EDITOR'S NOTE: The rankings that you see below reflect O'Hara's pecking order for Week 15 and Week 15 alone. This is NOT a running O-line Power Rankings for 2017. This is NOT a projection into the future. The goal of this weekly column is to answer one simple question: Which five offensive lines stood out above the rest in last week's action?
Without further ado, the Week 15 winner is ...
1) Los Angeles Rams
In a highly anticipated showdown between the
Rams and
Seahawks for control of the NFC West, Los Angeles absolutely lambasted the team that's taken three of the past four division titles. Exacting revenge for
the narrow Week 5 home loss to the 'Hawks, Sean McVay's team put it on Seattle, jumping out to a 34-zip lead by halftime before
eventually prevailing 42-7.
Yes, the
Seahawks are depleted right now -- especially on the defensive side of the ball, with no
Richard Sherman,
Kam Chancellor,
K.J. Wright or
Cliff Avril -- but this is still a proud program that doesn't lay down for anyone, especially at home in front of the rabid 12s. The
Rams were just too much, though, and their offensive onslaught revolved around absolute domination in the ground game. L.A.'s offensive line, which Pro Football Focus rated as the second-best run-blocking unit in Week 15, repeatedly blew open holes to the tune of 244 rushing yards -- the most Seattle has allowed since 2010. Left guard
Rodger Saffold has been a road grader in the run game all season -- and that continued Sunday -- while center
John Sullivan has proven to be a brilliant free-agent signing. The biggest beneficiary of Los Angeles' trench control?
Todd Gurley, who gained 14 yards on his first carry of the game and didn't slow down after that. Gurley wound up with three rushing touchdowns (as well as a receiving score), racking up 152 ground yards on 21 carries. That's a robust 7.2 yards per carry -- and the highest single-game rushing total a running back has recorded against Seattle in three years. Don't forget that the
Seahawks held Gurley to 43 yards on 14 carries (3.1 ypc) back in October. This time around, Gurley had 144 yards
at the half.
With L.A. gaining chunks of yards in the run game, the
Rams didn't really need to take to the air much. But it should be mentioned that the offensive line -- particularly bookend blockers
Andrew Whitworth and
Rob Havenstein -- did an admirable job protecting the franchise quarterback in such a hostile environment. While Los Angeles did give up a pair of sacks, the line didn't otherwise allow
Jared Goff to get touched. This is quite an achievement, given how difficult it is to operate as an offensive lineman with extreme crowd noise. The silent count really benefits D-linemen, as evidenced by
Frank Clark's second-quarter sack, when
he just beat Whitworth with a great get-off.
The
Rams' prolific effort on the ground also allowed them to completely control time of possession, 36:46 to 23:14. That's an advantage of 13-plus minutes. In other words, L.A. had the ball for nearly a full quarter more than Seattle. Unbelievable.
No wonder the
Rams are an impressive 6-1 on the road this season ... Two things are portable in this league: run game and defense. Both showed up to CenturyLink Field in a big way on Sunday.
