Everything was going right for the Los Angeles Rams during their “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Seattle Seahawks — until the fourth quarter.
Then they surrendered 16 unanswered points en route to a 38-37 overtime loss.
The fourth quarter started like the rest of the game. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to receiver Puka Nacua, who racked up a career-high 225 receiving yards, that gave his team a 30-14 lead.
Then Los Angeles defensive lineman Kolbie Turner, who had 1.5 sacks, snagged the Rams defense’s third turnover when he intercepted Seahawks quarterback Sam Arnold’s pass intended for Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Then, everything started going wrong.
The Rams punted on their ensuing possession, and Seahawks receiver Rashid Shaheed returned the kick 58 yards for a touchdown.
After another Rams three-and-out on the next series, the Seahawks found the end zone in two plays. Seattle tied the score at 30 when Zach Charbonnet picked up the ball in the end zone after what appeared to be an incomplete pass on the 2-point conversion attempt was ruled a fumble.
The Rams later missed a go-ahead field goal attempt with 2:11 to play.
In overtime, Stafford, who passed for 457 yards and three touchdowns, found Nacua for a 41-yard score. But the Seahawks answered with a touchdown drive and the game-winning 2-point conversion to Eric Saubert.
WHAT. A. PASS. TOUCHDOWN PUKA!!
📺 @NFLonPrime | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/5EbbedYlLN
— x – Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 19, 2025
Stafford cashes in another MVP performance — but in a loss
Stafford came into this game with a 6-0 record against the Seahawks, and even without the league’s leader in receiving touchdowns in Davante Adams, he fit the moment once again. After the Rams began the game with a super run-heavy approach, Stafford started to work play-action and held the ball to spring open his secondary receivers with the defense’s attention so tied to Nacua. He also got Nacua plenty involved by throwing him open on fearless intermediate dig routes, and he used another one of his trademark no-look passes at the goal line to get Nacua a 1-yard touchdown reception.
Stafford was dealing all night long, except for a stretch in the second half when Seattle was able to get some pressure in his face. It’s hard to find a pass he missed aside from a big one on a potential touchdown to Nacua up the right side. He finished 29-for-49 for 457 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers, 9.3 yards per attempt and a 110.7 quarterback rating.
And with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Nacua in overtime, he could have had his 50th career game-winning drive, but the defense then gave up a game-winning drive of its own that Darnold capped off with a 2-point conversion for the win.
The Rams haven’t had too many showcase games yet for audiences on the East Coast to check out what Stafford is up to. This moment on “Thursday Night Football,” in one of the loudest stadiums and against one of the league’s best defenses with a path to the NFC West title on the line, was a tremendous potential statement toward winning his first Most Valuable Player trophy.
This should have been a win for Stafford in clutch fashion, but the defense just couldn’t seal the deal. — Nate Atkins, Rams beat writer
The key was the offensive line all along
The Rams had been running roughshod on teams since their bye week, in addition to Stafford’s MVP-caliber season. Both are related to the same key: a healthy and humming offensive line.
The five-man group of Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, Kevin Dotson and Warren McClendon Jr. had been solidifying the pocket and moving people at will on the ground. They’d stacked games together ever since Avila returned from injury and McClendon stepped in for an injured Rob Havenstein. And that continuity took a giant hit when Dotson went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter.
The Rams were running decently against an elite Seahawks run defense in the first half, even if it wasn’t explosive. But the two-headed backfield of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum got swallowed as the game went on, with Justin Dedich filling in for Dotson. Williams and Corum combined for 37 carries for 118 yards, with no run going longer than 9 yards.
Dedich was also called for being downfield, which wiped out a touchdown catch by Terrance Ferguson. And interior pressure got to Stafford as the game wore on.
Los Angeles had one high-end backup lineman as it turned out this season, and that was McClendon. Injuries are going to happen sometimes, especially in the trenches, but this one came at a critically bad time. — Atkins
Nacua explodes after controversial week
Nacua was the topic of conversation around the nation this week for what he said and did on a livestream, between criticizing NFL officials, trying to get the livestreamers into practice and working on a touchdown dance that involved a derogatory gesture toward Jewish people, and he wound up apologizing for the dance in the hours before the game.
Then the game began, and Nacua exploded.
As the Rams’ lone healthy star receiver with Adams out with a hamstring injury, Nacua saw all kinds of attention from the Seahawks secondary, and it just didn’t matter. He turned in a monstrous performance with 12 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns, including the 41-yard touchdown on a slant that he took to the house in overtime for a lead that wouldn’t hold.
Nacua did a little of everything in this game, between some clutch conversion catches in tight coverage, acrobatic grabs along the sideline, explosive catch-and-run opportunities and sharp focus catches into traffic. Given the pressure that was arriving in Stafford’s lap as the game wore on, the loss of Adams, the disappearance of the run game and the drops plaguing the young receivers around him, it was a hero’s performance in a game in which all eyes were on him.
Nacua offered the Rams some headaches this week before the game. He nearly saved their NFC West and No. 1 seed dreams within that game.
Between Stafford’s and Nacua’s performances, with Adams out, this should have been a Rams victory. But just enough special teams errors, defensive letdowns and the stalling of the run game were enough for the bottom to fall out in the end. — Atkins