INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Rams versus Seahawks divisional showdown came down to a field goal as Los Angeles held on to seal the home victory, 17-16, on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. 

“I’m just so proud of this group,” Rams head coach Sean McVay remarked. “The grit was on display, the mental toughness. The ability to get stops, the ability to be able to feed off of one another, that was one of the things I didn’t think we did as good a job of in the first half of the season.” 

With 1:31 left in the contest, Rams’ kicker Lucas Havrisik made a 22-yard field goal that gave the Rams their first lead of the game. On the other side of the ball, Jason Myers, missed a 55-yard attempt for the Seahawks with three seconds left on the clock. It was an uncharacteristic luck of the draw for the Rams because prior to that miss, Myers successfully made 15 consecutive field goal attempts including three field goals in the game. 

Here are the key takeaways from the Rams win over the Seahawks: 

The Rams defense kept the game competitive and close in the first half as Seattle led 13-7 at halftime. The disparity in the time of possession for the Rams, 10:25, compared to the Seahawks, 19:35, was telling of Los Angeles’s offensive performance. 

“To only be down at half the way that the first half went, we seemed really fortunate,” commented McVay. 

Matthew Stafford returned under center 

Rams starting quarterback Matthew Stafford was back under center and passed for 190 yards. He led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter that put the Rams in position to seal the win. This was Stafford’s first game action since spraining his UCL in his right thumb against the Cowboys. 

Stafford’s toughness has been evident all season as he has continued to be banged up by opposing defenses. Though he took a big shot to the abdomen on a flea flicker and the play resulted in an interception, he returned on the very next drive. 

“His resilience on two scoring drives was big time,” said McVay. “He’s our leader, it was great to be able to have him back.” 

Cooper Kupp sustained ankle injury in first half 

Cooper Kupp went to the locker room with two minutes left before halftime with an ankle injury. His return was questionable as he was on the sidelines during the second half of the game with his helmet on, but was eventually downgraded to out for the remainder of the game.  

“It’s an ankle injury, as far as the severity of it, he was going to try and come back and play and we were hoping that he was going to be able to go,” McVay stated.

He injured his right ankle while blocking on a 15-yard gain play to Royce Freeman. It appeared that his foot was stepped on during the play. 

With Kupp unable to go, Austin Trammell and Demarcus Robinson filled in for the Rams’ star wideout. Trammell caught three passes for 23 yards and Robinson had two completions for 24 yards. 

“I thought that Trammel did a great job being able to step up in his absence and make some key and critical plays,” added McVay.

McVay did not have an update on Kupp’s status following the game. Kupp missed the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury.

Derion Kendrick made the play of the day with a late-game interception

Derion Kendrick said his teammates and coaches called on him to make a big play and that is exactly what he did. As the Rams trailed 16-14 in the fourth quarter, Drew Lock attempted to connect with Tyler Lockett on a deep ball and Kendrick came down with it. It was the second-year cornerback’s first career interception. 

“I just felt like they were trying me a lot throughout the game looking my way trying to get easy completions,” Kendrick said of the career play. “I just stared at them down the sideline and told them, ‘Stop playing with me.’” 

Geno Smith exited the game with an elbow injury 

Rams’ star defensive lineman Aaron Donald tallied three quarterback hits including a blow that knocked out the Seahawks starting quarterback Geno Smith in the third quarter. Drew Lock replaced Smith for the majority of the fourth quarter, but Smith would ultimately re-enter the game with 1:31 left. Even with Smith able to get Seattle into field goal range, Myers botched the final field goal attempt and the Rams came away with the win. 

The Rams not only broke a three-game losing streak coming out of the team’s bye week, but also secured the team’s first victory in the month of November since Nov. 20, 2020. With the win over the Seahawks, the Rams improve to 4-6 on the season and will travel to Arizona to face the Cardinals on Sunday.