SEATTLE -- Russell Wilson called Aaron Donald "the best defensive player I've ever played against" in the days leading up to Sunday's game, then got suffocated by him in the Los Angeles Rams' 42-7 dismantling of the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.
Wilson was sacked seven times, tying his career high, and Donald recorded three of them, bringing his total to a career-high-tying 11 this season. The Rams pressured Wilson on 20 of his 42 dropbacks in what became a dominant defensive performance, and Donald was involved in half of them.
"We bottled him up," Donald said. "He tried to roll one way, and there was a guy there in his face. He tried to go the other way, and there was somebody in his face."
The Rams allowed only 59 yards on 27 first-half plays. They recovered two fumbles, caused a safety, forced nine punts and didn't allow their first and only score until the third quarter was winding down.
It took a little bit from everybody.
Robert Quinn, in his first year as an outside linebacker, recorded two sacks, giving him six over the last four games. Veteran outside linebacker Connor Barwin, playing in his first game since forearm surgery, recorded a season-high seven pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Troy Hill, filling in for an injured Kayvon Webster, and Trumaine Johnson, the Rams' franchise corner, combined to allow two catches on nine targets.
"Guys covering their tails off and buying us time" is what Quinn credited for the Rams' ability to contain Wilson. "And when they allowed that, as a front, we had to continue to pose a target on him because, as you saw, he got out a few times. But we just continued to apply pressure. Once we got to him a few times, I think that flustered them. That allowed us to do what we specialize in, have fun and go to work."
The Rams set the tone by forcing a fumble when safety Lamarcus Joyner delivered a vicious blow that jarred the ball from Tanner McEvoy's grip on the game's third snap. It marked the seventh time this season -- and the third week in a row -- that the Rams had forced a turnover on the opening drive. By the end of the game, they had increased their point total off turnovers to 114, third-most in the NFL and the most by this franchise since amassing 152 points off turnovers in 2003.
"That's what you want to do as a defense -- you want to create turnovers," Joyner said. "To be a defense that's causing turnovers, causing momentum changes, that's awesome in this league."
The Seahawks went three-and-out on their second and third possessions, losing 10 yards on each of them. They reached the 50-yard line on their third drive, but got no further. That was followed by another three-and-out that saw them lose five yards. Finally, at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, the Seahawks reached Rams territory with an 11-yard screen pass to Mike Davis that brought them to the 49. But Wilson lost 13 yards and fumbled the football on the very next snap.
The Seahawks were ultimately held to 2.8 yards per play.
Donald became the sixth player to sack Wilson three times in the same game. Four of the five others -- Quinn, William Hayes and Chris Long on two occasions -- did so as members of the Rams.
"The coaches did a great job of emphasizing all week trying to keep the rush-lane integrity and playing visual on him," Rams coach Sean McVay said. "Russell is going to make a handful of plays every single game, just because of the type of competitor he is. But I just think when you look at the overall speed of our defense, the way they pursue the football, the way we tackle as a unit -- I thought that was a big point in being able to have the success they did. It's nice to have speed on defense."