Seahawks defense comes up big with Riq Woolen pick and Puka Nacua ejection

The Seattle Seahawks' defense has played terrific ball in the first half versus the Rams. They've held Los Angeles to 14 yards rushing and limited the damage of Matthew Stafford's aerial attack.

The Seahawks defense played one of their best 30 minutes of football all year. Cooper Kupp did plenty of damage but Seattle kept the Los Angeles star out of the end zone. Kupp accounted for 55 percent of the Rams offense. That wasn't nearly enough, as Los Angeles had to settle for a lone field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

As good as the Seahawks' defense was playing, the offense was incredibly disjointed. We saw snaps sail over Geno Smith's head again, several dropped catches, and far too much of Zach Charbonnet. I'll give him credit, he did have a great run after a catch to pick up a key first down. But that wasn't nearly as big as the key play of the game on defense.

Seahawks Riq Woolen crushes a Rams drive and cripples their offense in one play

With 33 seconds left in the half, the Rams were moving toward at least field goal position. On first and 10 at the Los Angeles 44-yard line, Matthew Stafford was pressured into a rare miscue. Looking for Puca Nakua, Riq Woolen skied for just his second interception of the year. Hawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV should have had one earlier in the game but dropped the easy pick. As broadcaster Jonathan Vilma said, Jones has linebacker hands.

Woolen's interception led to the Seahawks' second touchdown in 46 seconds. Incredibly, that wasn't the biggest story on the play. Somehow, Nacua decided to get into a tussle with Hawks linebacker Tyrel Dodson. The two exchanged words as Woolen took the ball upfield (Riq was ruled down by contact after the interception). Dodson shoved Pacua, and Pacua made a big mistake.

He threw a punch at Dodson. That's never the smartest play, throwing a punch at a player's helmet. But if these guys were rocket scientists, they wouldn't be playing football. Well, Josh Dobbs would, but he's the only one. The Rams' second-year wide receiver was tossed from the game, and rightly so.

The Rams took the second-half kickoff and drove the length of the field without one of their most explosive players. We'll see how much this affects the Rams for the rest of the game. It certainly doesn't help to lose a top player, as the Seahawks know all too well.

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