Tom Krasovic: Rams eke out a narrow win over Seahawks, but work remains

Every veteran player and coach in the NFL knows that unless the Super Bowl trophy is in your hands and confetti is falling, it pays not to get cocky about where the good times may lead.

One moment you’re feeling froggy. The next moment, George Atkinson is forearming you in the jaw.

Humbled six years ago in his first Super Bowl, Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay knows this immutable truth. So do not expect the Rams to strut this week just because on Sunday they outlasted the Seattle Seahawks inside the Kroenke Dome to win 21-19 and move alone atop the NFC West.

The Rams cannot watch the game film and decide, “Yep, we’re best in the West for sure. Let’s hit the town this week.”

Not when the film confirms in detail that, yes, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold really did throw four passes to them.

The review will also confirm that the Seahawks had the ball forever in NFL time — 78 plays and 38 minutes — and that Seattle’s defense won on nine of 11 third-down plays.

If those realities don’t persuade the Rams to sharpen up, the gift handed them with 10 seconds left should keep their cleated feet on firm ground.

Their cornerback Emmanuel Forbes will be seen mugging star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in broad daylight.

What will not be seen is a yellow flag on the carpet.

Ordinarily, I don’t dwell on an officiating mistake.

After all, there are some 150 plays in an NFL game.

But this was one of those no-call errors that causes your Uncle Bob or Tio Juan to insist, once again, that NFL games are rigged.

The officials got the next play right, flagging Forbes for pass interference against Smith-Njigba.

Partly as a result, Seattle was able to try a 61-yard field goal with one second left.

It went wide right.

But the so-called “makeup call” wasn’t a makeup call. Forbes deserved to be flagged. No makeup.

Also: the flag didn’t return Seattle’s chances of winning the game to where they would’ve been if the first pass-interference violation — which was much worse — had indeed been punished.

That’s enough about the Rams’ not being swell-headed regarding the win.

And get this: a longer chapter could argue that, on balance, the Rams (8-2) outplayed the Seahawks (7-3).

The abridged version will hit on several key points.

Rams star Matthew Stafford, 37, showed he’s still a wiser quarterback than the much-improved Darnold, 28.

He did this by throwing no interceptions.

L.A.’s defensive front, which overwhelmed Darnold in a playoff game last winter, performed the best of any unit. This had a lot to do with L.A. holding the NFL’s most explosive passing game below its season standard.

Darnold indeed was responsible for all four of his interceptions, two of which led to Rams touchdowns.

But the Rams contributed to at least two of those outcomes. A hit to the chest caused one tardy sideline pass to float, enabling cornerback Cobie Durant to pick it off. Safety Kamren Kinchens may have fooled Darnold into a seam pass, which Kinchens drove on and caught for his second interception of the game.

Pinning the Seahawks on their 1 inside of two minutes, when L.A.’s defense was likely to be running on adrenaline, the Rams’ Ethan Evans hit perhaps the best high-stakes punt of the NFL season.

There were San Diego developments, of course.

Chula Vista’s Jason Myers attempted the game-winning kick from 61 yards. In the same venue five years ago, Myers made a 61-yard kick that still stands as a career-best.

This one went wide right.

In the first quarter, the Mater Dei Catholic High School alum converted from 57 yards. The ball cleared the bar by several yards.

And receiver Rashid Shaheed, an ultra-fast graduate of Mt. Carmel High School in Rancho Penasquitos, moved Myers closer on the next-to-last play. Shaheed, traded to Seattle this month, called timeout with one second left after gaining six yards. And he caught the ball on the right hashes, from where Myers’ 57-yarder came.

The Rams-Seahawks rematch comes Dec. 18 in Seattle.

By then, the stakes for both teams might include jockeying with the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC’s top seed.