Rams stunned and heartbroken by finality of NFC championship loss
SEATTLE – Tears welled up in Davante Adams’ eyes. His soft voice was practically indiscernible in the fast-emptying visitors’ locker room of Lumen Field as the Rams filed out, trying to process the finality of a 31-27 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship game on Sunday.
“Heartbreak,” Adams said. “It’s tough. It’s tough to talk, honestly.”
The Rams never expected it to end like this, one game short of Super Bowl LXI, two wins short of their second championship in five.
All year, they talked about how special the group was, how connected the group was. Fingers were never pointed, no matter how disappointing the defeat, except for at one’s self as each person tried to be better for their teammates.
“There was something about this group that was just like, man,” safety Quentin Lake said. “A group of guys that really bought into really everything that the Rams are about. And for it to go down like this, it is unfortunate.”
What made it so difficult for the Rams to process was the opportunities they had to win the game.
Like when the team got the ball back three plays after their methodical seven-minute drive ending with a touchdown in the second quarter. Two receivers lined up to the left ran inside slants, drawing the Seahawks’ secondary with them. This allowed running back Kyren Williams to slip out of the backfield unnoticed for an 8-yard touchdown.
The score gave the Rams a 13-10 lead and left the 68,773 at Lumen Field silent for the first time all evening. When the Seahawks went three-and-out and gave the Rams the ball back with 1:33 in the half, it felt like the Rams had a chance to crush Seattle’s spirit before halftime.
Instead, the Rams went three-and-out themselves. And the Seahawks responded with a 34-second touchdown drive with a 42-yard ball to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a touchdown to the same receiver, who lined up in the backfield and escaped unaccounted for into the corner of the end zone.
Even still, the Rams forced another Seattle punt to open the second half. A chance to retake the lead in their hands, until it wasn’t, as returner Xavier Smith fell backwards trying to field the punt, allowing the Seahawks to recover and go up 11 on a Jake Bobo touchdown the very next play.
“I told him I loved him, and I do,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said of Smith. “Obviously, a mistake that he doesn’t want to have happen but we had our opportunities after that to grab hold of the game and make enough plays to win. We just didn’t do it.”
The Rams and Seahawks traded punches the rest of the way, just as they did all season. Stafford led the Rams on a four-play drive ending in Adams touchdown the very next drive, then the Seahawks responded in kind, with former Ram Cooper Kupp crossing the goal line.
A taunting penalty on Seattle corner Riq Woolen extended the next Rams drive long enough for Stafford to find Nacua at the front pylon for another score to make it a four-point play again. But the Rams wouldn’t score again, getting to Seattle 6 with six minutes left only to be stopped in their tracks. On fourth down, McVay felt he had the right call for the zero blitz Seattle called, only for two Seahawks to peel off with Williams, the primary option.
“I know that can’t be part of their design,” McVay said. “So a fortuitous bust by them.”
The defense managed to get the ball back, but with only 25 seconds and no timeouts left. When Nacua was tackled in bounds with two seconds left, the Rams were unable to get another play off.
The Seahawks raced down the field in celebration, and the Rams trudged back to the locker room as the podium came out, just not for them.
“I love this team and I wasn’t ready to stop working with them. Thought we had two more weeks together,” McVay said. “This was a special year and I think it’s hard to fathom that it’s over. It’ll take some time, but nothing but gratitude. That’s what I wanted them to know.”
Even amidst the heartache, the Rams stayed true to their accountable character. Lake said the defense didn’t play up to its standards. Nacua apologized to the defense for the offense’s 1-for-8 mark on third down.
For defensive tackle Kobie Turner, there was pain, but also a whirl of memories. From karaoke nights during minicamp in Maui to barefoot “grounding walks” with the defensive line after practices to double dates with Davis Allen to the future-dad outfit he received from Steve Avila, the pain of defeat was both heightened and lessened by the journey the Rams had taken together.
“It’s all of these moments that just make me so grateful. This stings, it really does,” Turner said. “These scars continue to heal us and I can’t wait to be able to come back next year and to continue to build on this.”