The Athletic has live coverage of Rams vs. Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game.
Their first game came down to a long field goal try. Their second was instant cinema, with a first-of-its-kind walk-off ending. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks tangle for the third time this season. It’s the No. 1 scoring offense versus the No. 1 scoring defense. Winner glides into the Super Bowl. Twist all of our arms, why don’t ya?
How to watch Rams at Seahawks (NFC Championship Game)
Fox is free over the air. It’s also available on Fox One.
Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles scored more points and gained more yards than any other team in the regular season. As schemed by Sean McVay, the Rams used a lot of motion, play-action and 13 sets (one running back, three tight ends). Laser-armed Matthew Stafford put together the most productive run of his 17-year pro career. He paced all quarterbacks in touchdowns and yards.
His receivers had NFL-best marks, too. At 24 years old, catches leader Puka Nacua thrashed from the middle of the hashes to the center of the stage. On the other side, 33-year-old Davante Adams continued his quiet dominance; he missed three games and still led the league in TD receptions.
In the Week 16 mega-marathon against the Seahawks on “Thursday Night Football,” Stafford threw for 457 yards, his season high. As highlighted by The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen, the veteran quarterback flexed a near-psychic ability to disorient the underneath coverage. Nacua erupted for 225 of those yards plus two touchdowns, the second of which was an overtime go-ahead strike. The All-Pro wideout was later fined for postgame criticism of the referees.
The Rams blew a double-digit lead in that game, but they have landed on the right side of two intense, white-knuckle playoff classics. L.A. outlasted the Carolina Panthers in the wild-card round 34-31, thanks to Stafford’s clutch connection with shuffling TE Colby Parkinson.
Next, the Rams survived a series of increasingly elaborate magic tricks from Caleb Williams and took a 20-17 OT win from the Chicago Bears. Cobie Durant lifted the defense with two interceptions. That group, coordinated by Chris Shula (grandson of a coaching legend), picked off Sam Darnold six times across the two regular-season draws.
Per TruMedia, these Rams are trying to become the fifth playoff entrant since 2000 with three road wins. The other four teams won the Super Bowl — from wild cards to world champs.
Seattle Seahawks
With Mike Macdonald in Seattle’s fluorescent green, the Seahawks defense has become a soaring and searing force. The unit was the stingiest in the NFL by points allowed and yards per carry this season, and second-best by net yards per dropback. All-Pro efforts were made at all three levels. Leonard Williams anchored an aggressive D-line, Ernest Jones IV shined with the linebackers and Devon Witherspoon led in coverage.
Given shorter fields and easier lifts, the offense started strong, then improved down the stretch. Darnold’s mid-career revival earned him a second Pro Bowl nod. Jaxon Smith-Njigba rose to WR1 status off buttery routes and kinetic sideline work. His 1,793 yards topped all receivers and set the single-season franchise record. The zone run game picked up around Kenneth Walker III, who played far beyond his 5-foot-9 frame.
It all culminated in a post-bye divisional beatdown of the San Francisco 49ers. Macdonald’s inaugural playoff win (41-6!) was lightning and swagger, from opening house call to final whistle. Walker had a TD trio and took on maximum volume once Zach Charbonnet went down with a season-ending knee injury.
As the “12th Man” bids to break its own record for open-air noise levels, there are personal arcs for Seahawks stars to fill. Jones has a chance to shine against the organization that once traded him, and turn darkness to spotlight. According to NFL Media, former Rams receiver Cooper Kupp will be the fifth player ever to win a Super Bowl MVP, then later face his old team in a postseason matchup.
And if the Southern California kid can get past Los Angeles — something he couldn’t do last season with the Minnesota Vikings — Darnold would go from draft bust to conference crown.
Burkhardt, Brady and the broadcast
Kevin Burkhardt is our play-by-play narrator perched atop the action. He’s been in the booth for Fox’s MLB and college basketball coverage, but football is where his voice booms. Should Nacua, Smith-Njigba or any other skill player break into open field, we’ll hear “foot race!” in Burkhardt’s electric tenor. His “still going!” call last weekend echoed for hours:
97 YARDS TO THE HOUSE!!!
WHAT A START FOR SEATTLE!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/CVCXwoeTrg
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 18, 2026
Tom Brady is the analyst. As a player, Brady reached the conference championship round 14 times, which is a brain-scrambling number. He won 10 of them between the 2001 and 2020 seasons. Sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi complete the Fox NFL A-team broadcast.
The pregame program begins at 6 p.m. ET, 3 p.m. PT for both West Coast fan bases. Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Rob Gronkowski and Jay Glazer star in the studio show. The records for those former players in conference championship games they appeared in: Bradshaw 4-2 (Pittsburgh Steelers), Long 1-1 (then-Los Angeles Raiders), Strahan 2-0 (New York Giants) and Gronkowski 5-1 (New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
NFC Championship Game history
Overall, the Rams are 5-6 in the championship round. They’re 2-0 since moving back to Southern California and reinstalling under McVay.
L.A. escaped the Superdome in the 2018 edition — Nickell Robey-Coleman has now been mentioned. Then the Rams scored 13 straight fourth-quarter points to stun the Niners in 2021. Stafford was spectacular in those closing drives, while Kupp finished with a monster receiving line of 11 catches, 142 yards and two TDs. From there came Super Bowl LVI, where Kupp was MVP and Stafford threw his no-look heater.
The hosts are 3-1 with their conference title chances, and they’ve won three in a row after a 1983 loss to the L.A. Raiders. In 2005, Shaun Alexander rushed for 132 yards and two TDs versus the Panthers. Later, the nation marveled as the Richard Sherman-Michael Crabtree beef cascaded in the 2013 NFC Championship Game.
“That was definitely the best football game I’ve ever played in,” former Seahawks tight end Luke Willson told The Athletic for the game’s oral history. It also set up Seattle’s lone Lombardi Trophy lift.
One year after that, Jon Ryan became a diming punter and Jermaine Kearse became a folk hero of the Pacific Northwest:
After trailing 16-0 at the half, the @Seahawks staged a stunning rally to defeat the Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship game! (Jan. 18, 2015)#Seahawks | #NFLPlayoffs#SEAvsGB: Sunday at 6:40pm ET on FOX pic.twitter.com/nZbNBvSmoR
— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) January 7, 2020
Head-to-head matchups
The Rams won both prior playoff meetings … in Seattle, no less.
Rams 27, Seahawks 20 (2004 wild-card round)
Back when they were the St. Louis Rams. Mike Martz bested Mike Holmgren, and Marc Bulger went 76 yards with his boys to seal a 27-20 win. This game paired two epochal running backs and 2000s MVPs, but neither found much room. Marshall Faulk took 13 carries for 55 yards; Alexander ran 15 times for 40 yards. The Rams were blown out by Michael Vick’s Atlanta Falcons that following weekend.
Rams 30, Seahawks 20 (2020 wild-card round)
Jared Goff versus Russell Wilson in an empty stadium. This happened five years ago, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Goff went 9-for-19 through the air and L.A. scored 30 points anyway. Cam Akers motored the McVay offense with 176 scrimmage yards, while Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd had two sacks each. The Rams then bowed out to Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers in their divisional game. As a 12-4 campaign was undercut by a first-round exit, Pete Carroll fired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
Updated odds
Streaming and ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.