St. Louis Rams' line looks fine in OT win over Seattle Seahawks

ST. LOUIS -- Right guard Rodger Saffold and the rest of the St. Louis Rams' offensive line heard all the bad reviews before Sunday's season opener.

For at least one week, Saffold and his inexperienced mates didn't look like the NFL's worst line, as some experts rated them.

Providing solid protection for new quarterback Nick Foles, the line helped St. Louis' offense look anything like the unit that struggled to score points for several years in a 34-31 upset of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

"That's definitely big for us," Saffold said of the offense's production. "We had some small setbacks, but at the end of the day, we're trying to make the offense as efficient as possible. We're learning all the time."

Aside from Safford, the Rams' line owned a grand total of 16 NFL starts before Sunday. Fourth-year pro Tim Barnes was starting his first career game at center, and rookies Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein won jobs at left guard and right tackle, respectively.

That quartet, teamed with second-year left tackle Greg Robinson, played well after a rocky first quarter. Foles was sacked just twice, completing 18 of 27 passes for 297 yards, and the offense pieced together three touchdown drives of 80 or more yards.

That included the tying 84-yard march late in the fourth quarter, capped by Foles' 37-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lance Kendricks with 53 seconds remaining as strong safety Dion Bailey slipped in coverage and left Kendricks all alone.

"You saw what those guys did today," Foles said of the line. "They're the heart and soul of this team. They heard all the criticism. They did a great job today. They fought for us."

Given consistent protection, Foles -- acquired from Philadelphia in the offseason -- picked apart a short-handed Seattle secondary that clearly missed strong safety Kam Chancellor, who's holding out.

Foles completed seven passes of at least 21 yards, including a 22-yarder to wide receiver Stedman Bailey in overtime that set up the eventual winning field goal from 37 yards by kicker Greg Zuerlein with 12:06 left.

St. Louis took possession at the Seahawks' 49 after a failed gamble and a reversed call. Kicker Steven Hauschka tried an onside kick to start overtime that was covered by rookie wide receiver Bradley Marquez.

Referee Jeff Triplette announced that the recovery was nullified because Marquez gave an invalid fair catch signal. But after a second conference with his crew, Triplette reversed his call, saying Hauschka's kick never hit the ground, which replay backed up.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll said he didn't call an onside kick.

"We wanted to kick it much deeper," he said. "We wanted to kick it to a certain area. It wasn't executed the way we wanted it."

On their overtime possession, the Seahawks reached the Rams' 42 and went for it on fourth-and-1. Running back Marshawn Lynch was stuffed for a 1-yard loss as defensive end Chris Long's penetration blew up the play, although the tackle was officially credited to tackles Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald.

That was the last of a slew of big plays for Donald, the second-year pro from Pittsburgh who bagged a team-high nine tackles -- three for loss -- along with two sacks and three quarterback hurries.

"You have to give the Rams credit," Carroll said. "They made some really cool plays in all three phases. Their (defensive) line is one of the best and most athletic in the league."

Seattle got 251 passing yards and a touchdown from quarterback Russell Wilson, who hit 32 of 41 attempts despite absorbing six sacks and getting hit at least nine other times. Cornerback Cary Williams gave the Seahawks a 31-24 lead with 4:39 left in regulation with an 8-yard fumble return after sacking Foles and forcing a fumble.

But it wasn't enough to deny St. Louis, which got rushing and punt return scores from wide receiver Tavon Austin, and its heavily panned offensive line.

"I'm sure those guys had a giant chip on their shoulder," tight end Jared Cook said.

NOTES: Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch entered Sunday's game with an NFL-high 24 100-yard rushing games since the start of the 2011 season. ... Rams CB Trumaine Johnson (concussion) left the game just before halftime and did not return. ... This was the first season opener in league history that both teams returned punts for TDs. Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett initiated scoring with a 57-yard punt return score in the first quarter.