Jaxon Smith-Njigba makes a man miss after a flat pass to turn it into a 16-yard gain as the Seahawks get inside the 10 and closing in on the end zone.

Tom Brady
Seven-time Super Bowl winner on FOX

This is what he does. He is open by four yards and Darnold is not going to miss that one.

Yes he can! Sam Darnold has a wide open Rashid Shaheed down the right sideline, who had raced away from his defender, who was playing far too close against a speedster like Shaheed.

That's a 51-yard gain.

Sam Darnold is on the field. He took on the Rams in the play-offs last season while playing for the Vikings - and was sacked NINE (9) times in Los Angeles in a 27-9 beatdown.

Can he do better tonight?

Quick three and out for the Rams as Matthew Stafford's third-down throw to Puka Nacua is just a touch too high for his star receiver.

It is LOUD at Lumen Field.

We're off at Lumen Field as Matthew Stafford strides onto the field to get the first drive up and running for the Rams.

They're 1-1 for the season, but who wins the decider to make the Super Bowl?

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Sean McVay celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday and is hoping for the perfect present in Seattle.

Becoming the youngest modern day NFL head coach when the Rams appointed him back in 2017 just before his 31st birthday - McVay's also the youngest head coach to get to and win a Super Bowl.

Such is the churn in the NFL, McVay's nine-year tenure in LA makes him the second-longest serving head coach in the league behind only Andy Reid at the Chiefs.

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Mike Macdonald is just in his second year as a head coach but he's quietly built a brilliant team and a fearsome defence, which is his speciality.

After leading the D in Baltimore he's just the third man to coach a number one scoring defence as a defensive coordinator (the 2023 Ravens) and a head coach (2025 Seahawks) following Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick.

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Almost nothing between these two in their previous meetings - apart from those turnovers and sacks heavily in favour of the Rams.

These two have played two crackers already this season, the second in particular just a few weeks ago was a barnburner.

Catch the highlights.

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Matt Stafford is the favourite to win this season's MVP award having led the league with 4,707 passing yards, and his best weapon has been Puka Nacua.

The 24-year-old burst onto the NFL scene in his rookie but has gone to another level in year three, claiming career-best figures for receptions (129), yards (1,715) and touchdowns (10).

Only Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba had more receiving yards (1,793), although Nacua played a game less, and such was their prowess that they finished well clear of the Cowboys' George Pickens in third place (1,429).

Nacua gives the Rams a deep threat, has proved a reliable target in the backfield by gaining yards after the catch, and despite beating LA in overtime in week 16, Seattle will be wary of the fact Nacua racked up a career-high 225 receiving yards in that game.

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Seattle let star receiver DK Metcalf leave in the off-season and picked up Cooper Kupp, who was Super Bowl MVP when the Rams became NFL champions in 2022, while also bringing in quarterback Sam Darnold.

And those moves have worked perfectly for the Seahawks, with third-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba stepping up to form a devastating partnership with Darnold. Not only has 'JSN' again been Seattle's top receiver but he's led the league with 1,793 receiving yards, a huge increase on his tally of 1,130 from 2024.

The 23-year-old is in the top 10 for average yards per catch so look out for some splash plays from Smith-Njigba, especially if Seattle can get their play-action game going.

Matt Stafford led the Rams to Super Bowl victory in 2022, in his first season in LA, and the 37-year-old could now be named the NFL's Most Valuable Player for the first time. Not only did he lead the league for passing yards but Stafford also threw 12 more touchdown passes than any other quarterback.

Seattle became Sam Darnold's fifth team in his eight-year NFL career and he has proven himself as an NFL starter after two seasons as a back-up. The 28-year-old showed that last season's success with Minnesota was no fluke as he became just the second quarterback to record back-to-back 14-win seasons after Tom Brady - and Darnold's the first to do it with different teams.

There are still some concerns over ball security, though, as Darnold's 20 turnovers this season were the most by a quarterback.

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Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton speaking to CBS: "It is hard when you get to this game. I said to them, 'I can't tell you anything that will change how you feel right now'.

"We are proud of them. They played hard. We weren't good enough today. It wasn't good enough by us, myself. This is probably one of the closer teams that I've coached. I told them I loved them. That's about it."

On the conditions on the field: "I would have liked to have run the ball better. The first half, how it unfolded, it felt like the whole first half was on their side of the field.

"The turnover was costly. I thought defensively we played really well but in the end those turnovers... We had the wind in the fourth quarter but it was just managing what we could do throwing it."

After starting the season with defeat by divisional rivals San Francisco, new Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold soon struck up a fruitful connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba which steered the Seahawks to seven wins from their next eight games.

They then faced the Rams for the first time this season, and although Darnold threw four interceptions, he still got Seattle in position to win it, before a missed field goal as time expired meant LA hung on for a 21-19 victory.

When the divisional rivals met again in week 16, both were in contention for the NFC West title and the NFC's top seed. But this time the Seahawks prevailed 38-37 in overtime and then beat the 49ers to finish the regular season with a 14-3 record and a seven-game win streak.

They soon renewed acquaintances, with San Francisco heading north after Seattle had a bye for the first round of the play-offs, and the Seahawks left no doubt that they belong in the NFC Championship game, thumping the injury-hit 49ers 41-6 last week.

The Rams made a solid start to the season as before their bye in week eight, their only defeats came after Philadelphia returned a blocked field-goal attempt for a game-clinching touchdown and in overtime against San Francisco.

In week seven they thumped Jacksonville 35-7 at Wembley and they kept winning after their bye, hanging on for a 21-19 win over Seattle in week 11 while quarterback Matt Stafford established himself as the leading MVP contender.

The Rams' winning streak came to a halt as they suffered a shock 31-28 loss at Carolina, before the Seahawks beat LA in overtime in week 16 to claim control of the NFC West, and the Rams finished the regular season with a 12-5 record.

That meant they went into the play-offs as the NFC's fifth seed, and LA have shown their character on the road, grinding out wins at Carolina and Chicago to set up a trilogy match-up with Seattle to decide which of the divisional rivals reaches Super Bowl 60.

Right, so have you got enough energy and nerves left for another one?

Of course you have! We're on to Seattle....