Sam Darnold throws four picks, Rams hold on to defeat Seahawks, 21-19
The Seahawks nearly pulled off a stunning comeback against the Rams.
But in the end, Seattle kicker Jason Myers' 61-yard field goal attempt with one second remaining sailed short and wide right, giving Los Angeles a 21-19 victory.
The big win over the NFC West rival gave the Rams sole possession of first place in the division.
Both defenses played well on Sunday, with Los Angeles picking up four interceptions off quarterback Sam Darnold. While the Rams scored two touchdowns off of those takeaways, they also didn't notch a first down off of two of Darnold's picks.
Seattle's defense also kept the club in the game by forcing several drives to end with zero to two first downs.
But one of the big determining factors was red-zone efficiency. The Seahawks finished 1-of-4 in the category, and just 1-of-2 on goal-to-go situations. Jason Myers hit field goals of 57, 30, 22, and 29 yards before Kenneth Walker scored the Seahawks' first touchdown with 2:23 left in the contest.
Armed with three timeouts and the two-minute warning, the Seahawks were able to get the ball back after a Rams punt with one timeout and 1:41 left on the clock. But Ethan Evans' punt took a perfect L.A. bounce, going out of bounds at the 1-yard line.
The Seahawks took a lot of time to get down the field, holding on to their one timeout until Darnold connected with Rashid Shaheed with one second left on the clock at the L.A. 43.
From there, Myers' kick was no good.
The Rams had scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, first on a Kyren Williams 1-yard, fourth-down play to capitalize on Darnold's first interception. Then Davante Adams caught the 1000th pass of his career for a 1-yard touchdown to make the score 14-3.
But that was it for the Rams until Darnold's third interception, which led to Colby Parkinson's 6-yard touchdown to give L.A. a 21-12 lead with 14:15 left in the fourth quarter.
Stafford finished the game 15-of-28 for 130 yards with two touchdowns. Williams had 12 carries for 91 yards, including a 34-yard scamper. Puka Nacua caught seven passes for 75 yards and had two carries for 18 yards.
On the other side, Darnold was 29-of-44 for 279 yards with no touchdowns and four picks. Kenneth Walker led with 67 yards on 16 carries with a TD. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had, for his standards, a pedestrian nine catches for 105 yards. In his return to Los Angeles, Cooper Kupp finished with just three receptions for 23 yards.
Now at 8-2, the Rams will host a significant NFC matchup with the Buccaneers in Week 12. If the Lions defeat the Eagles on Sunday night, Los Angeles will hold the No. 1 seed in the conference.
The 7-3 Seahawks will be on the road to face the 1-9 Titans next Sunday.