Davante Adams

Midnight Mode, indeed.

On the day the Rams donned black uniforms for the first and only time this season, the offense largely went dark.

Red-hot quarterback Matthew Stafford cooled. Star receivers Davante Adams and Puka Nacua struggled to consistently make the clutch plays that they often make look routine.

But safety Kamren Kinchens and the Rams’ defense managed to keep the Seattle Seahawks at bay — just barely.

Kinchens intercepted two passes, and cornerbacks Cobie Durant and Darious Williams also picked off passes as the Rams held off the Seahawks for a 21-19 victory Sunday before 75,323 at SoFi Stadium that was not secured until Seattle’s Jason Myers missed a 61-yard field goal as time expired.

Stafford tossed touchdown passes to Adams and tight end Colby Parkinson, and Kyren Williams rushed for a touchdown as the Rams improved to 8-2, extended their winning streak to five games and assumed sole possession of first place in the NFC West.

The Rams can thank Kinchens, a second-year safety who has six career interceptions, including four against the Seahawks. His interceptions set up Williams’ touchdown in the first quarter and Parkinson’s in the fourth.

The Rams went into the game having scored at least 34 points in each of their last three games. But that production was absent against a Seahawks team that fell to 7-3 and had its four-game winning streak end.

Stafford increased his league-leading total of touchdown passes to 27 and did not have a pass intercepted for the seventh consecutive game. But the 17th-year pro was not as sharp as he had been during a stretch that put him in the conversation for NFL most valuable player. Stafford completed 15 of 28 passes for 130 yards.

Stafford enjoyed a banner day compared to Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold.

The Rams’ front pressured Darnold into multiple poor decisions, and Kinchens, Durant and Williams made him pay. Darnold completed 29 of 44 passes for 279 yards with four interceptions.

Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was on pace to set an NFL record for yards receiving in a season, caught nine passes for 105 yards. But he did not score.

Cooper Kupp, the former Rams star making his return to SoFi Stadium, did not have a catch in the first three quarters but had three during a late scoring drive that trimmed the Rams’ lead to two points.

The Rams led 14-9 at halftime on Williams’ one-yard touchdown run and Stafford’s one-yard touchdown pass to Adams.

It was a satisfying situation for the Rams, whose first drive ended at the Seahawks’ eight-yard line when Stafford’s fourth-down pass to tight end Tyler Higbee fell incomplete.

Kinchens’ 31-yard interception return, however, set up Williams’ touchdown. And after Myers kicked the first of three first-half field goals for the Seahawks, Stafford led a long drive that ended with Adams’ 1,000th career reception and his 10th touchdown catch of the season.

The Rams had an opportunity to seize control early in the third quarter when Durant returned an interception to the Seahawks’ 35-yard line. But two plays later, Nacua lost a fumble after making a catch.

Myers’ fourth field goal pulled the Seahawks to within 14-12 midway through the third. But Kinchens intercepted another pass late in the quarter, setting up Stafford’s six-yard touchdown pass to Parkinson for a 21-12 lead.

Still, the Rams struggled to put away the Seahawks. Kenneth Walker III’s one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter pulled the Seahawks to within 21-19 with 2:23 left.

After Ethan Evans’ punt pinned them at the one-yard line, the Seahawks got the ball back with 1:40 left and drove 56 yards in nine plays.

But Myers could not match his career-best 61-yard field goal against the Rams in 2020. This time it went wide right.

The Rams play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-4) next Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

SANTA CLARA — This is not a one-off.

This is no hot streak or a flash in the pan.

So don’t look away. Pay attention.

Otherwise, risk missing the master class that Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is conducting this season.

One that has the 17th-year pro squarely in the conversation for his first NFL most valuable player award.

“I see those people say stuff like that,” Stafford said Sunday after passing for four touchdowns in the Rams’ 42-26 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium, “and all I can think about is like I’m just lucky to have unbelievable teammates.”

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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 42-26 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Stafford, 37, is playing as if he were in the middle, not near the end, of a possible Hall of Fame career.

On Sunday he tossed touchdown passes to receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and tight ends Davis Allen and Colby Parkinson as the Rams avenged an overtime loss to the 49ers in Week 5 and improved to 7-2.

How efficient has Stafford played this season?

He has passed for a league-leading 25 touchdowns.

With only two interceptions.

“He can walk on water right now,” Nacua said.

In the last three games, Stafford has passed for 13 touchdowns. His second touchdown pass Sunday, to Allen, was the 400th of his career.

Stafford’s name already fills the NFL record book. He is among the top 10 in several passing categories. But he never has been this efficient for this long.

Stafford has not had a pass intercepted in the last six games, the longest such stretch of his career.

“It looks like the game is really in slow motion to him right now,” coach Sean McVay said.

Rams players (from left) Puka Nacua, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Whittington and Davante Adams celebrate in the third quarter of a 42-26 win over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

(Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

Stafford’s recent run of excellence is on par with other awe-inspiring Los Angeles sports icons.

He has been as dominant as the UCLA fast break and full court press from the 1970s. Clayton Kershaw’s 12-to-6 curveball. Freddie Freeman’s walk-off homer swing.

This is a Wayne Gretzky assist. A Nolan Ryan no-hitter.

A Reggie Bush breakaway run. A Serena Williams backhand winner. A Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sky hook, a Magic Johnson no-look pass, a Kobe Bryant game-winning three. A Lisa Leslie low-post move. A Candace Parker dunk.

A Jim Murray or Bill Plaschke column.

A fill-in-the-blank run of excellence.

Overblown? Perhaps. The NFL is a humbling league. Stafford’s recent run could end next Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium.

So enjoy it in real time. Follow Stafford’s lead.

“I have fun out there,” he said when asked about what Nacua described as Stafford’s ‘shimmy shake’ touchdown celebration. “I lose my mind when we score touchdowns.”

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford smiles while being interviewed after the Rams’ win over the 49ers on Sunday.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

That’s how defensive coordinators must feel when Stafford completes one of his patented no-look passes.

Adams played eight seasons in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers. He knows what an MVP looks like.

“It’s looked like MVP play to me all year,” Adams said, pointing to a Week 2 game against the Tennessee Titans, when Stafford shook off an interception and led the Rams to victory. “Just to rally a team and continue to lead at a high level when things don’t go your way, I think that’s what really shows what an MVP is like.”

Stafford’s success harks to 2021, when he passed for 41 touchdowns and led the Rams to a Super Bowl title. He is on pace for an even more impressive statistical finish.

“The heater that he’s on, it’s elevating everybody else’s play,” Nacua said, “and we’re continuing to jump on that bandwagon with him and let him take us as far as he can.”

If Stafford continues his stellar play the Rams could find themselves right back here at Levi’s Stadium.

For Super Bowl LX.