Quotes and locker room sound from the Rams following their 42-7 win against the Seahawks during Week 15 at CenturyLink Field.
Head Coach Sean McVay
(Thoughts on the game…) "It was a complete team game. We had offensive, defensive, special teams, there were a lot of contributors. We have a lot of respect for the Seattle Seahawks organization. We're very pleased to come away with the win today."
(Your thoughts on getting Todd Gurley more involved today…)"Certainly you don't want to make the same mistake again. Todd makes you right. I thought our offensive line did a great job in creating some movement against a great front. Todd was seeing things the right way. Guys were creating and blocking on the perimeter for him. He is a special back. You see when he gets in space how explosive he is. I thought he saw things the right way. He made some key contributions in the pass game. Todd's a special back. He has been consistent all year. It was a great performance by him. But I thought it was a credit to his other teammates to do the things to get the run game going like that. Anytime you are able to run the football like that today and avoid some of the third down situations that really can be difficult like the pass rush or dealing with the crowd today. That was a point of emphasis and it was a great job by those guys executing today."
(How was your team able to limit Russell Wilson…)"I think we have great team speed. The coaches did a great job of emphasizing all week trying to keep the rush lane integrity and playing visual on him. The guys played great coverage on the back end. Russell is going to make a handful of plays every single game, just because of the type of competitor he is. But I just think when you look at the overall speed of our defense, the way they pursue the football, the way we tackle as a unit. I thought that was a big point in being able to have the success they did. It's nice to have speed on defense."
(Pharoh Cooper had three long punt returns, what helped set that up…) "That unit has been outstanding all year. It starts with John Fassel's ability to scheme some things. Tyrone McKenzie has done a great job. Pharoh has been able to set it up. Those other ten guys are working without the ball. He is getting a great feel in terms of being able to catch the ball clean and understanding how to set things up. To be able to flip the field consistently especially with what our punt return unit has done, has been huge for our offense to be in that type of spot. I've been very pleased with him this year."
(Where have you seen your team grow…)"Well I think just like anything else we have just tried to steadily improve every single day. That's what we focus on. When you look at the last game, we ended up losing the turnover battle. Today we were able to come away with the win in the turnover battle, that was a key part of it. Our defense continues to go such a great job. That's seven games now that on the first possession they have forced a turnover. What that does for the momentum of the game especially if the offense is able to capitalize and come away with points, those end up being huge plays and turning points in the game. Our defense did such a great job against a great quarterback and a great offensive system. To be able to hold them the way they did today, give full credit to Wade, his staff and the players being able to execute."
Quarterback Jared Goff
(On Todd Gurley...) "I think so, yeah. He had what, four touchdowns today? In my eyes, I might be a little biased, but I think he's the best running back in the league. He's the most complete running back; he can do it out of the backfield, he can do it in the passing game, and can do it pass-protection game. Obviously, the way he runs is special, so he deserves everything coming his way. I think the best thing about him is he could care less about that and just be super excited about this game."
(On how this was a convincing win and what this says about the team...) "I think it just shows how much we believe in each other and how we don't let any team beat us twice or something that happened the previous week carry into the following week of practice or something like that. We're able to flush stuff pretty quickly and move on and I think that's the sign of a good team."
(On how Pharoh Cooper consistently gave them favorable field position on special teams and what his impression of it was...) "Yeah, we kept getting it there around the fifty [yard line], and we felt pretty good. Pharoh [Cooper] had a great day, and probably his best day all year, but he's been tremendous all year for us and has done a great job in the return game. He's found a little niche for himself there and everything that he does and [John] Fassel does with the whole special teams, it was tremendous today and it showed."
(On how they had five first-half drives that started in Seahawks' territory and what that did for them to get them going offensively...) "Yeah, like I said, it seemed like we were on the fifty-yard line every time we went out there and it just shortens up the field. When we have a field-goal kicker like we do, we already got points, and all we needed was fifteen yards or so, and it just gives you confidence. It just gives you momentum and allows you to kind of feed off of each other a little bit."
(On what he learned form the last time they played the Seahawks and how that last game helped them learn for today's performance...) "I think ultimately, we saw in that game that if you turn the ball over, you're going to have some hard times winning. We turned it over five times that game, so in this game, that was a point of emphasis, really; take care of the ball. We only had the one that I had on the fourth-down there [the interception by Michael Wilhoite], so we did a good job of doing that."
