SEATTLE – Matthew Stafford admitted that before the game, he didn’t know he would throw the ball on the most important play of Sunday’s game.

“But sometimes those things happen,” the Rams quarterback said. “You come out clean and D-Rob does a heck of a job of winning the point, then holding it and then catching it.”

That clean look translated into the game-winning touchdown drive — a 39-yarder to receiver Demarcus Robinson to lift the Rams to a 26-20 victory over the Seahawks.

Wide receiver Cooper Kupp said the intent of the play was to “be able to get the edge clean for Matthew” and “give him a chance to make a play and do something sweet.” Kupp sealing the edge was what prompted Stafford’s decision to throw to Robinson.

“After seeing him, I kind of made myself available,” Kupp said. “That ball is rarely thrown that route. D-Rob did a great job off the line of scrimmage, and when he set that big angle, I just couldn’t believe it when I saw Matthew rolling her hips, I said, “Oh, she’s about to let this thing go.”

Just as impressive as the pass was Robinson’s one-handed catch at the end, though he didn’t do it for style points.

“I tried to hold the guy because he (Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen) was kind of catching up,” Robinson said. “Woolen is quite quick so he caught the ball. Because, you know, the ball takes a while to get to me. So he caught up. So I said, “Okay, let me stay. my arm out,’ and he was starting to hold onto my arm, so I only had one arm to try to make a play.”

“When I threw it, you know, the body language from D-Rob, I was like, ‘oh no, I threw it,’ I thought I might have thrown a plate from his body language Stafford said. “He did such a great job keeping him at bay.”

It was a fitting end to a game-winning drive that began with a pair of explosive completions by Stafford: an impressive 24-yarder to wide receiver Tyler Johnson, followed by a 16-yarder to wide receiver Tutu Atwell. Stafford said Johnson did a good job of getting in front of Woolen and said he “had no other options” on that throw, the timing of which eluded an interception by a Seahawks quarterback. Stafford also praised Atwell for the great job he did of separating from his quarterback on that deep return route.

It was also a rewarding finish for a Los Angeles defense whose 4^th-down, the red-zone stop in overtime launched that drive after having to make up for some of the challenges the offense endured in the first half and parts of the second half.

“It’s our turn, man,” Robinson said of the offense’s mindset when it got the ball in overtime after that shutout. “The defense did a great job of stopping us, giving us the ball back. It’s our turn to put points on the board. It was either get three points and end the game, or we didn’t give it to the punter. So that we tried to get a touchdown so it could be over.”