The Monday Night Football game against the Seahawks was expected to be a fierce matchup and a sold out game. That all changed after the Cardinals fought their way to the World Series and starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, went down in week six with a torn ACL. Needless to say, the outlook on the game wasn’t great. Nobody wants to pay to watch the Rams get slaughtered when they could just as easily sit at home and watch their beloved Cardinals play in game five of the World Series.

The Rams surely felt the despair coming into this game. Their new starting quarterback was the uninspiring Kellen Clemens, and they would be playing one of the toughest teams in the league in a mostly empty stadium.

The Rams didn’t give in easy though. In their 14-9 loss, I saw a new Rams team. The defense played as a unit and absolutely dominated the Seahawks offense. Robert Quinn, Chris Long and the rest of the D-line had a heyday against Seattle, sacking the elusive Russell Wilson seven times. Robert Quinn is already half a sack away from last years total of 10.5, and is on pace for over 20 by the end. He is truly joining the ranks of the elite pass rusher.

Janoris Jenkins also had a heck of a game, and besides giving up a freak long touchdown to Golden Tate, he was shutdown quality. It’s nice to see after his disappointing outing last week in Carolina, that he can bounce back so well.

Our line was also able to effectively shut Marshawn Lynch down. We kept him to only eight carries for 23 yards. Last years stunning run defense flashed on Monday, and for a team that has let teams run all over them so far this season, it’s a welcome change.

Now while the defense was dominant, something else was to be said about our offense. Kellen Clemens performed better than I expected, but still couldn’t get the job done. The two early interceptions, one of which set the Seahawks up for a touchdown, didn’t help us. It was an obvious step down from Sam, who I believe would have led us to victory if healthy. It wasn’t all bad though. He flashed competence many times, and even led a potentially game winning drive all of the way to the one yard line. I feel bad for bad mouthing him last week, and I think we might just have a chance to win a few more games with him this season.

The man of the night though has to be Zac Stay. Running for over 120 yards, he looked very elusive out there. Nobody could get a hold on Mr. Bowling Ball. It was downright fun watching him run Monday night. The offensive line also deserves a mention for being able to manhandle the best run defense in the league.

This was an excellent week, and although we didn’t come away with a win, the team definitely came together. If we can learn to capitalize on play, look for us to win a good portion of the rest of our games this season.