Seahawks beat resting Rams to secure 10th win in season finale

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – With the playoffs out of reach, Sunday was a day mostly about numbers for the Seahawks as they held off the Los Angeles Rams 30-25.

The team was trying to get to 10 wins, the most since 2020, and affix a shiny total for Mike Macdonald in his rookie year as a head coach.

Players such as Geno Smith, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Leonard Williams were trying to reach personal and financial milestones.

But with 1 minute, 10 seconds left, the only number that mattered was 16 – the yards the Rams needed to pull out a win that, all things considered, might have stood as the worst loss of the season for the Seahawks.

The Rams had already clinched the NFC West, and decided to err on the side of health, sitting out seven offensive starters and limiting the snaps for key defensive players.

Despite the Rams’ approach to the game – which led to the Seahawks listed as 7.5-point favorites by kickoff – backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and crew were on the doorstep of delivering one more knife to the heart.

It was just as they’d done in a 26-20 overtime win at Lumen Field on Nov. 3, and just as they’d done last Saturday in beating Arizona, key wins in giving them the NFC West and keeping the Seahawks home for the postseason.

“The mindset is, you have (that much time) left in the season – give it your all,’’ safety Julian Love said. “They still have to get in the end zone. So that’s what it was. You kind of can go all out for that last moment.’’

One last time this season, the Seahawks did just that, beginning with a Love breaking up a pass on first down.

Then came two short passes on second and third downs – sure tackles preventing longer gains – that set up a final fourth-and-3 from the Seattle 9 with 21 seconds left.

“Just praying, man,’’ said linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who began the season with the Rams and was traded to the Titans and the Seahawks and who wanted to walk off his former field with head held high.

Jones got his wish as Garoppolo’s pass to Jordan Whittington right at the marker for a first down was low and broken up by veteran backup cornerback Artie Burns, who was forced into the game because of injury.

“It tells you who you are as a player,’’ Love said. “I knew we had the guys to just go out and finish it.’’

The Seahawks’ 10-7 record was the best of any team not to make the postseason this year, and they joined the 2020 Dolphins as the only 10-win teams to miss the playoffs since the NFL debuted its expanded seven-team playoff format in 2020. It also means they have the 18th pick in the NFL draft.

No one pretended that the win washed away the disappointment of not making the playoffs.

“It’s ultimately our responsibility to put ourselves in a better situation at the end of the season,’’ Macdonald said. “But coming out of the weekend, just the resilience and positivity was really cool. So proud of our guys.’’

The Seahawks learned last Sunday night their season was done.

Monday, when Macdonald met the team and the media, he made clear that didn’t matter for this week – there was one game to win and he intended to do what it took to win it.

Still, Love said players had to readjust their mood knowing the season’s goals were unaccomplished

“The week was weird player-wise,’’ Love said. “We’re like, ‘Let’s go out there and practice and get the plays and just give it our all.’ Coaches, they are trying to find a way to create juice and energy and create a flow in the building, because it’s tough when you know you didn’t get what you want out of a season.’’

Love said Macdonald peppered film sessions with clips of highlights of the season, trying reinforce the positive and send the message there would be one more highlight to come.

“They found create ways to just try to get us going,’’ Love said. “… Just to get some energy. Just have fun this week. We know kind of what it is. Let’s just go have fun.’’

The Rams not only sat QB Matthew Stafford but also star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. They started only one regular offensive lineman and went with rookie Dylan McMahon, who hadn’t played a snap all season, at center. Instead of head coach Sean McVay calling plays, they handed that duty to offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.

While many of the regulars on defense played, most got limited snaps, with the Rams sending in their key players only on third downs or pivotal plays.

The Seahawks seemed set to take full advantage when they grabbed an early 14-3 lead on the first two of Smith’s career-high four touchdown passes.

Then things got weird – as they so often seem to do against the Rams.

Garoppolo found his rhythm, throwing for 334 yards, and the Seahawks offense hit some stumbles. The Rams grabbed a 25-24 lead with 7:29 remaining on a Joshua Karty field goal.

Smith coolly led the Seahawks down the field, hitting all three passes for 37 yards, capping the drive with a 16-yard pass to tight end Noah Fant, who leapt and was flipped into the end zone by Rams’ defender Jaylen McCollough as he scored his first TD of the season to put them ahead 30-25 with 3:19 left.

It was the last pass of the season for Smith, who reset his team records for yards in a season (4,320), attempts (578), completions (407) and completion percentage (70.4).

That, plus winning the game, allowed Smith to hit three roster bonus escalators each worth $2 million. He’ll get the $6 million added to an existing $10 million bonus if he is still on the roster on March 16. Or, it could be rolled into a new deal.

Smith completed four passes to Smith-Njigba, which allowed the second-year receiver to tie Tyler Lockett’s team record of 100 receptions in a season.

Williams added two more sacks to finish with 11, the most for a Seahawk since Frank Clark had 13.5 in 2018 and capped a season his teammates feel should result in All-Pro recognition.

“I thought our guys did a tremendous job of staying focused on what our new goal was, finishing the year the right way,’’ Macdonald said.

And if it wasn’t what they wanted out of the season, it was enough for Sunday.

“I mean our approach to the offseason, what we feel about our team, wouldn’t have changed based off the win-loss (Sunday),’’ Macdonald said. “But of course it’s great to finish with the win. To get to 10 wins, all those things are really important. But the tone is just kind of similar to what I’m talking about right now. It’s, ’Hey we’re excited about our future and we love our guys.’

“I think everybody will look back at this team and be proud of our effort and the things we worked through. Ultimately, we fell short. … But I’m excited to get back to work. I think our guys are excited for our future.”