For all that went wrong for the Seahawks on Sunday—and there was plenty that went wrong, from turnovers to costly penalties to multiple botched snaps—they were right there in it late in the game with a chance to win.

There was Geno Smith dropping perfect passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the game-tying drive late in regulation, there were the multiple stops by the defense to make that comeback possible, then in overtime, there was a potential game-winning drive that got all the way to the Los Angeles 16-yard line.

But as has been the case too often for the Seahawks this season, that late game fight, that ability to be in the game to the end, it wasn't quite enough to produce a victory, with the Rams coming out on top, 26-20 in overtime, to hand the Seahawks their fifth loss in six games, dropping Seattle's record to 4-5 heading into their bye week.

Yes, the Seahawks showed a ton of fight, but had they not turned the ball over twice in the red zone, or committed those 12 penalties, or had two many drive-killing sacks and negative plays, including snaps that got past Geno Smith and into the backfield, or had an extra point attempt partially blocked, then they would have had a great shot to win in regulation without needing the late-game heroics.

"Disappointed with the lack of being able to take advantage of the opportunities we had to win this football game," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "I'll say this, I want to say, first of all, thanks to our fans for showing up and being loud. The place was electric, when we started to make some plays at the end of the half, end of the fourth quarter, taking it to overtime, they were right there with us the whole way. Promise you, we're doing everything in our power and then some to create a nightmare at home, and right now we're not doing it. So we've got to go to work. The bye week, it's a big week for us to get better. Right now we have an idea of the symptoms but what's going on underneath process-wise on why we're not playing complementary football in 60 minutes. That's what we're going to be attacking this week and we'll come back to work and move forward. But I am proud of our guys' fight. They played their tails off. They played hard to the final second. After facing all the adversity that we either faced or created for ourselves, so I just felt like we didn't flinch and just battled. So we've got the right guys, we just have to make it come to life. But our backs are against the wall and we've got to go."

Macdonald said his message to the team in a disappointed postgame locker room was similar to the one he offered to the media.

"Similar to what I told you guys," he said. "We've got guys that fought, but we have to go to work and make this right because right now we're doing too many things that's not winning football, it's not complementary. And just the same mentality we've had every week, we've got to keep that going. And we're going to find the solution at some point. Right now we don't. I wish I had the solution right now. But we're going to go to work and we're going to figure it out."

Among the things that were not winning football, as Macdonald put it, were the three interceptions thrown by Geno Smith—though despite his willingness to take all the blame for those, they weren't all his fault—one of which was returned 103 yards for a touchdown, defensive penalties that extended drives for the Rams offense, and offensive penalties that negated big plays for the offense, including two long completions to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who even with those plays taken away, still finished with a career-best 180 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches. Then with the game on the line in overtime, a running game that struggled to find much footing through the game couldn't get a yard on consecutive runs, resulting in a turnover on downs, setting the table for the Rams' game-winning drive.

"We've got to be able to get a half yard in two shots," Macdonald said. "Great football teams convert third and fourth and short, and right now we're not doing that."

There were also positives to be taken from the game, to be sure, ranging from Smith-Njigba's big game to an impressive Seahawks debut for practice-squad call-up Cody White to, most significantly for the team moving forward, a much-improved performance on defense, particularly against the run.

"I thought we played extremely hard, and I thought we played physical, I thought we tackled a lot better," Macdonald said. "The tackling is everything, there's lack of space. We communicated really well. I just felt like it showed some of the progress we've been making off the field. We brought it to the game today with good spirit and good energy. Proud of those guys."

Ultimately, however, none of those silver linings change the fact that the Seahawks lost again Sunday to fall to 4-5 after a 3-0 start. To be sure, some of what the Seahawks showed can potentially help them win games moving forward, especially those defensive improvements, but coming out of the bye, the Seahawks know they need to right the ship in a hurry.

"Four-and-five, not where we want to be, especially with how we started," said Smith, who threw for 363 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. "We had an opportunity, really in all of the games that we lost, to get a win, and that's how it's going to be in this league. It's always a one-score league. But, man, we've got our season right in front of us. Everything's ahead of us. We get a week to reevaluate, to rest our bodies, and get our minds back. And we've got a tough San Francisco team coming back after the bye. But eight games to go and get it. Eight games to go get it. Everything we've worked for in the offseason, all the hard work we put in throughout the week, it's this final stretch, this eight-game stretch is what it's about."

Added safety Julian Love, "It's frustrating, but it's not like we're playing clean football and losing games. We're not playing good. We have some areas to address. Yeah, we had a 3-0 start, but we're kind of not dwelling on that. We're trying to take it a game at a time. We have an opportunity coming out of this bye week, so we have to make the calls necessary during this week. Guys have to get healthy, and get their bodies right and just improve. Schematically, effort-wise, just across the board, everyone has to really level up in this second half and we have to make a push, and we're capable of it, which is a good thing."