St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Thanks to a total team effort, the St. Louis Rams sent the Seattle Seahawks to their first losing streak in nearly two years.
Austin Davis was an efficient 18-of-21 passing for 152 yards with two touchdowns, and the Rams held off the Seahawks for a 28-26 win.
St. Louis (2-4), which snapped three-game losing streaks both overall and against Seattle, had a punt return touchdown and converted a gutsy fake punt late in the game to seal the victory.
"You have to tip your hat to Seattle," Davis said. "They're a really, really good football team. It took a pretty flawless game in terms of turnovers and penalties, and we knew that coming in."
Tre Mason rushed for 85 yards on 18 carries and scored the first touchdown of his career in the win.
The Seahawks (3-3), who were coming off a 30-23 setback at home to Dallas last Sunday, hadn't lost two straight games since doing so in late October of 2012.
The loss spoiled an outstanding effort from Russell Wilson, who threw for 313 yards with two touchdowns and also rushed for a game-high 106 yards and a score. Wilson became the first player in NFL history with 300-plus passing yards and 100-plus rushing yards in a single game.
"In terms of the milestone, it doesn't mean anything unless you win," Wilson said. "I'm not about stats. The only thing I really care about is winning."
In a surprising move late in the week, Seattle shipped wide receiver Percy Harvin to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick and Doug Baldwin was the immediate beneficiary. Baldwin hauled in seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
"We felt that it was the best thing for our club and it'll help us down the road," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said of the trade.
The Rams blew a 14-point lead in Monday night's loss to San Francisco and nearly squandered a formidable advantage in this one.
The Seahawks trailed by 15 at halftime and went 82 yards over 12 plays to reach the end zone on their second series of the third. Wilson picked up a big first down when he hit Baldwin for 19 yards on 3rd-and-17, then the signal caller polished off the march with a 19-yard TD run around the right end to make it 21-13 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the frame. . Wilson's legs proved to be vital again on Seattle's next touch, as he bolted up the far sideline for 52 yards, the longest run of his career. Marshawn Lynch appeared to cut into the deficit, but a holding penalty negated his touchdown run.
It didn't matter.
On the next play, Wilson converted a 19-yard TD pass to Cooper Helfet, who just stayed in bounds to record his first career score early in the fourth. Seattle failed to convert the two-point conversion as it still trailed.
The Rams responded, though. Davis connected with Lance Kendricks for a 4-yard score to finish off an 80-yard drive with under six minutes left to extend the lead to 28-19.
Wilson wouldn't let the Seahawks go away, however, leading his team down the field in just over two minutes and hitting Baldwin from nine yards out to trim the deficit back to two.
Davis attempted to force a throw in to Tavon Austin on 3rd-and-3 from their 18, but Richard Sherman came up with a huge deflection to force a punt.
St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher made an audacious move by calling for a fake deep in its territory, and punter Johnny Hekker tossed a smooth spiral to Benjamin Cunningham for a first down with just under three minutes left.
"The last one to ice the game was really a heads-up play," Carroll said of the fake. "A really gutsy call by Jeff."
The Rams then tried to run out the clock, but Mason kept the final score in doubt as he fumbled just across midfield. St. Louis, however, came up with the ball out of the pile and Davis took a knee to give the Rams their first home win of the season.
"You know we say from time to time, it's hard to win in the National Football League," Fisher said. "I'm really grateful of the effort. (An) entire team effort."
Earlier, on 3rd-and-10 from the Seahawks 40, Baldwin caught a short pass on a crossing pattern, bounced off Alec Ogletree and raced up the seam for a 49- yard gain. St. Louis' defense stood tall, however, stuffing Lynch on back-to- back runs and forcing an incompletion from Wilson. Steven Hauschka came on and knocked down a 24-yard field goal to get Seattle on the board.
The Rams' second possession started with Cunningham taking the opening kickoff 75 yards to the Seahawks 31. Mason capped the short drive with his inaugural touchdown, a 6-yard score up the middle to give St. Louis the lead.
Following a three-and-out from Seattle, Davis led a 9-play, 74-yard drive that resulted in his shovel pass to Cunningham for a 5-yard score less than two minutes into the second quarter.
The Rams were clicking in all facets of the game and that showed when their special teams unit used some trickery to add on to the lead. Jon Ryan came on to punt for the Seahawks and kicked toward the far sideline. St. Louis, however, set up its wedge to the near sideline and the Seahawks coverage team followed as Austin acted as if he were fielding the kick. Stedman Bailey received the rugby-style punt across the field from Austin and sprinted 90 yards untouched to make it 21-3.
Greg Zuerlein missed a 52-yard field goal later in the second and Seattle answered with a two-minute march that ended the half with Hauschka's 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-6.
Game Notes
Fisher's teams have faked a punt 27 times in his coaching career and converted 13 first downs ... Davis went 9-for-9 for 41 yards in the first half ... Bailey's return TD was the fourth-longest punt return in Rams history ... Seattle had won 16-of-18 against St. Louis coming in ... The Seahawks now lead the all-time series, 20-12 ... Lynch finished with 53 yards on 18 carries ... Cunningham led the Rams with 46 yards on five receptions.
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