It’s hard to look at takeaways after a season-ending loss, but the Los Angeles Rams will need to look long and hard at what went wrong in the NFC championship loss to the Seattle Seahawks to determine their next steps in the offseason.
The game was a classic NFC West heavyweight fight, though, as both offenses flourished and momentum swung back and forth throughout the contest.
But in the end, Seattle got the better of the L.A. with crucial takeaways and stops when it mattered the most.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the loss to the Seahawks, and what the Rams need to focus on in the 2026 offseason.
Secondary is easily Rams’ biggest need
The Rams need to prioritize their secondary in the 2026 offseason. That reality was made very clear against the Seahawks, where L.A. gave up 346 passing yards and three touchdowns to Sam Darnold.
Seattle receivers Jaxon Smith-Ngiba and Cooper Kupp ran rampant on the Rams’ secondary all game. JSN had seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown in the first half and finished with 10 catches for 153 yards and that score. Kupp, facing his old team for the third time, added four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.
The secondary looked good enough at times this year despite no star in the defensive backfield. But over the course of the year, erosions manifested themselves before the Seahawks busted open in the most important game of the year.
The Rams have two first-round picks and a lot of money to spend this offseason. They need to use at least some of that capital on cornerbacks.
Special teams dooms again
Special teams have plagued the Rams in big games all year, and it reared its ugly head in the conference title game.
There wasn’t a more consequential play for the Rams than Xavier Smith’s muffed punt early in the third quarter. It set the Seahawks up at the Rams’ 17-yard line, where they scored immediately to turn a four-point Seattle lead into an 11-point one.
The Rams will be looking for a new special teams coordinator this offseason after firing Chase Blackburn in the middle of the season. It remains to be seen if interim coordinator Ben Kotwica will earn the job, but more than likely the Rams will try to find someone from outside the organization to revamp the special teams unit in 2026 and beyond.
Rams defense needed a takeaway
The Rams’ defense had forced at least two turnovers in each of the past three games, but didn’t have one against the Seahawks. This was also a deviation from how they’ve played the Seahawks in the past, in which they forced seven total turnovers in the two previous games.
In close battles, winning the turnover battle can decide games. And it did in this one, as the Rams had the only turnover of the game on the muffed punt.
Offense is scary at full strength
It’s hard to take positives away from a loss that ends a season, but the Rams’ offense looked fantastic for most of this game. It sounds like Stafford will return in 2026, which means the offense should remain mostly the same.
He finished the game with 374 yards and three touchdowns, including a ton to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. Nacua caught nine receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown, while a healthier Adams added four receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.
The running back duo of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum was equally impressive. Williams rushed 10 times for 39 yards and caught two balls for 22 yards and a touchdown, while Corum led the Rams on the ground with nine carries for 55 yards.
If the Rams run it back with the same skill position players, they should remain one of the top offenses in 2026.
Sean McVay’s situational mistake
Hindsight is 20/20, but McVay’s biggest mistake cost the Rams a shot at tying the game.
The Rams drew within five points of the Seahawks’ lead with 2:06 left in the third quarter on an incredible Nacua touchdown. McVay decided to kick the extra point to cut the deficit to four points, but that decision directly led to a fourth-down call late in game that effectively ended the Rams’ comeback attempt.
The Rams didn’t get another shot at scoring until 4:59 left in the game, where McVay decided to go for it on 4th-and-4 from the Seahawks’ six-yard line. That call was necessary in a four-point game, but it could have been avoided if the Rams had converted a two-point conversion earlier. A field goal attempt would have tied the game.
Would that have mattered in the end? Maybe not. But the ensuing drive left the Rams with almost no time left to mount a comeback.
McVay will be thinking about that call all offseason now.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams-Seahawks: 5 takeaways from NFC title game loss
Reporting by Tyler Greenawalt, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
