It was a bad night for fingers, a bad night for kickers, and it proved to be a bad night for the Seahawks.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford injured his right index finger at the end of the first half. He never left the game. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson dislocated his right middle finger in the third quarter when his hand connected with the right hand of Aaron Donald on his follow through of a long incompletion to Tyler Lockett. Wilson had to leave the game, and Geno Smith replaced him.
Despite changing the wrap on his finger more than once, Stafford wasn’t bothered by his injury. He went 12-of-18 for 234 yards with a touchdown in the second half, leading the Rams to a 26-17 victory over the Seahawks.
The Cardinals (4-0) are the NFL’s last undefeated team and reside atop the NFC West standings. The Rams moved to 4-1 while the Seahawks fell to 2-3.
It turned into an entertaining game that had a little of everything, including a two punts on the same play by Seattle’s Michael Dickson after his first attempt was blocked.
Seahawks kicker Jason Myers missed a 35-yard field goal before halftime, two plays after the Seahawks had a touchdown nullified by a holding penalty on Duane Brown. Rams kicker Matt Gay missed an extra point and kicked two kickoffs out of bounds but his 47-yarder with 24 seconds left iced the game.
The Seahawks trailed 16-7 when Smith replaced Wilson, and he kept Seattle in it with 10 points in his first two drives. He threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, Smith’s first touchdown throw since 2017 when he was with the Giants, to complete a 98-yard drive.
The Rams, though, matched the touchdown with one of their own on a Sony Michel 2-yard run with 6:08 left.
After a 32-yard field goal by Myers, the Rams picked up only one first down. That gave Smith one last opportunity to pull out a miracle. The Seahawks got the ball back with 2:09 remaining at their own 16. But Lockett fell down on the first snap after Seattle got the ball back, and Nick Scott made an easy interception of Smith with 2:02 remaining.
Smith finished 10-of-17 for 131 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Wilson was 11-of-16 for 152 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Stafford completed 25 of 37 passes for 365 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Robert Woods caught 12 passes for 150 yards, and Cooper Kupp made seven receptions for 92 yards. DeSean Jackson had a 68-yard reception.
Darrell Henderson rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.