7-0.
Player of the quarter: Whitehurst. He was 5 of 5 for 85 yards on the game-opening six-play, 87-yard TD drive. He finished the quarter 8 of 11 for 105 yards and a 132.8 passer rating.
Play of the quarter: The TD was nice, but it was a 61-yard pass play from Whitehurst to WR Ruvell Martin that gave the Seahawks a first down at the Rams’ 13.
Number of the quarter: Three. That’s the number of Sam Bradford passes the Seahawks tipped in the quarter.
The bigger picture: Whitehurst started for the Seahawks, who got the ball first when the Rams called tails in the coin toss and it heads.
Whitehurst then completed each of his five passes – to four different receivers – in a six-play, 87-yard drive that was capped by his 4-yard TD pass to Williams. The big play of the possession was a 61-yard pass play from Whitehurst to Martin to the Rams’ 13. But the Seahawks also got a break when Whitehurst was sacked on third down. Rams CB Rob Bartell was flagged for holding WR Ben Obomanu, so the Seahawks got a first-and-goal from the 7. The Seahawks came out aggressive, as Whitehurst operated from the shotgun and with several three- and four-receiver sets. On the TD, Whitehurst rolled to his right and then three back to his left to Williams.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the Rams’ first possession as SS Lawyer Milloy and DT Brandon Mebane combined to stop FB Mike Karney for no gain on a third-and-1 play.
The Seahawks moved into Rams’ territory on their second possession, as RB Justin Forsett ran for 4 yards on third-and-2 and RB Marshawn Lynch broke a 12-yarder to the Rams’ 43. But Whitehurst threw incomplete to Forsett on third-and-17 and the Jon Ryan punted the ball to the Rams’ 10.
The Seahawks then gave up a 20-yard pass play to RB Steven Jackson on the first play of the Rams’ second possession. But the Rams were forced to punt again when DB Jordan Babineaux rejected Bradford’s third-down pass.
After a Seahawks three-and-out, the Seahawks turned in one of the better defensive series of the season as LB Will Herring played off a block to drop WR Laurent Robinson for a 9-yard loss, DT Craig Terrill tipped Bradford’s second-down pass and LB Aaron Curry deflected his third down pass.
