SEATTLE — The Rams have been trying to outrun their one fatal flaw all year, only to be burned by it at every critical turn.
So, of course, special teams were going to be their undoing Sunday in a 31-27 loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game.
One lousy play, too.
But sometimes that is all it takes.
Xavier Smith raised his hand to signal a fair catch on Michael Dickson’s punt, then lost his balance as he tried to field it, only to cough it up for a fumble.
When Seahawks wide receiver Dareke Young fell on it at the Rams’ 17, the sinking feeling could be felt all the way from Seattle to Santa Monica.
Sure enough, on the very next play, Sam Darnold threw a strike to Jake Bobo for a touchdown and a 24-13 third-quarter lead.
Still a lot of football to be played, to be sure. But the Rams could never quite make up the difference, no matter how many shoulders Davante Adams or Puka Nacua offered up to carry them to the Super Bowl.
So now they sulk back to Los Angeles, as tightly buttoned up a team in every single phase as there is in the NFL.
Except for one key area that has tripped them up, harmed them and then ultimately killed them Sunday night.
It’s as bitter a pill to swallow as you can imagine, a star-studded team with Hall of Famers in Adams and Stafford and potentially Nacua. The best offense in the NFL, a top 10 defense. An owner willing to spend whatever money necessary, a front office staff that continually churns out great rosters and one of the great young coaches in football.
Only to be done in, again, by a special teams unit that’s cost them multiple games this year, gotten one coordinator fired, and is the reason why they have to travel to the Pacific Northwest for Sunday’s championship game rather than host it at Sofi Stadium.
Remember, it was Rashid Shaheed’s 58-yard punt return touchdown against them in Week 16 that ignited an epic Seattle fourth-quarter comeback in Week 16. The Seahawks’ win that night cost the Rams the NFC West crown and the top seed in the playoffs.
All of which went to the Seahawks, who took full advantage that night and again on Sunday.
It makes you wonder how a franchise as formidable and cutting edge as the Rams, with leaders and thinkers and ingenuity hovering in every office, could not get it right on special teams, of all phases.
No matter what they did to fix it this year, from firing special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn and promoting Ben Kowitca, to signing kicker Harrison Mevis to replace Joshua Karty, to switching out returners, it felt like every time they plugged one leak, another burst open.
That is exactly what happened Sunday when the Rams stole momentum from the Seahawks by forcing them to punt on their opening drive of the second half.
Down just 17-13 at the time, and the offense finding its rhythm midway through the first half, they were ripe to quiet the bedlam at Lumen Field and take the lead.
Only to lose track of gunner Nehemiah Pritchett, who raced up the field on Dickson’s high, booming punt to rattle Smith just enough for him to stumble a bit, then lose control of the ball.
Smith, incidentally, muffed an earlier punt that he somehow managed to fall on to avert disaster. Smith flashed just enough fluster on the play to raise some concern. But Rams coach Sean McVay didn’t pick up the clue, and rather than replace Smith on the next punt, he was right back out there on the third-quarter punt.
He looked just as shaken on his next opportunity, giftwrapping the ball to the Seahawks and handing them control of the game.
The Rams didn’t stop fighting, getting touchdown catches from Adams and Nacua as they fought to chase the Seahawks down. But when Stafford’s fourth-down throw from the Seahawks 6-yard-line fell incomplete with 4:54 left in the game, the Rams were essentially done.
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One special teams miscue. That is all it took.
It’s been the story all year long.
And on Sunday, it ended their season.
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