Rams’ latest late collapse raises questions about championship DNA

SEATTLE — Championship teams don’t end up on the wrong side of lopsided score-bug memes multiple times in the same season.

They finish games. They put opponents away. They don’t celebrate until the clock hits zero.

Twice this season, the Rams have done the opposite.

For the second time in three months, the Rams went on the road, dominated a quality opponent for long stretches, celebrated before the game was over — and walked off the field as losers.

Earlier this season in Philadelphia, when the Rams built a 26–7 third-quarter lead over the Eagles, it felt like a changing of the guard from the defending Super Bowl champions to a team that looked ready to take its place. That illusion vanished quickly as the Eagles scored 26 unanswered points to win 33–26. The loss was framed internally as a learning moment, an early-season wake-up call for a team with championship aspirations.

It was supposed to be the turning point.

Fast forward three months and the Rams were once again exactly where they wanted to be, despite puzzling losses to a depleted 49ers team at home and a struggling Panthers team on the road. Everything was on the line Thursday night in Seattle. A win would have all but clinched the NFC West, secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC and likely vaulted Matthew Stafford into the MVP lead.

With a little more than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Rams led 30–14 and were celebrating again.

It couldn’t happen again.It didn’t even take eight minutes.

Less than two minutes later, the game was tied 30–30 with 6:23 remaining. And because blowing one lead apparently wasn’t enough, the Rams did it again in overtime. They scored the opening touchdown of the extra period to take a 37–30 lead, only to watch the Seahawks storm back with a touchdown and a walk-off two-point conversion.

Head coach Sean McVay said afterward that he had never seen anything like the sequence that tied the game late, referencing the controversial two-point play that was initially ruled dead before being reviewed and reversed. McVay stressed he wasn’t making excuses but admitted he wanted clarity and understanding about what occurred, noting that he had grown up around the game and had never experienced anything like it.

Stafford echoed that confusion, saying he simply wanted to understand the rule, explaining that he didn’t think advancing a fumble was allowed on plays like that inside of two minutes. Still, he emphasized there was plenty of football left and that the Rams had chances afterward to make plays and win the game.

They didn’t.

Instead, the Rams unraveled — again.

It was the cherry on top of an embarrassing collapse for a team that was this close to a statement win and instead reinforced lingering doubts. The Rams are a good team. They might even be a great team. But they do not look like a championship team.

That reality extends beyond the scoreboard.

Puka Nacua delivered a historic night on the field, finishing with 225 receiving yards, but his actions off it again drew attention away from football. After apologizing earlier in the week for a livestream in which he criticized officials and made a racially insensitive gesture, Nacua returned to social media moments after Thursday’s loss with a sarcastic post aimed at referees.

McVay said he had not yet spoken to Nacua about the post but made it clear it would be addressed, stressing that the team doesn’t want to criticize officials and that Nacua is responsible, respectful and continuing to learn. McVay said he would put his arm around him and help him grow, insisting the issue would get fixed.

Nacua later acknowledged his mistake, saying it was a lack of awareness mixed with frustration. He said the Rams put themselves in situations where they didn’t execute well enough to take the game out of anyone else’s hands and emphasized that those moments are where the team must improve.

Defensive end Kobie Turner viewed the night differently, saying the Rams had nothing to lose and went down swinging against a really good football team. He said the team talks constantly about situational mastery and always ending up with the ball, admitting the overturned two-point play shook him because the defense thought it had already made a game-changing stop. Still, Turner said the standard remains the standard, and if the Rams had prevented one more score, the result wouldn’t have mattered.

The Rams have clinched a playoff berth and are likely to finish the regular season 13–4 with upcoming games against the Falcons and Cardinals. But none of that matters right now. One win Thursday night would have delivered home-field advantage and the cleanest possible path to the Super Bowl.

Instead, the path is now complicated, bumpy and largely out of their control — potentially starting on the road in the wild-card round and ending far sooner than a team with Super Bowl aspirations can afford.

Stafford said the mindset doesn’t change, repeating the team’s mantra of respecting everyone, fearing nobody and simply preparing for the next opponent. Turner framed the next 11 days as an opportunity rather than a challenge, saying this isn’t January and the Rams are still alive, still swinging and still in the dance.

That may be true.

But championship teams don’t keep relearning the same lesson.