Seattle Seahawks Lock Down Los Angeles Rams, Lead 13-7 At Halftime

The Seattle Seahawks' defense came to play on Sunday, largely shutting down the Los Angeles Rams' offense in the first half.

The Seattle Seahawks' defense has had its share of ups and downs this season, but no one could tell by watching the first half of Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Through 30 minutes, the Seahawks have largely shut down Matthew Stafford and the Rams' offense en route to a 13-7 halftime lead.

In the first half, Seattle held L.A. to just 94 yards of total offense, with most of those coming on the Rams' final drive before halftime. However, there's a catch to the Seahawks' seeming dominance on defense: penalties. 

Seattle had some back-breaking penalties in the half, eight of them for a total loss of 96 yards, to be exact. The worst of the bunch came in the form of a pass interference penalty on safety Julian Love, which cost the Seahawks 45 yards by itself. Later on that same drive, an offsides on Leonard Williams and another pass interference on Riq Woolen added even more penalties to the mountain of them. As such, the Rams got all the way down to the Seahawks' two-yard line almost exclusively due to penalties.

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith drops back to pass during Sunday's game at SoFi Stadium / © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Aside from the penalties, it was a good half for the Seahawks. The scored a touchdown on their first drive, then followed it up with two Jason Myers field goals in the second quarter. At the end of the second quarter, though, the Rams' offense finally woke up and put together a good drive, with Stafford hitting Puka Nacua from four yards out to get L.A. on the board.

Geno Smith had an efficient showing, completing 13 of 18 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. D.K. Metcalf had three catches for 68 yards and the aforementioned touchdown, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba had two for 41 yards.

For the Rams, Stafford completed seven of 12 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. 

Both teams had some injury issues in the first half. Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker is doubtful to return with an oblique injury, while Rams receiver Cooper Kupp limped off the field late.

The Seahawks will get the ball to start the second half looking to add onto their lead. It's worth noting that this is the same halftime score as these team's previous meeting at Lumen Field in Week 1, a game the Rams won 30-13. Seattle will be looking to avoid such a fate this time.