Sunday was a special day in Southern California as the Rams (1-1) returned to Los Angeles. And what an afternoon it was, as the returning heroes short-circuited a Russell Wilson two-minute march to upset the Seahawks (1-1) in a bruising 9-3 grudge match. Our takeaways:
- This was a Jeff Fisher fever dream from outer space. The Seahawks always have their issues against the Rams. It's one of the NFL's stranger trends, and Sunday was no exception. Russell Wilson dropped to 4-5 in his career against the Rams on a day that saw him battered for two sacks and countless hits behind Seattle's overpowered O-line. The ankle sprain he suffered last week clearly impacted Wilson, whose final numbers -- 22-of-35 passing for 254 yards -- look better on paper. Fans came close to seeing Wilson do the remarkable on that busted final drive, but the comeback fell short when running back Christine Michael fumbled the ball following an eight-yard catch inside the Rams' 30-yard line with less than a minute to play. If only Fisher could face Seattle every week.
- Coming off a mega-disastrous opener, Case Keenum opened the game with a nine-play, 54-yard drive for a field goal -- the first points for the Rams since last season. While Keenum gets credit for testing the ball downfield with completions of 44, 36, 27 and 18 yards, he also failed to dial up a touchdown with Los Angeles sitting first-and-goal at the Seattle four-yard line. Keenum threw for a respectable 8.1 yards per pass, making good use of wideout Kenny Britt and tight end Lance Kendricks. Nobody should mistake Keenum for a bona fide NFL starter, but as long as Fisher dreams of kicking three field goals per game, he's got his man.
- Seattle's ground game was a non-starter as the 'Hawks finished the first half with 14 rushes for 14 yards. Thomas Rawls has the faith of this coaching staff, but was held to minus-seven yards on seven totes before leaving the game with a leg injury. Michael looked like the better runner -- not hard to do today -- heating up when allowed to roll as the unquestioned lead dog in the second half and plowing for nearly all of his 60 yards at 6.0 yards per rush over the final 30 minutes.
- Bottom line: the Rams are in a tough place on offense. Opponents expect them to feed Todd Gurley from wire-to-wire and, therefore, stack the box appropriately. The Rams runner amassed just 15 yards in the first half before finishing with 51 yards on the day. After shredding the league for 141.5 yards per game at 6.4 yards per rush over his first four NFL starts, Gurley averaged just 66.4 yards at 3.9 yards per tote over the rest of 2015. So far this year, he's sitting at 49 yards per outing at just 2.7 yards per attempt. CUT TO: Fantasy heads freaking out from east to west.
