NFL News & Analysis

NFL Week 5 PFF ReFocused: Seattle Seahawks 30, Los Angeles Rams 29

Russell Wilson was magical in the Seattle Seahawks‘ 30-29 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 5 in the NFL.

PFF's ReFocused series features immediate takeaways from the two analysts who graded the game live. The two offer a detailed breakdown of the game's most notable performances before the grades and advanced stats are reviewed and finalized by Senior Analysts.

All of PFF's grades and advanced stats from this game and the other games played this week will be finalized and made available to ELITE subscribers within 24 hours of the final whistle. ELITE subscribers can view player grades, advanced statistics, positional snap counts and more in Premium Stats.

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Final Score

Seattle Seahawks 30, Los Angeles Rams 29

Seattle Seahawks

Russell Wilson had some big throws on the night. He hit D.K. Metcalf on a deep post off of play action for a touchdown with a lack of safety help in the middle of the field. Wilson threw a touchdown pass to the back corner of the end zone with perfect placement to Tyler Lockett. He also connected with Will Dissly on a big-time throw on a comeback route which gained 25 yards and put the Seahawks in field goal position.

David Moore caught a wide receiver screen and with a jump cut made Marcus Peters miss his tackle attempt and ran into the end zone. Chris Carson caught a bobbling touchdown after Aqib Talib vacated coverage to attack the scrambling Wilson.

Seattle's defense had Goff under pressure for most of the night, often winning with well-designed stunts that capitalized on Seattle's defensive line's athleticism.

The secondary was shaky, as they struggled to limit Cooper Kupp after the catch and were hurt by a few dimes dropped by Goff downfield.

Rookie Takeaways

DK Metcalf hauled in a 40-yard touchdown and another four-yard catch in the team's win Thursday night. His third target was a missed contested-catch opportunity that fell incomplete.

Los Angeles Rams

Jared Goff was mostly on target outside of a few dangerous throws. Despite being under pressure for a good part of the night, he still managed to deliver some darts and did a good job moving the Rams' offense down the field and would have had a game-winning drive if not for a missed field goal by Greg Zuerlein.

Todd Gurley finally got on track in the first half with a number of agile runs where he made tacklers miss and rumbled his way to a number of first downs and a couple of touchdowns before being shut down in the second half when the Rams decided to go pass-heavy.

Aaron Donald didn't log a sack on the night, but he was still a factor as a pass-rusher and against the run. Donald pressured Wilson repeatedly when he rushed the passer. In the first quarter, the Seahawks ran a trap play hoping to catch  Donald out of position to make a stop, but he beat the trap block with quickness and made a tackle for loss.

Clay Matthews sacked Wilson on a stunt in the third quarter. Marcus Peters broke up the crossing route that Wilson was trying to complete to Metcalf four a fourth-quarter two-point conversion.

Rookie Takeaways

Undrafted free agent linebacker Troy Reeder really struggled in this one. He was a liability in coverage and failed to add much above expectation in run defense across more than 50 defensive snaps.

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