SEATTLE — The Rams’ winning formula for 2024 was supposed to be a high-scoring offense that put its defense into pass-rushing situations. Given the youth on the latter side of the ball, it was coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford’s job to take pressure off the defense.

But in Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, the offense, and occasionally the special teams, kept putting the Rams defense in compromising situations. An interception by Stafford in the second quarter allowed the Seahawks to score two touchdowns in the final minute of the half. A single first down – off a penalty, no less – in four fourth-quarter drives put the onus back on the defense that had already given the Rams the lead. A blocked punt off one of those missed opportunities let the Seahawks start in the red zone.

Eventually, the defense bent, allowing Seattle to tie the game with 51 seconds remaining, then allowing the Seahawks to take the opening drive of overtime down the field, into the red zone. But then came 4th-and-1 at the Rams 16. And here, the Rams defense proved it would not break.

The defensive front absorbed its blocks. Defensive tackle Bobby Brown III got off his, while linebacker Omar Speights filled the c-gap on the left tackle run. They combined for the stop, and that was the opportunity the Rams (4-4) needed to escape Lumen Field with a 26-20 win and move into second place in the NFC West.

“It’s pretty fun to be around this group,” McVay said of his defense. “And they’ve got just a contagious energy and enthusiasm. And there would be a lot of reasons for them to be upset with what the offense was doing today and I never sensed that. And I think that is such a cool thing that’s reflective of the caliber of the character of this team.”

The Rams had seven sacks on Sunday. Six passes defended. Held the Seahawks to 4 for 15 on third down and 1 or 4 in the red zone. And intercepted three passes, two by rookie Kamren Kinchens, who had seen his role reduced to 16 snaps across the previous three games.

But when cornerback Josh Wallace left the game with a leg injury, Kinchens was ready for his opportunity. He took advantage of a Byron Young pressure on 1st-and-goal for his first career interception, one he returned a franchise-record 103 yards for a touchdown.

“It wasn’t no thought process behind it,” Kinchens said. “As soon as I caught it and didn’t see nobody in front of me, it was time to run.”

He did drop the ball before he crossed the goal line, but had the presence of mind to pick the ball up in the end zone and ensure the touchdown, the third by the Rams defense in the last four games.

“I’m going to get him on the team meeting,” McVay joked. “Those are two huge plays that we had to have or I’m not sitting here feeling the way that I do.”

The defense wasn’t perfect. It committed five offsides or neutral zone infractions, two of which led directly to free plays that led to Seattle touchdowns on consecutive drives. The Rams’ 3-0 lead had turned into a 13-3 halftime deficit, all in the span of 31 seconds of game time.

But that second score was only because of an overthrown interception by Stafford on the drive between those two touchdowns. Worse, as linebacker Tyrel Dodson tried to block Puka Nacua, the intended target, the receiver punched the Seahawk in the helmet and was ejected.

Nacua’s absence certainly didn’t help the Rams offense, but the unit had been struggling before his disqualification. Seattle (4-5) had shown little ability to stop the run entering Sunday but held the Rams to 14 yards on eight attempts in the first half. Stafford felt a lot of pressure in the pocket and rushed several passes to avoid sacks.

While the offense bounced back to tie the game in the third quarter, it sputtered again in the fourth quarter. This opened the window for QB Geno Smith to lead the Seahawks down the field, his second TD pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba tying the game with 51 seconds left.

When the Seahawks won the overtime coin toss and ran the ball with Kenneth Walker III five of the first six plays of the drive, you’d be forgiven for having flashbacks to the season-opening loss to the Lions in which Detroit ran over a weary Rams defense. But this time around, the Rams made a stop when Seattle opted to go for it on fourth down rather than kick a go-ahead field goal.

“We were all out there talking to each other that we need to buckle up. Let’s go. We need to make this stop,” said rookie Braden Fiske, who made two sacks. “We’re a young defense, we’re coming together. I think that shined tonight.”

When the Rams got the ball back, McVay kept his plan simple: Keep the ball in Stafford’s hands.

And Stafford delivered the 46th game-winning drive of his career. First, he hit Tyler Johnson for a 24 yards, then Tutu Atwell for 16 to get into Seattle territory.

Defending against the game-winning field goal, the Seahawks went into cover zero at their own 39. The Rams called a play action, only to see a linebacker cheating toward the edge of the offensive line. Receiver Cooper Kupp came in motion to block that LB and secure the pass protection. As Stafford rolled out to his left, he saw Demarcus Robinson on a corner route to the end zone.

The veteran receiver went up with one hand to secure the game-winning touchdown, his second of the game.

“I wasn’t planning on shooting that one out there pre-snap,” Stafford said. “Coop did a hell of a job getting me the edge, had a little bit of time and it just kind of popped.”