The Los Angeles Rams’ promising 2025 season came to an end on Sunday night with a 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game.
One of the biggest plays came in the third quarter, right after the Rams defense got a much-needed stop and forced the Seahawks to punt on their first drive of the second half.
Michael Dickson looked to pin the Rams back and kicked the ball to Xavier Smith, who slipped and muffed it for the second time in the game. The Seahawks jumped on it to regain possession and scored a touchdown on the very next play to increase their lead to 24-13.
“It was costly… “It’s tough because X-Man has been so reliable,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said of Smith. He bobbled the first one and we were lucky to get back on it. And that one, it was costly. I love him. He’s done a nice job. … That was a tough one.”
Smith muffed a punt earlier in the first half but he was able to recover it. He wasn’t so lucky the second time and the Seahawks were able to cash in on the turnover.
It was an unfortunate turn of events for Smith, who had been a reliable punt returner all season before Sunday’s game against the Seahawks.
Smith’s costly fumble did not have a direct impact on the outcome of the game as the Rams were able to quickly answer back with a touchdown of their own to trim the deficit to four.
However, Smith’s muffed punt undoubtedly shifted the momentum in the Seahawks’ favor and made the Rams’ comeback attempt that much more difficult.
What’s next for the Rams…
With their loss to the Seahawks, the Rams fell short of getting back to the Super Bowl. Seattle will instead represent the NFC when they take on the New England Patriots on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Levi’s Stadium.
While it’s a tough pill to swallow, there is optimism for the Rams organization moving forward as they have a lot of young talent and two first round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
L.A. will need to figure out a few things before that, including whether Matthew Stafford will return for a sixth season at quarterback and if they will retain key members of their coaching staff.
One thing that is for sure though is they will need to address their special teams unit as that phase of the game plagued them all year.
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