Despite four interceptions by Sam Darnold, the Seattle Seahawks somehow still had a chance to pull off a last-second victory in Sunday afternoon’s NFC West showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.

Instant reaction | Box Score

However, Jason Myers’ 61-yard field goal on the final play sailed wide right and the Seahawks suffered a 21-19 road loss to their division rival as the Rams took Round 1 between these two Super Bowl contenders.

The loss dropped Seattle to 7-3 and allowed the Rams to move into sole possession of first place atop the NFC West at 8-2.

Here’s a look at what stood out from the game.

Darnold’s interceptions prove costly

In a clash of two evenly matched teams, turnovers had the potential to be a differentiating factor. The Seahawks, despite all their success on offense this season, entered the week tied for the second-most turnovers in the league. The Rams’ defense, meanwhile, was tied for the fifth-most takeaways.

And sure enough, it ended up being the story of the game.

Darnold, who entered with just six interceptions this season, was picked off four times by the Rams’ defense. As a result, the Rams began four of their possessions in Seattle territory, and they converted two of those short fields into touchdowns.

For most of this season, the Seahawks were good enough to overcome their high turnover rate. But they essentially handed the Rams 14 points on Sunday, which they simply couldn’t afford to do against one of the league’s elite teams.

A gutsy defensive performance

It’s a major testament to their defense that the Seahawks still had a chance to win this game in the closing moments.

Seattle completely suffocated Los Angeles’ high-scoring offense for most of the afternoon, holding Sean McVay’s crew to just 249 total yards, which was the Rams’ second-lowest mark of the season. Matthew Stafford completed just 15 of 28 passes for a season-low 130 yards, while averaging a season-low 4.6 yards per pass attempt.

And for the final two-thirds of the game, the Rams simply couldn’t move the ball at all. The Seahawks limited the Rams to just 105 total yards and five first downs over their final eight drives, none of which spanned more than 25 yards.

Again, the Rams scored 14 of their 21 points on a pair of drives that started at the Seattle 3 and the Seattle 25. The fact that the Seahawks lost the turnover battle 4-1 and still nearly won should be at least somewhat encouraging.

Settling for field goals

Darnold’s interceptions were by far the biggest problem for Seattle’s offense. But they weren’t the only problem.

The Seahawks drove inside the Rams’ 15-yard line three times over the first two and a half quarters. But all three times, they settled for field goals.

Seattle’s first red-zone drive stalled at the 12-yard line after a pair of incompletions. Seattle’s second red-zone drive – a 15-play, 89-yard march at the end of the first half – stalled at the 3-yard line after Darnold was forced into a third-down throwaway.

And in the third quarter, the Seahawks drove into the red zone again but settled for another field goal. That came after back-to-back plays where Kenneth Walker III had a TD run called back by a holding penalty and Darnold missed a potential go-ahead TD pass by underthrowing an open Rashid Shaheed down the sideline.

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SEATTLE (AP) — Philipp Grubauer stopped all 19 shots he faced in relief of injured Matt Murray, and the Seattle Kraken got two goals from Jaden Schwartz to help beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Saturday night.

Seattle Kraken 4, San Jose Sharks 1: Box score

Adam Larsson and Eeli Tolvanen scored 38 seconds apart late in the second period to give the Kraken a 3-1 lead. Jamie Oleksiak and Chandler Stephenson each had two assists for Seattle, which lost 6-1 to the Sharks in the same building 10 days earlier — its worst defeat of the season.

Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 19 saves. San Jose has dropped two straight after winning four in a row.

Murray exited with a lower-body injury with 18 seconds left in the first after allowing a goal. Grubauer, who made 23 saves Thursday in a 5-3 victory over Winnipeg, came off the bench and earned his third straight win.

Seattle is already without goalie Joey Daccord, on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Larsson scored his first of the season from the top of the right circle to put Seattle in front with 3:55 left in the second. Tolvanen made it 3-1 on a slap shot from the right circle, his second consecutive game with a goal.

Schwartz added his seventh on an empty-netter with 3:29 remaining in the third.

Schwartz opened the scoring at 8:14 of the first, deflecting in Stephenson’s feed. Wennberg tied it with a power-play goal, tipping in Macklin Celebrini’s 17th assist with 18 seconds to play in the period.

Up next

Sharks: Host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night.

Kraken: Visit the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

Last time: Seattle Kraken use 3rd-period rally to beat Jets 5-3

Cooper Kupp played eight seasons for the Rams, highlighted by his 2021 performance, when he was the NFL’s offensive player of year and the most valuable player of Super Bowl LVI.

On Sunday, the Rams will play against Kupp for the first time when the Seattle Seahawks visit SoFi Stadium for a game that will determine first place in the NFC West.

Kupp, released by the Rams last March after they could not find a trade partner, is a complementary piece of a Seahawks offense that features quarterback Sam Darnold and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is on pace to break the NFL season record for yards receiving.

But Kupp, who has 26 catches for 367 yards and a touchdown, is still on the minds of Rams players and coaches.

“I’m glad he’s feeling good and ready to rock and roll,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “He’s a lifelong friend of mine. Obviously, we’ll be competing against him this weekend, but it’ll be good to see him.”

Kupp played “an instrumental role” in building the Rams’ culture, coach Sean McVay said.

“He modeled the way,” McVay said, adding, “He’s elevated a lot of people in this building.”

Receiver Puka Nacua benefited from Kupp’s tutelage.

“A foreign feeling for sure,” Nacua said when asked what it would be like playing against Kupp for the first time. “I know I’m excited to see him.”

Is there a postgame jersey swap planned?

“Honestly, I’m hoping that he doesn’t take it off because if I see him take it off for somebody else, I might hit somebody on our team, respectfully,” Nacua said, laughing.