Tom Brady calls out poor two-minute drill by Rams offense in first half

The Los Angeles Rams had finally taken the lead late in the first half. And the offense returned to the football field with a three-point lead, 1:33 on the clock, and with the football spotted at the 28-yard line. Conventional wisdom would have the offense try to run the football in an effort to advance the football to midfield.

But after running once for a four-yard game, the offense threw two incompletions that forced the team to punt with plenty of time on the clock. The Seattle Seahawks needed just 34 seconds to drive the football 74 yards for the go-ahead score.

Had the offense stuck with the run, they may have been forced to punt. But the Seahawks would not have had enough time to drive the length of the football field. And that poor planning brought out sharp criticism from Tom Brady in the broadcast booth:

"Just poor planning and poor execution. Rams wanted to weather the storm and go into halftime with a three-point lead. But they let the storm back in."

Tom Brady re: Rams two minute drill

The momentum was beginning to turn in LA's favor. But the reliance on the pass was not a wise decision. Once again, the rushing attack has been effective, with running backs Blake Corum and Kyren Williams rushing 15 times for 75 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry.

End of the third quarter

Los Angeles Rams 27
Seattle Seahawks 31

Rams ghosts continue to haunt this team

The LA Rams seem to abandon the run at the worst possible times. There is nothing wrong with sticking with whatever works. And the offense has two veteran accomplished runners in Corum and Williams. There is no shame in asking them to contribute in a game that seems to have yards to claim by running the football.

While the team has scored 20 points, it's impossible to ignore the fact that there seems to be yards left on the football field. And in a game with elite wide receiver Puka Nacua struggling to catch half of his targets, the offense has to look elsewhere.

When it works, it works. When it doesn't work, head coach Sean McVay is sluggish to pivot to what does work in the game. And the desperation to get the offense on track leads to third downs with long distances to make.

Still, this is everything that NFL fans hoped for. The game has all the drama that fans hate but keep coming back for. And in a game between two relatively evenly-matched teams, the game is everything fans have hoped for.

As always, thanks for reading.