(On when Todd Gurley is running the ball that well with those many carries in the game and if that makes his job a lot easier...) "Yeah, yeah. It's nice handing the ball off and just going 'Oh, there he goes again,' and it seems to happen more often than not."
(On if they felt they needed to win this game in order to put themselves in position to win the NFC West...) "I mean, I'm not going to say that it doesn't feel good to win in Seattle, it always does. They're such a good team and they've been such a good team for so long. Anytime you come up here it's loud, and if you're able to quiet their fans and win the game, it's big. Like I said, it's one of 16, they all count the same, and it's the one that we wanted. We're not going to hang our hat on it thought; we have a lot of work to do still."
Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald
(On how it feels to get a road win against a divisional opponent…) "I feel great. Any time you win you're happy, but any time it's against a great divisional opponent that's usually a dogfight, to come out on top at they house is a real good feeling."
(On how the defense managed so many three-and-outs in the first half…)"Our secondary just did a great job of having them reset and giving us opportunities to get to them. Great job. Just a great job overall for the defense."
(On if he knew Russell Wilson called him the best DL he had played against…) "I saw that on my social media. Everybody sent that to me. We said something after the game. Anytime you have a great quarterback like that sees you're that type of player, it's going to be a good feeling. I say the same about him. I have a lot of respect for him, what he do, what he can do. Lot of respect for him. I'm just happy we won the game."
(On sacking Wilson more than any other defense this year…)"We bottled him up. He tried to roll one way and guy was in his face. He tried to go another way somebody was in his face. So any time you bottle him up and not give him a lot of space to do things, it's good."
Take a look at the Los Angeles Rams players you can expect to see when the Seattle Seahawks take the field in Week 15 at CenturyLink Field.
Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp
(On the dominant nature of their win today…) "I think you saw. Special teams, defense, they played incredible. Thinking back, there weren't a whole lot of drives that I felt like we were having to move the ball very far down the field. As an offense when you are able to start with a pretty short field position, that is a credit to the guys in this locker room."
(On returning to Washington and playing in his home state…) "It's pretty incredible. When you walk out there that cool air is a nice little wake-up from what we are used to down in L.A. It was nice to be back here, fresh air. It felt really good."
(On if it was surreal to have that many fans here and across the state supporting him…)"I had forgotten that I had been here actually two years ago. I came to a Ravens game a couple of years ago with my Dad. I don't remember the game a whole lot, but I remember that we got field passes for before. I remember being on this field and my Dad asked 'Do you see yourself being out here in a few years?"
Guard Roger Saffold
(On if they were confident that they could come to Seattle and win…)"I think that our offense continues to gain confidence through scoring points. I think that even after our loss last week we were able to score a bunch of points, we were able to drive the ball, and we just wanted to kind of continue on that kind of momentum. We were able to do that this game. Of course you have to give all the respect to the punt return team because they were putting us in great positions to score constantly."
(On how they were able to overcome the noise factor…)"I think when we started scoring early and often you can start feeling it kind of dull down a little bit. By the fourth quarter a lot of people have already left, so it was easier. We started going on our verbal cadence and I think that when you run the ball you eliminate a lot of the noise because you don't have to think when you are running the ball."
(On Todd Gurley's performance lately…)"I just think that it is just all eleven people doing their jobs just amazing and putting us in a position to give him great looks and then, of course, the individual effort on his own to be able to make plays that just aren't there."
Wide Receiver Pharoh Cooper
(On if he was surprised that Seattle continued to allow him to make returns…) "I ain't going to lie, I was kind of surprised. I knew they were going to try to kick them short to allow their coverage team to get down the field a lot faster. He kept booting them far and that just kept giving us opportunities to make some more plays. Whatever they give us, we're going to take."
(On if he feels the momentum shift when he makes a big return…) "Oh yeah! Our teams get hyped and then when our offense sees that it gives them momentum to keep it going. You always see the guys on the sideline running out, jumping. It gives them more momentum to go out there and make some more plays. It is always a great thing to get big returns to help out the offense."
(On how he has been able to get comfortable with punt returns…)"Really it's just the trust and confidence in my blockers. They spring me free a lot of the times. I do a great job of setting them up to get their blocks. The confidence they give me back there as a punt returner is everything. I know they are going to block their guys until the whistle and that gives me more confidence make another move."
The Seahawks fall short 42-7 against the Rams in Week 15 at CenturyLink Field.