Enemy Reaction, 2026 NFC Championship Game: Los Angeles Rams

Well, the Rams did have one small triumph Sunday evening.

Lumen Field can seem like a cauldron of noise when Seahawks fans get going – primarily when the opposition has the ball – and these ominous notes showed up on one of the auxiliary scoreboards: Seattle’s fans have been responsible for 302 false start penalties, and the single-game record is 11.

The Rams didn’t jump, or twitch, or flinch once at the line of scrimmage Sunday. That and five bucks or so will get you one of this city’s most famous products – and yes, they serve Starbucks in the press box here.

But it’s not going to win the Rams a championship this year.

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There was a Darnold the Rams haven’t seen much of in their last few meetings: No interceptions, one sack. In the two regular season meetings with the Seahawks this year, he’d thrown six picks, and he was sacked four times in Seattle’s 38-37 overtime victory in December. A year ago, in the Rams’ playoff victory over Minnesota, Darnold was intercepted once and sacked nine times.

But it wouldn’t be unfair to say that these were the two best teams in the NFC, and not just the last two standing. Maybe – maybe – even the two best teams in the league, as the top finishers in the NFL’s toughest division.

That’s not much comfort now for the Rams.