The Los Angeles Rams came away with a 21-19 win and sole possession of first place in the NFC West on Sunday, holding off the Seahawks when Seattle kicker Jason Myers missed a would-be game-winning field goal from 61 yards at the end of regulation.

The victory moved the Rams to 8-2 and dropped the Seahawks to 7-3 after the teams came into the game tied for first in the division.

Los Angeles’ secondary put on quite a clinic against Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold, who had his worst game of what had been an MVP-caliber season going into Week 11. Darnold threw four interceptions and no touchdowns, finishing 29-of-44 with 279 yards. Rams QB Matthew Stafford did not put up his best numbers either, but he threw two touchdowns and finished 15-of-28 for 130 yards.

Rams’ secondary dominates without its star

The Rams’ pass defense faced its stiffest test in weeks against a Seahawks offense that led the league entering Sunday with 9.8 yards per attempt. Seattle had the NFL’s leading receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a surging quarterback in Darnold. But much like they did the last time they faced Darnold with the Minnesota Vikings in last season’s playoffs, the Rams largely shut off his water.

They intercepted Darnold four times, with two coming from safety Kam Kinchens and one each from cornerbacks Cobie Durant and Darious Williams. Two interceptions set up short-field touchdowns and another killed a drive in field-goal range. It was a tremendous performance from those players as well as CB Emmanuel Forbes Jr., who recovered on a fade ball to swat it away in the end zone to prevent a first-half touchdown.

The Rams did all this in spite of being without star safety Quentin Lake, who left the game with an elbow injury in the first half. It speaks to the growth of young cornerbacks such as Durant and Forbes, the confidence they’ve found to jump routes given the risk of allowing explosive plays and the way it’s all marrying up with the Rams’ pass rush defense. — Nate Atkins, Rams beat writer

Shaky day for Stafford-Adams

Stafford entered this game on a historic stretch as the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least four touchdowns with no interceptions in three straight games. But this one was a challenge, as the Seahawks introduced just enough pressure to disrupt the timing and did a good job varying the looks on the back end.

Adams scored a touchdown for the third week in a row, but caught just one pass for one yard on eight targets. He and Stafford weren’t on the same page often, as Adams had one bad drop on third down and Stafford missed a wide-open Adams by throwing low on another rep. Stafford missed him again on a third down that could have iced the game with less than two minutes to play.

But Stafford was able to stay mistake-free for yet another game, as he’s thrown just two interceptions on the season. The offense’s 119 yards on the ground (including a touchdown from RB Kyren Williams) and defense’s four interceptions helped beat a team on Seattle’s level despite all of this. — Atkins

QB collapse

Darnold picked a bad time to have his worst game of the season. The Seattle quarterback threw a season-high four interceptions, and the Rams turned two of those miscues in touchdowns on the ensuing series. Darnold came into Week 11 with one of the highest turnover rates in the league. The Rams have been doing a good job taking the ball away this year, and they took advantage of every opportunity Darnold gave them. Although Seattle had a chance to win the game on the final play — a 61-yard field goal attempt — Darnold’s inability to protect the ball is the reason Seattle just fell out of first place in the NFC West. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer

Darnold won’t silence critics

This game won’t do anything to fend off any remaining Darnold skeptics. He played well until the final two games of the 2024 season when the stakes were the highest and now, in the biggest game of the 2025 season against the same Rams team he struggled against in the playoffs, Darnold once again couldn’t get it done. At 7-3 with the Tennessee Titans coming up in Week 12, the Seahawks are still in good position to make the playoffs, and the Week 16 rematch with the Rams in Seattle will likely have massive implications. But for now, Seattle just squandered a big opportunity to make a statement. — Dugar