Offensive battle leads to a Seahawks win, a berth to Super Bowl LX

SEATTLE -- Quarterback Sam Darnold, coach Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks are heading to Super Bowl LX.

An outcome that few would have predicted when the 2025 NFL regular season began in September became a reality Sunday night when the Seahawks outlasted the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 at Lumen Field. It was the teams' third meeting of the campaign, and Sunday's NFC Championship Game win matched the drama of Seattle's 38-37 overtime win here in Week 16.

In another instant classic, the Seahawks' top-ranked scoring defense stopped the Rams on fourth-and-goal from its 6-yard line with just under five minutes remaining as Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon broke up Matthew Stafford's pass in the end zone, before the defense got one more stop to send the Seahawks to their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history.

Darnold, signed by the Seahawks in March after they parted ways with signal-caller Geno Smith, led Seattle to a 14-3 record and the NFC's No. 1 seed. He made his second straight Pro Bowl despite topping the league with 20 turnovers. That included four interceptions in Seattle's loss at the Rams in Week 11. That performance, coupled with a nine-sack debacle during the wild-card round of last season's playoffs while with the Minnesota Vikings, led to questions about his big-game ability.

But yes, Darnold can win big games -- and he can do it at less than 100 percent health. Darnold (25-for-36 for 346 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday) played through an oblique injury for a second straight week. And while he had to attempt only 17 passes in Seattle's blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers in the previous round, much more of the Seahawks' offense had to go through the quarterback versus the Rams.

Darnold now has Seattle in the biggest game of all during a season that did not begin with championship expectations. The Seahawks will face the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX.

Seattle Seahawks

Trend to watch: Seattle has been first in ESPN Analytics' rankings for special teams since Week 10. Jay Harbaugh's unit looked as if it could be a difference-maker for the Seahawks in the playoffs, and it certainly has been that. Rashid Shaheed -- who kick-started the comeback over the Rams in Week 16 by returning a punt for a touchdown -- got Seattle's victory against the 49ers in the divisional round started by returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score. On Sunday against L.A., Dareke Young fell on a muffed punt early in the third quarter to set up Darnold's second touchdown pass of the night, as he hit wide receiver Jake Bobo from 17 yards out to give Seattle a 24-13 lead.

Turning point: Late in the third quarter, Riq Woolen momentarily got Seattle's defense off the field by nearly intercepting a Stafford pass on third down. But the fourth-year cornerback trotted toward the Rams' sideline and said enough to get flagged for taunting, giving Los Angeles 15 yards and a first down. On the next play, Stafford hit wideout Puka Nacua for a 34-yard touchdown over -- you guessed it -- Woolen. That made it 31-27 Seattle.

Woolen turned his season around after some early struggles that caused him to lose snaps, and he had been playing at a high level since Week 7. But that was a sequence he and the Seahawks would like to forget.

Stat to know: The Seahawks blitzed Stafford only once in 17 dropbacks in the first half (6%), per ESPN Research. Macdonald's defense did not blitz much during the regular season, ranking fifth in pressure rate (35.2%) despite sending an extra rusher at the sixth-lowest rate (20.7%).

But Sunday's first half was an extreme version of that approach. It yielded one sack on Stafford after Seattle had gone three games without dropping the Rams' starting quarterback. (Stafford didn't play in the Week 18 game of the 2024 campaign.)

Biggest hole in the game plan: Whether it was the product of a faulty game plan or simply getting outplayed, Seattle's top-ranked scoring defense again had few answers for Nacua. The NFL's second-leading receiver during the regular season caught 9 passes for 165 yards and 1 touchdown on Sunday.

It wasn't nearly as bad as when Nacua went for 225 yards and a pair of scores against Seattle in Week 16. The Seahawks were missing multiple players in their secondary by the end of that second meeting, and Macdonald admitted afterward that his plan put too much on his defenders' plates on a short week. Seattle didn't have to deal with either of those challenges in Round III and they still couldn't stop Nacua. -- Brady Henderson

Next game: at Patriots, Super Bowl LX (Feb. 8, 6:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

Los Angeles Rams

After the Rams lost to the Seahawks in Week 16 to effectively lose the No. 1 seed in the NFC, they fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn. Coach Sean McVay made the move, he said at the time, because he believed in the team and how far they could go in the playoffs -- and knew the unit could cost them.

It did just that on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game in Seattle, when a Xavier Smith muffed punt early in the third quarter led to a Seahawks touchdown and a 24-13 Seattle lead. While Los Angeles briefly got within a touchdown on the next drive, the Rams never got closer in what was a four-point loss.

The Rams' season ends with a loss in the NFC Championship Game for the first time under McVay. The biggest question for the Rams' offseason centers on the future of quarterback Stafford, who just finished his 17th NFL season.

Stafford, 37, will have a decision to make about whether he wants to play in 2026. Stafford is coming off a career-best season, finishing the regular season as the odds-on favorite to be named the MVP after leading the league in passing yards (4,707) and passing touchdowns (46).

If Stafford returns, the Rams are expected to return a roster similar to the group that led them to this NFC Championship Game.

Turning point: After a long drive that ate up the clock during the second quarter and gave the Rams the lead, Los Angeles got the ball back with 1 minute and 33 seconds left in the half. But the Rams couldn't sustain a drive, going three and out and punting the ball back to Seattle with 54 seconds left. The Rams could not get a stop, giving up a six-play, 79-yard drive capped off with a touchdown by Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Instead of maximizing their lead heading into the half, the Rams instead trailed 17-13.

Stat to know: In just his third NFL season, this is Puka Nacua's third playoff game with 100 or more receiving yards, tied with Tom Fears for second most in Rams history, behind Isaac Bruce (4), per ESPN Research.

Trend to watch: A week after Adams did not have a catch until the fourth quarter, he finished with four catches for 89 yards. The veteran receiver had catches for 29- and 35-yards in the third quarter. According to ESPN Research, it was the third time Adams had multiple 25-yard receptions in a game. -- Sarah Barshop

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