Los Angeles acquired outside linebacker Dante Fowler at the trading deadline to improve the club at edge rusher.
He got in some pressures on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last week in Louisiana, but didn't get home for a sack.
In Sunday's 36-31 victory over the Seahawks, Fowler did get home for a significant takeaway in the fourth quarter. But it wasn't before a penalty put Los Angeles in an unfavorable spot.
Los Angeles had a 20-14 lead midway through the third quarter, and though quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seattle offense was driving down the field, L.A. got a defensive stop when the signal-caller fired an incomplete pass over the middle on 3rd-and-11 from the L.A. 41. That would have forced Seattle to make a decision: attempt a long field goal, or try to pin Los Angeles inside the five-yard line.
On that play, Fowler appeared to think he was held and began discussing that fact with an official while on his way back to Los Angeles' sideline. But in the process, Fowler drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I told them that I felt like we were getting held a lot and we weren't getting calls. And I'm a respectful young man, I never called him out — his name or anything," Fowler said. "I told him that it was a terrible call — 'terrible' was the bad word that I got the flag thrown on me for. That's when i just knew I can't do that, I can't put my team in those positions and those predicaments and the thing that I learned today — don't talk to the referees."
Fowler's foul was one of a few plays throughout the course of the game where the Rams simply could not keep their cool to play level-headed throughout the game. Head coach Sean McVay spoke at length about how he was "bothered" by the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, saying he has to do a better job of setting the tone for the team.
"Yeah, there was a dialogue that existed that Dante knows he can't have," McVay said. "They wanted to get control of the game and we can't do those kinds of things, and there's a lot of examples of that. I've got to demonstrate better poise throughout the course of the game, and then it's got to carry over to everybody in our organization. Those are the kinds of things we can't do."
Fowler's penalty in particular proved costly, as two plays later Wilson connected with wide receiver Tyler Lockett in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown — giving Seattle a 21-20 lead.
"At the end of the day, I just can't put my team in those types of situations in a close game like that," Fowler said.
But to his credit, Fowler responded with one of the most significant plays of the game midway through the fourth quarter.
After a 20-yard Zuerlein field goal gave Los Angeles a 29-24 lead, the Seahawks had 3rd-and-3 from their own 32 with 6:08 left in the contest. Fowler rushed from the offense's left, coming around the corner to knock the ball out of Wilson's hand before he could throw. The pigskin went backwards, and while Wilson and defensive tackle Aaron Donald both tried to recover it, Fowler was the one who eventually fell on the loose ball to give L.A. an extra possession starting at Seattle's nine-yard line.
"I knew I had to put the team on my back, go out there and redeem myself and show the coaches that they can trust me to go out there and make big plays and I can stay composed, even when I do make a mistake, I can go out there and redeem myself," Fowler said.
Los Angeles immediately capitalized on the takeaway opportunity, with Brandin Cooks taking in a nine-yard touchdown to put Los Angeles up by 12 points with just 5:55 left.
"It was a great play by [Fowler] and very pleased with his ability to make that play, and very thankful for Dante for doing that," McVay said.
Fowler's strip-sack is what he was brought to Los Angeles to do. But he knows he must keep his cool in high-stress situations going forward, because those are the kinds of plays that can lose games.
"Yeah, definitely a learning experience," Fowler said. "I really feel like it was a learning experience in my position, because it was a third down and I got an unsportsmanlike conduct and kept them on the field and they got points off of that. Just got to be very smart and it won't happen again."
