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Week 2 of the 2016 season brought a second straight defensive battle for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. But this time, Earl Thomas III and the Seattle Seahawks ended up on the wrong side of a tight contest.

ET III and the Seahawks defense kept the Rams out of the end zone in the first regular season professional football game played in Los Angeles since 1994, bur Seattle struggled to score as well, resulting in a 9-3 loss to the Rams. The Hawks defense has allowed a league-low 19 points through the first two games of the season, but the Seattle offense is yet to find its rhythm. However, No. 29 wasn’t discouraged after the defeat, and he has full faith that the offense will find its footing.

“The great thing about it is we still have room for improvement,” Earl said. “As far as situationally, it’s us, it’s an easy scheme. We understand it, we’ve been in this scheme for seven years now. We’ve played a lot of football, we have a lot of experience, so we’re going to play great defense. We just need to keep giving our offense ops until they get their rhythm.”

The game started with the Rams driving downfield on a nine-play drive and coming away with a Greg Zuerlein 39-yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. After a Seahawks three-and-out on offense, the defense returned the favor and forced an L.A three-and-out on the ensuing series.

Earl came up big on a second-down play where he stuffed Todd Gurley at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Los Angeles was flagged for holding on the play as well, bringing the ball further back. A couple plays later, the Rams were forced to punt and the Hawks offense managed to put together a nice drive towards the end of the first quarter and into the start of the second.

A lengthy 14-play drive for the Seattle offense chewed more than seven minutes off the clock, but the Seahawks came away with just a game-tying 23-yard field goal from Steven Hauschka just seconds into the second quarter. After the game was tied, the Seahawks defense continued to stifle the Rams offense and forced another three-and-out, but Seattle still couldn’t get much going offensively.

After a Hawks punt midway through the quarter, the defense played a bend-but-don’t-break style, but the Rams came away with their second field goal of the game when Zuerlein connected from 28 yards out. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who played the game with a high ankle sprain, tried to put together a scoring drive before the end of the half, but the Hawks quarterback fumbled after he was sacked by Robert Quinn on the final play before halftime.

“It’s disappointing not being able to be effective on offense. (Wilson) showed his leadership and character to come out and play through that (ankle),” wide receiver Jermaine Kearse explained. “We knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it was.”

The third quarter was defensively dominated and as a result neither team put any points on the board. However, the Rams carried a strong drive late in the third quarter into the fourth and came away with a field goal to take a 9-3 lead. From there it was more of the same through the final frame, as no points were scored after the Los Angeles field goal early in the quarter.

“It was tough, especially when you’re not getting a turnover,” Earl said. “We were close, we were fighting and trying to strip the ball. [Rams quarterback Case Keenum] did a great job of managing the game.”

The Seahawks offense did have a chance to put together a game-winning drive in the final minutes of the game. Their last-ditch drive started with promise when Wilson connected with Tyler Lockett for a 53-yard gain on the first play of the series, but the drive was put to rest quickly after a Christine Michael fumble was recovered by LA’s Alec Ogletree at the 29-yard line with less than a minute to play.

“I thought our defense played really well, but I’m really surprised we could go two weeks and only score one touchdown,” head coach Pete Carroll explained after the tough loss. “We have to do better. We’re much better than this and we need to show it. We’re going in the right direction but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

NEXT UP

Earl and the Seahawks will look to get back on track in Week 3 when they take on the San Francisco 49ers (1-1) at home next Sunday.

ET III and the defense will be tasked with containing 49er wideouts Torrey Smith, Jeremy Kerley and Quinton Patton. Smith, who is San Francisco’s No. 1 receiver, is coming of a solid game where he hauled in three catches for 55 yards and a score. Tight end Vance McDonald will also have to be accounted for as he had an impressive 75-yard score on Sunday as well.

The game is slated to kick off at 1:05 p.m. PT at CenturyLink Field and will be aired on FOX.