Seahawks’ Leonard Williams Issues Menacing Warning to Rams After 21-19 Loss
In locker room in Inglewood, Leonard Williams says after narrow loss at LA he’s really looking forward to him, #Seahawks seeing the Rams again—and perhaps 3rd time, in the playoffs.
In a video Bell posted from the locker room, Williams opened by praising the way Seattle battled in a game that came down to Jason Myers’ missed 61-yard field goal in the final seconds.
“I think overall our team just did a good job of fighting to the end,” Williams told Bell. “It obviously came down to the field goal at the end. I think we had great red zone defense… Overall we just kept attacking. I have to watch more film to see how it went.”
The Rams escaped with the win, but Williams’ tone suggested Seattle views this as far from a finished story in the NFC West race.
Leonard Williams Criticizes Run Defense, Says Seahawks ‘Didn’t Do Enough’
Williams didn’t sugarcoat why the Seahawks walked out of SoFi with a loss instead of a statement road win in the division. Asked if the defensive performance was good enough, the veteran immediately shot that down.
“No, because if it did we would have walked away with the win,” Williams said, via Bell. “Overall, we wanted to affect the quarterback more. I think to do that, we have to stop the run. I don’t think we did a good enough job stopping the run, especially in the first half.”
Los Angeles running back Kyren Williams ripped off multiple chunk gains and finished with more than 90 rushing yards and a touchdown as the Rams built an early lead.
Williams added that Seattle adjusted after halftime.
“I think we came out in the second half and did a better job of stopping the run,” Williams told Bell. “Once we start affecting Matt (Stafford) that will help us. We didn’t do a good enough job of doing that today.”
Even with Sam Darnold throwing four interceptions, the defense nearly bailed Seattle out by tightening in the red zone and forcing the Rams to work for all three of their touchdowns.
‘Looking Forward to Seeing Them Again’: Williams Points to Rams Rematch
For Williams, the focus quickly shifted from the disappointment of Sunday to a potential revenge opportunity later this season. The Seahawks and Rams are scheduled to meet again on December 18 at Lumen Field in a matchup that could again carry NFC West implications.
“I just know that I look forward to seeing them again,” Williams told Bell.
In the background of Bell’s video, another Seahawks defender could be heard backing Williams up with an emphatic, NSFW endorsement:
That off-camera hype underscored the mood in Seattle’s locker room, frustration over a missed opportunity, but also confidence that the Seahawks can flip the script when the Rams visit the Pacific Northwest.
With the loss dropping Seattle to 7-3 and pushing the Rams to 8-2 and first place in the NFC West, Williams’ comments read like an early warning that the Seahawks expect the rematch to be different.
What Williams’ Comments Mean for the Seahawks
Williams has been singled out as a defensive MVP-type presence for Seattle this season, and his public challenge to the front seven sends a clear message: if the Seahawks want to reclaim control of the NFC West, it starts with shutting down the Rams’ run game and getting Stafford on the ground.
The Seahawks will have little time to dwell on the loss with a road trip to the Tennessee Titans up next, but Williams has already circled another date: the Rams’ visit to Lumen Field. If Seattle’s defense plays to the standard he laid out with Bell, that second meeting could look and feel a lot different than Sunday’s narrow, painful defeat.
With 6-goal barrage, Canucks get rare road win vs. Lightning
Vancouver's Kiefer Sherwood, Linus Karlsson and Drew O'Connor scored in a 100-second span in the third period as the visiting Canucks scored six unanswered goals in a 6-2 rally past the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Trailing 2-1 and being outshot significantly, Vancouver saw Sherwood's power-play goal at 4:11 knot the match. Karlsson scored 43 seconds later, then O'Connor made it 4-2 at 5:51.
Back after a one-game absence, captain Quinn Hughes dished the final of his career high-tying four assists to Mackenzie MacEachern for his first goal of the season in the five-goal third.
Jake DeBrusk scored his seventh marker -- sixth via the power play -- and Marcus Pettersson hit an empty net as the Canucks won for the first time in four games (1-1-2). Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek had two assists apiece. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves.
Vancouver won in Tampa for the first time since Oct. 11, 2018.
Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov's 365th career goal tied him with Martin St. Louis for third in franchise history. Jake Guentzel netted one, while Jonas Johansson stopped 12 shots.
The first period looked like it was going to end scoreless, but the Lightning finally broke through in the final minute when Kucherov connected on a wicked one-timer off Darren Raddysh's pass with 35 seconds left.
Tampa Bay dominated in the neutral and offensive zones, forcing turnovers and outshooting the Pacific Division club 13-1.
At 4:35 of the second, Guentzel matched Kucherov's team-high eight goals with his own as the club doubled its lead, but DeBrusk answered by finding a rebound in the low slot at 9:26 on Vancouver's second power play.
Each club had two power plays in the frame, and Vancouver generated more shots but still had a 19-7 deficit after 40 minutes and trailed 2-1.
The visitors stunned the Lightning with the three goals in 1:40 seconds for the 4-2 lead, but Charle-Edouard D'Astous scored nearly 13 minutes into the period to seemingly make it 4-3.
However, Vancouver challenged for an earlier high-stick infraction and the goal was disallowed to keep it a two-goal game.
