Wilson injured in Rams victory

SEATTLE — Matthew Stafford managed the discomfort with the finger on his throwing hand and pick apart the Seattle Seahawks’ beleaguered defense.

Meanwhile, Russell Wilson was left as a spectator. His finger injury was too severe for the Seattle’s star quarterback to continue against the NFC West division rival.

“It was just a little bit out of place and was able to put it back in and keep going,” Stafford said. “It didn’t affect me too much, to be honest with you.”

Stafford seemed fine, throwing for 365 yards and a touchdown as the Rams beat the Seahawks 26-17 on Thursday in a game Wilson left in the second half after injuring the middle finger on his throwing hand.

Wilson attempted to direct one more drive before turning the game over to backup Geno Smith. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said it was a “badly sprained finger” and that further tests would be coming.

“He wasn’t able to hold on to the football the way he needed to to throw,” Carroll said.

Held to three points in the first half for the fifth time in the regular season under Sean Mcvay, the Rams (4-1) woke up in the final 30 minutes and rebounded from their first loss of the season Sunday to Arizona.

Stafford said his finger first started bothering him in the second quarter but was manageable. He threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Higbee late in the third quarter to put the Rams up 16-7. Stafford hit wide receiver Desean Jackson for 68 yards earlier in the quarter on thirdand-10 that led to Darrell Henderson’s 5-yard run that gave Los Angeles its first lead.

And after Seattle (2-3) pulled within 16-14 in the fourth quarter, Stafford was 4 of 4 for 71 yards on the ensuing drive leading to Sony Michel’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6:08 left.

Wide receiver Robert Woods had 12 catches for 150 yards as the Rams won their second straight in Seattle after January’s playoff victory over the Seahawks.

“He was big when we were backed up, made some explosive plays,” Stafford said about Woods. “He played great tonight.”

The Rams finished with 476 yards of offense, the most they’ve amassed in their past 20 games since Week 3 vs. Buffalo in 2020 when they had 478. It’s also their third-biggest offensive game in the last two calendar years since Week 5 at Seattle in 2019 when they posted 477 yards.

Seattle got within 23-17 on Jason Myers’ field goal from 32 yards with 2:45 left. Seattle forced a punt after defensive end Carlos Dunlap batted down Stafford’s third-down pass.

But Smith couldn’t lead a storybook final drive, with his first pass intercepted by safety Nick Scott as wide receiver Tyler Lockett tripped making his break. Smith was 10 of 17 for 131 yards in the fourth quarter.

“I really thought we had a chance, and I thought we were going to come back and get it done,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t.”