The Seattle Seahawks picked up an impressive win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon, keeping pace with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West race. The victory snapped their two-game losing streak, but it didn’t come without a cost.
In the process of their comeback win, the Seahawks lost running back Kenneth Walker III to an injury. Walker injured his ankle in the first half and it was bad enough that he was unable to get back into the game after that.
Before suffering the injury, Walker handled three carries for 36 yards and didn’t catch his lone target. Head coach Pete Carroll was unable to give much of an update on his status following the game, as he shared that Walker jammed his ankle. The extent of what that meant was something Carroll could not elaborate on as they will have to see what that means.
Walker has been excellent for Seattle since taking over as the lead back when Rashaad Penny went down with an injury in Week 5. He has been one of the most productive running backs in the NFL since that point, routinely ripping off long runs and providing a nice complement on the ground to Geno Smith passing the ball.
Without Walker in the lineup, the Seahawks turned to DeeJay Dallas and Tony Jones Jr. as Travis Homer was inactive for the matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Neither Dallas nor Jones was able to get much going on the ground as they combined for only 51 yards on 17 carries.
Dallas suffered a minor ankle injury of his own but was able to return to the game. Without a running game to rely on, the game was put on Smith’s shoulders and he responded, completing 28-of-39 pass attempts for 367 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both had huge games, as Metcalf caught eight passes for 127 yards and a touchdown while Lockett had nine receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Another big game could be on the horizon for those two and Smith if Walker is unable to get back in the line in Week 14. Luckily for the Seahawks, they won’t be facing as stiff of a test as the Carolina Panthers are on the docket and don’t possess anywhere near as daunting of a run defense as the Rams do.
