Rams stuff Seahawks in overtime, win 34-31 on Zuerlein’s field goal

As defensive tackle Michael Brockers put it in a jubilant Rams postgame locker room, Seattle’s Russell Wilson is a better quarterback than predictor.

It was Wilson who tweeted Saturday that the Seahawks would be 1-0 after their season opener against St. Louis on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

Thanks to a 37-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein, followed by a fourth-down stand by the St. Louis defense, Wilson’s record as a predictor in 2015 fell to 0-1.

In their first overtime game to start a season since 2001, the Rams outlasted the two-time defending NFC champions 34-31. A total of 51,792 tickets were distributed in the 66,000-seat Edward Jones Dome. Perhaps 40,000 to 45,000 people were in the stands for what could be the final Rams season in St. Louis.

“As a team, I think we just finished up the game,” said Rams defensive end Robert Quinn, who accounted for two of the Rams’ six sacks. “We started off hot. Seattle made great plays on both sides of the ball to get themselves back into the game.”

And after squandering a 24-13 lead in the fourth quarter, the Rams found themselves trailing 31-24 on a Cary Williams sack, forced, fumble, and touchdown return with just 4 minutes 39 seconds left to play.

Then, tight end Lance Kendricks, who had only one catch for five yards in the first 59 minutes of regulation, got behind Seahawks safety Dion Bailey for a 37-yard TD catch with 53 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime tied 31-all.

Then Seattle coach Pete Carroll outsmarted himself again. Roundly criticized after throwing a pass (which was intercepted) instead of running Marshawn Lynch from the 1 in last season’s Super Bowl loss to New England, Carroll tried an onside kick to open overtime. Never mind that he has the league’s reigning leaders in scoring defense and total defense.

Actually, as Carroll explained afterwards, it was supposed to be a 30-yard pooch kickoff, not a traditional onside kick. In any event, Rams wide receiver Bradley Marquez, a former baseball outfielder in the Mets’ organization, scooped up the short pop fly from Seahawks place-kicker Steven Hauschka giving the Rams’ possession.

“We just didn’t execute there,” Carroll said. “That is not what was supposed to happen. ... We were kicking the ball way down the field.”

Or at least that was supposed to be the plan. One first down later came the Zuerlein field goal, and then the Rams’ fourth-down stop in which Brockers and fellow D-tackle Aaron Donald stopped Marshawn Lynch shy of the first-down marker on fourth-and-1 from the St. Louis 42.

“It’s fourth down, who (else) are they going to go to?” Brockers said. “I think they kind of know what happens when you don’t give Lynch the ball, so we knew it was going to him.”

The Rams got some Tavon Austin magic in the form of two touchdowns, including an electrifying 74-yard put return that gave them a 24-13 late in the third quarter. But then came 18 consecutive Seattle points.

Just as it looked like things didn’t finish well for the Rams, things didn’t start well either. The first possession of the Nick Foles era began at the St. Louis 12. The first two Rams’ offensive plays of 2015 went backwards. Then there was a false start penalty on rookie left guard Jamon Brown.

So about the best thing that could be said for the series when Johnny Hekker lined up to punt is that the Rams avoided a safety. Things got immediately worse when Seattle rookie Tyler Lockett, fielded the Hekker punt at his 43, raced up the middle, and didn’t stop until he was 57 yards down field in the end zone for a Seattle touchdown.

Lockett, from Kansas State, had returned both a punt and a kickoff for a score in the preseason. It was the first punt return for a TD allowed by the Rams during the Jeff Fisher tenure in St. Louis.

The Rams offense had an answer on their next possession, driving 80 yards on nine plays for a touchdown.

Tight end Jared Cook, a favorite target of Foles early in training camp, caught passes of 22 and 20 yards. Benny Cunningham, starting at running back with both Todd Gurley and Tre Mason on the pregame inactive list, added 17 yards with extra effort on a third-and-15 screen pass.

On the first play of the second quarter, Austin lined up in the backfield, started up the middle, then cut back to his left for a touchdown. That tied the game 7-7. The Rams took the lead 10-7 midway through the second quarter following a Trumaine Johnson interception of a poorly thrown ball by Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

The Rams took over at the Seattle 26, but had to settle for a Zuerlein field goal, in part because of a holding call against Rams left tackle Greg Robinson. It was a rough opening for Robinson, who also gave up a sack in the first quarter and half.

The Rams, who lost Johnson to a possible concussion later in the half, came to play defensively. They gang-tackled running back Lynch and harassed Wilson with first half sacks by Donald, Lamarcus Joyner, and Quinn.

Wilson completed 13 of 16 in the opening half, with almost all of them coming on quick throws. Three-step drops were the order of the day for Seattle.

Seattle tied 10-10 the game on a Hauschka field goal to end the half, then took a 13-10 lead early in the third quarter following a Rams turnover. Foles appeared to be not ready for a shotgun snap by Tim Barnes, making just his fifth career start at center. The ball bounced off Foles’ hands as was recovered by Seattle.

The Seahawks took over on the St. Louis 39, but once again were unable to get in the end zone. A hard-hit by safety T. J. McDonald on third-and-2 kept Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham shy of the first down marker, resulting in a 27-yard field goal.

But Seattle’s lead didn’t last long. The Rams marched 80 yards on just six plays (plus two Seattle penalties) for a go-ahead TD. Foles completed passes of 16 yards to Kenny Britt and 30 to Cook, and also scrambled nine yards.

On first-and-goal from the Seattle 1, Foles strolled in on a keeper for his first rushing TD as a Ram and his fifth in the NFL.

The lead swelled to 24-13 on Austin’s punt return after a three-and-out by the Rams defense. But early in the fourth quarter, going to a no-huddle effectively, Seattle finally got its first TD against the St. Louis defense. A seven-yard pass from Wilson to Graham, plus a 2-point conversion run by Lynch narrowed the St. Louis lead to 24-21 with 12:04 to play in the fourth quarter.

And following an Isaiah Pead lost fumble deep in Seattle territory, the Seahawks were able to march inside the Rams’ red zone for a game-tying field goal by Hauschka with 4:46 left.

From there, things were just starting to get interesting.

(c)2015 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.