Darnold leads Seahawks past Rams, sending Seattle back to the Super Bowl

The Seattle Seahawks are headed to the Super Bowl after surviving a tense NFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 at home. Quarterback Sam Darnold delivered one of the defining performances of his career, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover, as Seattle leaned on both explosive passing and timely defense to close out a game that repeatedly threatened to swing back to Los Angeles.

Seattle’s path to the win was built on capitalizing when opportunities appeared. The Rams committed a critical mistake with a muffed punt in the third quarter, and the Seahawks immediately turned that into points when Darnold hit Jake Bobo for a touchdown that stretched the lead and forced Los Angeles to chase. It was the kind of sequence that decides playoff games: one error, one quick strike, and suddenly the margin for the trailing team disappears.

Los Angeles still had answers. Matthew Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns, and the Rams kept applying pressure with chunk plays to Puka Nacua and scores from multiple targets. But the Rams were chasing a deficit most of the second half, and in the final minutes coach Sean McVay faced a season-defining decision: on fourth-and-4 from the Seattle 6, he went for the touchdown rather than settling for a field goal.

Seattle’s defense delivered the stop it needed. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon broke up Stafford’s end-zone throw, ending the drive and preserving the four-point lead. From there, the Seahawks stayed aggressive rather than going into a shell, with Darnold converting multiple first downs on the final possession to drain the clock and prevent the Rams from getting the ball back with real time to operate.

The win sends the Seahawks to the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl appearance and first in 11 years, setting up a high-profile matchup with the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. For Darnold—an eight-year veteran with a winding career path—the performance was a statement game. For Seattle, it was proof that in January football, the difference is often simple: protect the ball, punish mistakes, and make one decisive stop when it matters most.