Last Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams watched their division rival, the Seattle Seahawks, claim the Super Bowl championship, a defeat made more painful by how close the Rams were to representing the NFC in the game. After splitting the regular season series with Seattle, the Rams had the opportunity to secure the conference title in late January in Seattle. Jared Verse, the Rams’ edge rusher, revealed on The Pivot podcast that the young defense entered the NFC title game confident, believing they had corrected mistakes from their previous loss to Seattle.
Early Seahawks Play Exposes Rams Defense Uncertainty
The Seahawks quickly sent a warning with a 51-yard pass to wide receiver Rashid Shaheed on their opening offensive drive. Verse described the reaction from the Rams defense bluntly, saying the entire unit was
“kind of like s—ting the bed.”
He emphasized that failing to recover after that initial setback played a major role in the Rams’ subsequent defeat.
Verse Takes Responsibility for Defensive Breakdown
Verse admitted the defense struggled to respond when things started going wrong.
“When we started having trouble, we didn’t know what to do,”
he said.
“Like some of us on the defense, some, you know, I’m going to take full blame, too. Like, there were a couple of times I’m like, but they’re running the other way. Like, I don’t know what to do. I can’t chase. Like I’m not that fast. I can’t chase him on the backside. What do I do? So when we had some troubles, we just kind of like mentally shut down.”
Looking Ahead to Future Matchups with Seahawks
Verse and the Rams defense will have two more opportunities to face the Seahawks this season. These upcoming games will provide a crucial chance for the Rams to demonstrate growth and apply what they have learned from their NFC title game experience against their division rivals.
