On a cold December night in Seattle, the Seahawks turned a game into a statement and a season into a charge. Down 16 points in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks stunned the Los Angeles Rams 38-37 in overtime on Thursday Night Football, a Week 16 classic at Lumen Field (Dec. 18, 2025). The win, confirmed across multiple outlets, pushes Seattle to 12-3 and the top of the NFC West, nudging the Rams to 11-4 in a race that just changed shape.

The final act was bold and simple: Sam Darnold found Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the overtime touchdown, then hit a wide-open Eric Saubert for the winning two-point play. That’s eight points in OT, the final brushstroke on a comeback that felt impossible an hour earlier. It wasn’t luck. It was nerve.

Overtime and a gutsy two-point conversion call

Everything turned on two snaps. First, Darnold to Smith-Njigba, a connection that cracked open the Rams’ coverage when the moment demanded it. Then came the decision that will be debated all week: go for two and the win. Seattle did not blink. Darnold rolled and found Saubert, wide open, to end it 38-37. The sequence, as echoed in postgame reports, captured both the aggression and trust this team is building late in the season.

That choice sent a message to the division and the conference: Seattle is not playing for safe margins. It is playing to control January.

“That wasn’t reckless. That was a team saying, ‘We’ll decide how this ends.’”

From 16 down to a season-defining win

The numbers tell the arc. Los Angeles built a 16-point cushion entering the fourth. Seattle answered with 16 in the final quarter alone, while the Rams added seven. That surge forced overtime, where the Seahawks finished the job. The scoring by quarter makes the swing plain: Rams 3-10-10-7-7 to 37; Seahawks 7-0-7-16-8 to 38. It’s a roller-coaster line that will live in Seattle highlight reels for years.

Comebacks like this need poise and patience. Seattle found both. Drives were cleaner, play calls firmer, and the crowd mattered. Lumen Field felt alive again. And when the last read had to be made, Darnold made it.

Sam Darnold, JSN and the trust factor

Darnold has been asked to steady a talented, young offense. In overtime, he did more than steady. He delivered. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the second-year wideout, was the heartbeat of the decisive sequence, finishing the route tree with the one that mattered most. Eric Saubert, the veteran tight end, became the exclamation point, shaking free on the two-point conversion for the one-point win.

No overreach. No panic. Just execution.

“JSN got the TD, Saubert sealed it. That’s chemistry under pressure.”

NFC West stakes: Seahawks grab the pole position

The standings now reflect the night: Seahawks 12-3 (.800) ahead of the Rams 11-4 (.733). Seattle is 6-2 at home, a mark that matters if the path to the postseason runs back through Lumen Field. The Rams, 5-3 away, know how thin the margin is. One play. One throw. One route. It all counts now.

In a division built on defense, discipline, and late-game resolve, Seattle’s fourth-quarter and overtime composure will echo. This is the kind of win that changes a team’s belief, and it may change the seeding map if the pace holds into January.

Scoreboard anatomy: how the game flowed

• Rams: 3 (Q1), 10 (Q2), 10 (Q3), 7 (Q4), 7 (OT) = 37
• Seahawks: 7 (Q1), 0 (Q2), 7 (Q3), 16 (Q4), 8 (OT) = 38

That fifth column is where legends are made. Seattle’s eight in overtime stand beside a fourth-quarter 16 that turned doubt into oxygen and gave the home crowd a reason to believe.

Coaching fingerprints: Mike Macdonald’s moment

Head coach Mike Macdonald’s postgame locker room speech, shared after the game, matched the performance: focused, proud, and forward-facing. He has a defense-first background, but this victory was about whole-team backbone, smart aggression, and the belief to go win it rather than wait for a break.

The highlights package from the league tells the story frame by frame. But the simple version is cleaner: Seattle kept playing when the math said it was over. That travels. That grows.

“Top spot earned, not given. Now hold it.”

The Rams’ reality: heartbreak, confirmed

For Los Angeles, this is the kind of loss that stings because so much went right for so long. They had control. They had the lead deep into the fourth. And in overtime they scored, only to see Seattle answer and take two. The Rams’ official recap underscored the narrowness of it all. This wasn’t a collapse. It was a tug-of-war lost on the final pull.

Their 11-4 record is still strong, and the road mark (5-3) shows toughness. But the division lead is gone, and the final weeks will test their response.

Why this game matters beyond the score

Week 16 results have a way of sticking. This one will, because it checked every box: prime-time stage, division stakes, a double-digit comeback, and an overtime finish decided by a gutsy call. It also sharpened the NFC West picture. The Seahawks now control the pace; the Rams must chase.

December football is about trust. On Thursday night, Seattle trusted its quarterback, its young playmaker, its tight end, and its head coach’s conviction. That is how you move from contender to closer. And that is how you seize a division in one unforgettable night at Lumen Field.

Next up is simple: recovery, clarity, and the same edge. If the Seahawks carry this version of themselves into the final stretch, they won’t just be in the race—they’ll be setting it.