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Rams’ cathartic win over Seahawks is moment team can build on

November 17, 2025

Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) is brought down by Rams Decobie Durant (14) during second quarter action at SoFi Stadium on Sunday to take on his former team on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)g

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INGLEWOOD — It’s never hard to tell the difference between the winning and losing locker room after a game. The former’s music is turned to 11, and the latter is quiet enough to hear the internal monologues asking, “What if?”

There was no space to think in the Rams’ locker room after a 21-19 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Bow Wow and Snoop Dogg’s “Bow Wow (That’s My Name)” thumped through the space, players roaring along with the “Bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yay” refrain. When receiver Davante Adams walked into the press conference, he couldn’t help scream out a cathartic expletive. He was interrupted a few questions later by Puka Nacua, popping his head in to yell, “Yeah 1-7!” Strength assistant Chris Aninye even did a backflip amid the swarm of dancing.

“”I told everybody put their helmet on, we’re gonna go run another quarter,” outside linebacker Jared Verse. “It was a good time, it was great energy, it was a good time.”

It would have been enough to improve to 8-2, to beat the Seahawks (7-3) and take control of the NFC West lead. But it was the way the Rams did it, withstanding their own imperfect football to walk away triumphant, that made the team feel like something special had been accomplished.

What if someone told you that in the second, third and fourth quarter,, the Rams managed only 105 yards and five first downs on offense? Would that feel like a winning formula to you?

By any stretch of the imagination, it shouldn’t have been. Between the lack of production and the pressure this put on the Rams’ defense, this should have led to a long night of self-reflection for this team.

Instead, the Rams’ defense answered the bell. Again, and again, and again..

It took four interceptions, including two by safety Kamren Kinchens. The first by the second-year player negated a turnover by downs in the red zone by the Rams. The last by Darious Williams off a Kinchens pressure ended a Seattle drive that had reached the Rams 36.

The Rams felt like they saw something on film early in the week, and it started to translate in practice to interceptions. The momentum carried over to the game and proved pivotal, with 14 of the Rams’ 21 points coming off takeaways.

“Everybody wants to test us, and that may be because of our rush, but they don’t know how good the secondary is, too,” Kinchens said. “They want to keep trying us, then they’ll keep seeing it.”

It took three red-zone stops to hold the Seahawks to field goals. Seattle didn’t reach the end zone until the 2:23 mark of the fourth quarter. Defensive back Cobie Durant – who had an interception of his own – contributed two open-field tackles in the flat to keep touchdowns off the board.

“Keep them out the end zone,” Durant said. “Defense wins championships, and I feel like we got that mentality.”

It took a 7-for-16 mark on third down for Seattle, with the Rams finding creative ways to pressure Seahawks QB Sam Darnold to get off the field despite the time-of-possession disparity of 37:49-22:11, and a total yardage disparity of 414-249.

And then after another failed third down by the Rams’ offense – which went 2-for-11 in those circumstances Sunday – with 1:41 to play, it took an Ethan Evans punt bouncing out of bounds at the Seattle 1. With a long field, all Seattle could manage was a 61-yard attempt by Jason Myers that was short and wide left at the buzzer.

“We’re pretty emotional as a team right now, for sure,” Adams said. “It makes you feel even better knowing that you can play like crap, like what we feel like on offense, and still come out with a victory against a really good team.”

Head coach Sean McVay set the tone early for the whatever-it-takes approach by opting to go for it on the first three fourth downs of the game. The first attempt failed with Seattle ready for a play-action roll out.

But the second and third hit, with Kyren Williams rushing in for a one-yard touchdown, then breaking off a season-long 34-yard carry on fourth-and-one to get the Rams down to the goal line. One play later, a 13-personnel run feint led to Adams’ 1,000th career catch, a one-yard touchdown.

The Rams couldn’t move the ball much after that, struggling with execution, particularly on early downs, and a Nacua fumble. But with how the defense played, pressuring Darnold and turning the ball over, it was enough to walk away victorious.

And enough to think about what this win means in the arc of what the Rams are trying to accomplish in 2025.

“It was really the next step in the journey that we’re on,” McVay said. “I learned that we can find different ways to win. … This group is who I thought in terms of resilient, they stay in the fight, they stay connected no matter who’s picking up the weight. I think that’s a recipe for good things, but we’ll take it a day at a time.”

Rams’ cathartic win over Seahawks is moment team can build on Orange County Register

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