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

Bob Condotta, The Seattle Times on Jan 5, 2025

Published in Football

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Maybe this wasn’t quite the bang the Seattle Seahawks envisioned.

But they got what they came here for, holding off a late drive from a Los Angeles Rams team playing mostly backups to emerge with a 30-25 win at SoFi Stadium.

The game wasn’t decided until a Jimmy Garoppolo pass fell incomplete on a fourth-and-3 play at the Seattle 9 with 18 seconds remaining.

When it did, coach Mike Macdonald high-fived some assistants, finally secure in the knowledge that the Seahawks could claim to be NFC West co-champs at least in name, tying the Rams at 10-7, and finishing with a double-digit win season for the first time since 2020.

The Seahawks got a career-high four touchdown passes from Geno Smith to make it happen.

Smith reached all three of the $2 million roster bonus escalators he came into the game seeking to potentially earn an extra $6 million in 2025, setting team records in yards (4,320) and completion percentage (70.4) as well as getting a 10th win.

Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished with four catches to tie Tyler Lockett’s team record with 100 in a single season.

The Seahawks took an early 14-3 lead and the easy win some expected appeared to be on.

The Rams played tough throughout and took the lead for the first time in the game at 25-24 on a 38-yard Joshua Karty field goal with 7:29 remaining.

The Rams moved into position for the kick when rookie cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett — in the game because of injuries to Riq Woolen and Tre Brown — was beaten on a double-move by Jordan Whittington that resulted in a 50-yard gain on a third-and-4 play.

The Seahawks caught a break when Los Angeles' Keir Thomas II was called for offsides on a play when running back Kenny McIntosh fumbled the ball away. That gave the Seahawks a first down at its own 45.

A few plays later, an 11-yard pass to Tyler Lockett — who may have played his final game with the team — converted a third-and-1 and give the Seahawks a first down at the Rams 16.

A play later, Smith fired to tight end Noah Fant, who leapt for the pass and was flipped backward into the end zone, holding onto the ball as he hit the ground.

That put the Seahawks up 30-25 with 3:19 left. The subsequent two-point attempt on a pass to Smith-Njigba was no good.

The Rams moved to the Seattle 16 with a first down. But Julian Love broke up a first down pass, and Pritchett stopped Tutu Atwell three yards shy of a first down on third down.

A fourth-down pass to Jordan Whittington that appeared as if it would have been shy of a first down fell incomplete under tight coverage from Artie Burns.

The Rams — who had nothing on the line other than being the third seed in the NFC with a win or the fourth with a loss — used as many backups as the 48-man roster limit allows. On offense the Rams went with backup Garoppolo instead of Matthew Stafford at QB and also held out star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.

The Rams went with rookie Dylan McMahon, who had played just seven snaps all season, at center and Ronie Rivers — who was a Seahawk for two weeks during training camp in 2022 and had only 10 carries this season — was Los Angeles' primary running back.

On defense, the Rams gave backups many of the snaps at most positions, though they often subbed in most of their key front seven players on third downs.

The Seahawks led 17-13 at the end of a surprisingly entertaining first half as Smith threw touchdown passes of 4 yards to Jake Bobo and 20 to DK Metcalf.

Smith was 11 of 14 for 130 yards and two TDs in the first half and also ran once for 15 yards to convert a third down.

But after the Metcalf TD put the Seahawks ahead 14-3 and the hoped-for comfortable win seemed in the offing, the Rams fought back.

An eight-play, 78-yard drive ended in a Garoppolo 6-yard TD pass to Tyler Higbee to make it 14-10 midway through the second quarter.

The Seahawks responded with a drive that ended in a 56-yard field goal by Jason Myers. Seahawks safety Julian Love picked off a Garoppolo pass, setting the Seahawks up at their own 45.

The Seahawks couldn’t move it and the Rams used a 31-yard completion from Garoppolo to Demarcus Robinson set up a career-high 58-yard field goal by Joshua Karty on the final play of the first half.

The Seahawks outgained the Rams 193-174 in the first half. Garoppolo was 9 of 18 for 133 yards, a TD and an interception in the first half.

After the Seahawks scored to take a 24-16 lead at the end of third quarter, the Rams responded with a drive that cut the lead to 24-22 early in the fourth quarter.

But a Garoppolo pass for the two-point conversion to Robinson went incomplete.

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